It’s a brave new world out there in the social media realm. Gone are the days of simply posting something on Facebook and forgetting about it. Nowadays, you’re constantly monitoring what people say about your business. You’re moderating comments and engaging users who post negative reviews or complaints or responding to positive comments.
But managing online communities is hard work! So how do you make sure you don’t get burnt out? It may be time to take stock of your active members of the community and figure out what they want from you.
This blog post will show you the best ways to manage your audience so that they keep coming back for more.
For tips on how to create online community guidelines, visit Viafoura.
You’ll have more time for marketing activities
A common misconception is that online community managers have to respond 100% of the time. This simply isn’t true. There’s a very simple reason for this: you’ll be saving your company money by not having someone on staff answering questions all day long, every day (there are exceptions to this).
Instead, what will happen is people in your community will answer each other’s questions without any guidance from an official source whatsoever — it happens frequently and organically.
You can use these hours saved to do marketing activities, like writing blog posts or sending out press releases about new products, which promote engagement with current customers, as well as attract potential ones.
Your customer service team will be relieved of answering simple questions
Members of the community are typically very willing to answer each other’s questions. By allowing this to happen, you’ll be providing a great service to your online customers. They will appreciate the fact that they don’t have to wait on hold with your customer service team.
With a community manager helping, these comments can be moderated and make the overall experience much better.
These interactions allow people in different regions of the country or world to get information about products and services available at their local stores, but making sure misinformation isn’t spread is critical.
Moreover, members of the community will take the time to answer simple questions that your customer service team would otherwise have to deal with if the Online Community is relaxed and well-moderated; just make sure not to be too strict.
It will increase engagement with customers
By allowing your customers to engage with each other, you’ll be providing a great service. Not only will they answer each other’s questions on their own, but some of them might create content that can be redistributed by the brand itself.
This is known as user-generated content (UGC), and it plays an important role in building relationships between brands and consumers — especially when UGC involves pictures or videos.
Social media users are visual creatures, which is why platforms like Instagram have seen such success.
By letting people contribute photos or videos of new products before they’re even released into stores, for example, you’ll see engagement rates increase drastically because these types of posts have value for current customers as well as potential ones.
Customers won’t feel so neglected
When a customer has an issue with your company, there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get in touch with someone who doesn’t respond. It can feel as though you’re not being heard, which is exactly what companies don’t want for their consumers.
By allowing members of the community to answer each other’s questions instead of constantly responding on social media outlets yourself or through official emails, your customers will be able to receive the help they need.
In addition, when people have problems that aren’t addressed by community managers and self-help articles online, they’ll typically go into stores themselves or call them up directly, just so someone listens.
Creating a sense of accountability among staff members
One of the best ways to promote company culture is by establishing a sense of accountability among your staff members. By allowing community managers or other employees in charge of online presence to answer questions instead of relying on someone higher up, you’re ensuring that every person at your organization knows their role and fulfills it.
This can help create loyalty when customers see how much everyone cares about what happens within this virtual space.
Increases consistency in customer service
If you’re a company that provides customer service, consistency is key. When customers don’t know what to expect from your brand, they’ll become frustrated with the lack of replies or even abandon their requests altogether.
This can happen because there seems to be no hope of getting an answer, which only increases the chances of them going elsewhere for help.
If someone works at a store and doesn’t do anything about complaints/questions online except send out generic responses once every so often, people won’t take this as seriously as they would if they received these answers directly from a person working online. Those types of interactions are always more satisfying.
It will help grow your company even further
Maintaining a strong presence throughout social media can help grow your company even further. As long as you’re putting forth effort into how you interact with consumers, they’ll appreciate it (and continue purchasing).
Plus, if you have new employees joining your team, then it’s important to let them know that this is a priority. Otherwise, they’ll be stressed out over what could’ve been something simple had the person before them also handled these requests for their company.
This is why it’s always better to train people in the department specifically assigned to this part of your business, rather than giving them one task after another.
Conclusion
These are only a few reasons why you should manage your online community members, but the more important thing to focus on is how it can benefit both consumers and your company.
Also read: 7 Benefits of Sending a Loved One to a Senior Living Community
