Working with the community is a fresh trend in the profession of the modern digital world.
Working with the community is a fresh trend in the profession of the modern digital world. The rapid development of social networks has provided society with new opportunities for communication. Today they have become a significant platform not only for private communication, but also for large companies. In both cases, the main participants are people – ordinary users, with their own interests and preferences. One of the most effective ways to attract a new audience was the creation and maintenance of a thematic group, where the leading role is played by a professional in his field – a community manager.
Why does a company need a communication specialist?
Thematic communities appear on social networks everywhere, but not all of them remain active for a long time. In order for the group to remain interesting, “lively” and popular, it needs a person who will do the following every day:
- chat with users in real time
- feel the audience, identify problems at the initial stage
- help subscribers
- give effective advice on the company’s products and services
- select interesting content
This profession requires characteristic networking skills, resilience to stress and imperative loyalty to the company. Essentially, the community manager becomes the link between the brand itself and the users. This strategy is often used by any experienced
Facebook marketing agency.
First step: define the target audience
Each group created has its own theme, which means that the target audience for them will be different. As the scanty lines of encyclopedias explain to us, the target audience is a group of Internet users interested in a product or service, to which the main content of the site is directed. Determining your target audience correctly is the key to the future successful development of the brand. There is a basic set of characteristics for evaluating “your” subscriber:
Basic criteria are age, gender, region of residence. For example, for the gaming community and the group of a cosmetic company, these parameters will differ quite a lot.
Interests. It’s important to know what your future subscribers are interested in besides the company’s product. This will help fill the community with news on the desired topic.
Solvency. An important factor for those who provide services or promote a certain consumer product.
Solution. Think about what goal your product or service will help achieve and what will create good conditions for consumption. As you can see, the correct assessment of the target audience will give you a great start for a community of any direction. The next important task is to retain your audience.
An example of working with negative
The work of a master of communication is more creative. Its main task is to create a unique atmosphere for its subscribers, which requires both excellent communication skills and the ability to beautifully turn a difficult situation (that is, to be an intuitive psychologist). In general, this position implies in a person excellent inclinations of a PR-manager, “soul of the company” and an event organizer. If you have just started your way in working with the community, then it is enough to adhere to a few basic rules:
Determine the publicity of the group. The community can be made private or made available to everyone. At first glance, the second option is preferable, but most large communities prefer the first. A closed group gives a feeling of elitism for subscribers, it is a kind of club for the elite, that is, the value of content for subscribers increases. As a bonus, there is a decrease in the number of “bots” subscribers.
Meet your active followers. It is not necessary to make friendships, because a community can have a million subscribers, but a personal greeting, at least in an automatic mailing list, will not be superfluous.
Interesting content. A community manager is not required to be able to write interesting articles on his own, but nothing prevents him from cooperating with authors and designers to make the content of the site truly bright and exciting.
Brand news. Make the story about company news or some important corporate events light and informative so that they are remembered not only by loyal customers.
Monitor the reactions of community members. Comments, likes, link exchanges are the tools that your subscribers vote for or against. Create more moments that will require a lively subscriber response. A good community helps everyone in the group feel connected.
Experiment with offline events. The combination of real and virtual gives the impression of full-fledged communication and puts an additional positive “anchor” on the community and on the brand itself. It can be a flash mob, a photo contest or the organization of a thematic meeting – it depends on the topic of the community and your imagination.
To conclude, community management can be a part of affordable social media marketing – however, it takes a lot of time and efforts to be effective.
Written by Michael Zippo
Michael Zippo, passionate Webmaster and Publisher, stands out for his versatility in online dissemination. Through his blog, he explores topics ranging from celebrity net worth to business dynamics, the economy, and developments in IT and programming. His professional presence on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-zippo-9136441b1/ - is a reflection of his dedication to the industry, while managing platforms such as EmergeSocial.NET and theworldtimes.org highlights his expertise in creating informative and timely content. Involved in significant projects such as python.engineering, Michael offers a unique experience in the digital world, inviting the public to explore the many facets online with him.