Social Media Community Management - A Key Ingredient for Successful Social Strategy
Ever walked into a room at an event, handed your business card over and then turned around and walked away? I didn't think so.
And what did you think of the people who you've seen do exactly that? I thought so.
Just like meeting someone for the first time, handing over a business card and walking away is rude, posting on Social Media and not being involved in the following conversation is bad.
In fact it completely defeats the purpose of Social Media in the first place.
This is why Social Media Community Management is so important.
Whether it be Facebook Community Management, Twitter Community Management, LinkedIn Community Management, the list goes on, they are all vitally important with their own particular nuances and benefits.
To understand their nuances, benefits and why you should use them, you first need to consider your own business.
- What do you do? - What do you sell? - How do you talk to your customers when they come into your store? Or call on the phone? - Why do your customers want to talk to you? Answering these questions goes a long way to identifying what you should use the mediums for, and how you should use them; but the reality remains, you need consider Social Media as a customer interface just like you would the phone, email or even in person.
People ARE on social media, and when they interact with you they expected to be treated with the same respect and service they would receive "off-line" (Off-Line refers to any interaction that happens away from the Internet).
Facebook's population in Australia alone is 10.
5 million (as at the start of 2012); that's 10.
5 million people that you should be treating as valuable customers.
So, I need to get involved right? Where do I start? After considering your business and how your business will use each of the different Social Platforms (eg.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc...
) (Detail on how to do this is covered in a separate article), you need to start getting involved.
Using your pre-defined Social Media(SM) Strategy which would include components such as your SM Network map, your Brand essence and tone, SM Engagement Framework and Customer Value Proposition, you will start to post valuable content on the various platforms.
This means you will be posting valuable snippets on Facebook - this might be little videos, articles about new ideas or interesting photos from an event; Or you will be getting posting valuable professional excerpts on LinkedIn in the form of meaningful articles or blog entries.
That's only the beginning.
Metaphorically speaking, you've only just handed out your business card.
Now you need to start talking to people about what you've put out there.
Be ready when they want to talk to you about what you've posted, be there when they want more info or to ask a question, be ready to explain yourself and why you're valuable.
This is Social Media Community Management.
Social Media Community Management involves being there when your fans/followers/subscribers are.
Being ready to respond when they do.
Listening to what's going on and getting involved in the conversation.
It's human, it's real and it's NOT automated.
Just like people hate automated telephone systems, so do people on Social Media hate automated, insincere and disingenuous responses.
It's vitally important that you are there to backup what you post, to treat your followers like they are part of your brands community.
If you don't have the time or resources to do this yourself, you can employ Social Media Community Management services like KeepSocial who do the management for you.
Do this properly and you'll have fans for life.
And what did you think of the people who you've seen do exactly that? I thought so.
Just like meeting someone for the first time, handing over a business card and walking away is rude, posting on Social Media and not being involved in the following conversation is bad.
In fact it completely defeats the purpose of Social Media in the first place.
This is why Social Media Community Management is so important.
Whether it be Facebook Community Management, Twitter Community Management, LinkedIn Community Management, the list goes on, they are all vitally important with their own particular nuances and benefits.
To understand their nuances, benefits and why you should use them, you first need to consider your own business.
- What do you do? - What do you sell? - How do you talk to your customers when they come into your store? Or call on the phone? - Why do your customers want to talk to you? Answering these questions goes a long way to identifying what you should use the mediums for, and how you should use them; but the reality remains, you need consider Social Media as a customer interface just like you would the phone, email or even in person.
People ARE on social media, and when they interact with you they expected to be treated with the same respect and service they would receive "off-line" (Off-Line refers to any interaction that happens away from the Internet).
Facebook's population in Australia alone is 10.
5 million (as at the start of 2012); that's 10.
5 million people that you should be treating as valuable customers.
So, I need to get involved right? Where do I start? After considering your business and how your business will use each of the different Social Platforms (eg.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc...
) (Detail on how to do this is covered in a separate article), you need to start getting involved.
Using your pre-defined Social Media(SM) Strategy which would include components such as your SM Network map, your Brand essence and tone, SM Engagement Framework and Customer Value Proposition, you will start to post valuable content on the various platforms.
This means you will be posting valuable snippets on Facebook - this might be little videos, articles about new ideas or interesting photos from an event; Or you will be getting posting valuable professional excerpts on LinkedIn in the form of meaningful articles or blog entries.
That's only the beginning.
Metaphorically speaking, you've only just handed out your business card.
Now you need to start talking to people about what you've put out there.
Be ready when they want to talk to you about what you've posted, be there when they want more info or to ask a question, be ready to explain yourself and why you're valuable.
This is Social Media Community Management.
Social Media Community Management involves being there when your fans/followers/subscribers are.
Being ready to respond when they do.
Listening to what's going on and getting involved in the conversation.
It's human, it's real and it's NOT automated.
Just like people hate automated telephone systems, so do people on Social Media hate automated, insincere and disingenuous responses.
It's vitally important that you are there to backup what you post, to treat your followers like they are part of your brands community.
If you don't have the time or resources to do this yourself, you can employ Social Media Community Management services like KeepSocial who do the management for you.
Do this properly and you'll have fans for life.