What is Community Management on Social Media?

Essentially, it's the growing and nurturing of your online community, and it needs to be a key part of your social strategy for all clients!

Depending on your contract/deliverables it can be liking and replying to people's friendly comments, which is always a nice boost and a fun way to interact with your followers.

But it can also be replying to DMs, whether they're customer service related or not, and keeping top of these so they don't spiral out of control.

Top tip: use names when replying to DMs. Use the person's name when addressing the DM, and always sign off with your name. It adds a personal touch and will make the recipient feel happier and valued. 

Back to replying to comments: This can then start off conversations, which can expand to other people who are also replying to your response and can create a community! This is what it's all about: creating a space where people can share thoughts and ideas, all while championing your client's product/service. 

Respond to comments asking questions, as this continues the conversation and again, will make people feel valued, especially if you're asking for opinions. "which is your favourite shade?" "Do you like the dark or the light one better?" 

Top tip: This is also a great way to glean insights into what your audience likes, which you're client can use to impact the services they offer, the products they sell, and the content you create. 

If you ask the right questions, using metrics as well, you can tailor your content to what your audience wants to see. 

You can do a much deeper dive on TikTok, where communities are a lot more niche thanks to the use of # and tok, #booktok #cleantok etc. 

Get commenting on some videos, ask questions, and see what the response is. This will put you in front of new audiences, start new conversations, and may even get you some new followers! 

Now, why is community management important? Other than it being nice and polite, it's also FUN! Meeting new people online, and building your clients community through your engagement with them is a lovely feeling, knowing what you're doing is being enjoyed by your audience. 

It's also paramount for digital success, you can't expect meaningful growth if you don't interact with your audience. People won't engage with your content if you don't reciprocate, it's a two-way street! 

Who doesn't like praise?! 

Let's address the negativity, though. Good community management requires responding to the haters, too. 

Get in front of it ASAP, people want to be heard and responded to (DYK, people expect a CS response within 10 minutes?). Even if it's passing the query onto a dedicated customer service email address, get the response out there quickly. Your peeps will thank you for it! Efficient customer care is a top quality people look for when making a purchase, so take it seriously.

TLDR? 

Create great content with your audience in mind, respond to all comments, even the bad ones, regularly engage meaningfully with questions to extend the conversation and use people's names! Your community will flourish and your clients will be happy.

So, when you're working on your packages or negotiating deliverables with a client, make sure that community management is included because it takes time and skill, but it will make a difference.

What happens when it gets a little too close to customer service? Ensure you have set boundaries. You won't respond to DMs at 8 p.m. on a Thursday. You can't answer questions about specific orders, etc., but you can set up automated responses and let people know who they should be contacting.