Keys to Successful Community Management (The Do's) | European ...

Posted by communications on 19 Sep 2012 / 0 Comment

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In the second section of this two part post, EU Bachelor of Arts in Communication & Public Relations student, Abbey Moore, explores the do?s for companies trying to develop brand engagement with their social media users.

Keys to Successful Community Management

Successful Community Management is an aspiration of many organizations, yet the position is comprised of many different elements that make effective planning and execution of social media communications challenging. For this reason, companies must understand the keys to Community Management success when approaching this managerial function. Such keys to success include:

Strategic Focus

Participating in online communication with various stakeholders is incredibly challenging for companies, yet the necessity for a clearly devised strategic framework is fundamental. Online communication must have a purpose and must be aligned with the corporate strategy. Without a strategic focus, the Community Management function will be ineffective to the company as a whole. Online travel company budgetplaces.com demonstrates the need for strategic focus. Although the company has many customers on its social media platforms, it lacks strategic focus in terms of how to use the platform as a way to build meaningful relationships with customers. Meaningful relationships lead to consumer trust and loyalty, which in return, can lead to higher purchase rates and an increase of customers through brand recommendations. However, infrequent content generation and engagement attempts by budgetplaces.com have meant that the company is unable to reap the benefits of social media communication.

Relationship Building

As explained by Online Consultant Ben Cotton, the focus of all Community Management activity is the ability to identify, nurture and develop long-lasting relationships with new and existing community members for the mutual benefit of both the company and their various stakeholders.? Companies such as Starbucks and Dunkin? Donuts are committed to building relationships through a variety of customer focused activities, and as a result, have loyal customers that engage constantly with the brand, in addition to online communities that are growing daily.

Management

Strong management abilities are imperative to the success of Community Management. Since the position involves various activities such as strategizing, developing communication objectives, making key decisions with regards to a company?s online communication and managing all online platforms, effective management is of the upmost importance. Community Management is after all, a managerial position.

Authenticity

Community Management is about communicating with company stakeholders in a personal manner. The most successful Community Managers have the ability to communicate on a personal level with community members without compromising the voice of the company. Authentic, personalized communication is what individuals who make up these online communities are looking for from companies, rather than automated, emotionless corporate answers. As seen when comparing both Lush and The Body Shop, customers respond considerably more to the personalized communication style of Lush, rather than to the corporate, impersonal tone of The Body Shop. Customers want to feel as though they are on the same level as the company and since Lush excels at personalized communication, it experiences a higher level of customer interaction on social media platforms as a result.

Issues Identification

The ability of a Community Manager to monitor online conversations and identify issues as they arise is vital to a company?s online success. A crisis online can significantly damage a brand?s reputation and effectively being able to identify problems in real-time will greatly benefit any company.

Attention to Detail

Community Management is about listening to online communities and paying attention to the details. Individuals who make up social media communities appreciate when a company listens and responds to what they have to say. Dunkin? Donuts makes an effort to personally reply to disgruntled customers, and show them that they matter. This really makes a difference and can turn an unhappy customer into a happy, loyal one. Furthermore, these actions add to the level of engagement that a community experiences, which is important to any online communication strategy.

Understanding the various keys to Community Management success is essential for any company wishing to excel at social media communications. Although Community Management is a challenge for any company, having a clear idea of these key elements can determine the success rate of social media efforts.

Source: http://euruni.net/blog/euruni/?p=178

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