Community management is becoming an increasingly vital part of the social media management world.
When it comes to making the most of your brand’s social media presence, there are a number of important aspects to consider. We’re here to deep dive into one of the most important parts of social media marketing, community management. It is the direct engagement with your brand’s audience. “Community management is what happens after and beyond your social media publishing. It’s part customer service, part listening to the internet, and part being active in discussions that relate to your brand.”
Below you will find our top 5 tips for better community management.
Know the brand voice.
Every brand has its own identity. A brand’s voice is the person behind the brand who the consumer invisions when they engage with the brand through social media. It is important to define this voice for every brand because it is common for multiple people to help with community management for the same brand. Defining the brand voice keeps consistency despite many moving parts.
Here at Parachute Media, we spend time during the Discovery Phase of a new client to hone in on the brand audience and create a brand voice, an actual persona behind the brand.
Be timely.
We live in the world of instant gratification. We want responses fast and solutions faster. To keep consumers happy, it’s crucial to monitor all social accounts for customer concerns, comments, and feedback. Sometimes it is as easy as acknowledging a gracious compliment or as tricky as responding to customer concerns about that particular brand’s ethics. Regardless of the context, it is best to address all customer feedback in a timely manner.
This is especially true when it comes to Facebook messages. Consumers can see on a brand’s page the average response time for direct messages with the brand. The lower this response time, the better consumer engagement and customer service. This number can be challenging to keep low if your brand receives a large number of messages and you do not have a dedicated person to check these regularly. Did you know that by using Facebook Business Manager you can create automated responses for your brand? This feature is essential for keeping that response time low!
Create an internal FAQ document.
After only a few days of community managing a new brand, you’ll notice that you get the same question again….and again. Creating an FAQ document to reference will not only save you time, but it will also help keep the brand voice consistent.
Are you working for an agency that handles community management for a brand? If so, be sure to partner with the client to make sure responses for FAQ are approved and on brand.
Answer the tough questions.
Everyone loves reading (and in this case, responding to) the rave reviews and success stories, but what about the heated customer complaints? You guessed it; those need some attention too. Some of the best customer service experiences start as negative comments and/or messages on social media. These consumers are wanting a platform to be heard, and you are here to provide answers and offer solutions.
Tough question tips and tricks:
- Get a spicy comment on an unrelated post? Sometimes it is best to ask the consumer to send a private message (and hide the unrelated comment) to continue the conversation privately.
Think the negative comment can be handled in one or two responses? It might be best to respond directly in the comment thread so other consumers can see and value your brand’s transparency, a quality this generation cannot get enough of.
- Inappropriate or unsolvable? You have the authority to hide or delete consumer comments if you feel they will negatively impact another consumer’s experience with the brand.
Have fun!*
Don’t forget, social media is the best way to make your brand personable and engage directly with consumers. People love witty responses and creative solutions. After all, you never see anything boring go viral…
*If you are an agency representing a brand, make sure your humor and style of engagement still falls within the approved brand voice.
