7 reasons why your company needs a Community Manager!

The emergence of social networks hascreated a new need for brands, that of being represented. These new places of exchange have allowed satisfied or dissatisfied consumers, grumpy consumers but also some brazen competitors to make their voices heard for you. Brands have figured out, for the most part, that they will be talked about on social media whether they’re there or not.

We don’t interrupt a conversation, this was taught to us as children, but we can divert it, redirect it, we can start a dialogue and solve problems, often minimal, but which represent a lot for some consumers and which end up altering the image of your brand.

Therefore, new professions appeared, such as Community manager organize and structure the presence of brands on the Web. Adored by some, misunderstood by others, often considered the result of a passing fashion phenomenon and promptly questioned by colleagues.

Many companies don’t understand the benefit of having a Community Manager among their ranks. However, its role is of capital importance for several reasons which I suggest you list below.

The Community Manager builds relationships

Your brand may already have a Facebook Fan Page without you having created it! In fact, your brand surely already has some ambassadorspeople who believe in your products and services so much that they talk about it without being asked. This is definitely the greatest recognition you can receive from your customers. They will also defend you from those who attack your products.

But what happens to these conversations, what happens to these communities if you don’t participate? The Community Manager is the one who will create bridges, who will build solid relationships with these people, who will allow them to gather around an official Facebook page, a website, a forum, etc.

His role is extremely important as he will contribute to renew trust and esteem that these customers bring to you.

The Community Manager creates buzz

Animating communities on social media involves all kinds of possibilities. The aim is to inform, entertain, move and advise. But creating buzz is a real science, it has to be planned, the impact can be calculated and any negative perceptions coming from your audience must also be considered.

The buzz is not necessarily provocative, as we too often believe. It can be very positive, heartwarming, joyful, in short, it will create a very strong bond with your audience and it can improve the image of an aging company. But this can be a double-edged sword and a good Community Manager is essential in these cases.

The Community Manager manages and moderates social networks

Social media takes a lot of time. Additionally, depending on the number of networks you plan to distribute information on, this can very quickly become a full-time job.

The Community Manager is there for this. It will survey your audience, interact with them and act like friends. These people seeking contact with your company need to be considered carefully.

We know itone of the biggest sales dynamics is word of mouth. Make your customers happy, give them the most personal and engaging experience and you acquire ambassadors who will talk about you with more passion than the highest paid salesman and recommend you everywhere around them. Some brands have ardent ambassadors, who defend their image tooth and nail, such as Apple, Google, etc. (yet we are only talking about electronic devices and software, not about a humanitarian, social or environmental protection cause, etc.)

In short, it will revive the community when he moves on to something else and tends to forget you. It will also be a response force when users encounter problems with your products, redirecting them to after-sales service or providing top-level responses, thank people who express sympathy for your brand, etc. Having a community and maintaining special relationships with it is a strength that no company can do without!

The Community Manager listens to your community

The Community Manager listens to rumors and discussions about you on the Internet. From this attentive listening, he will come first measure your electronic reputationthe image that Internet users have of you. What do we think of your services, your products, your after-sales service? Are there bad experiences widespread on social networks or forums that contribute to lowering the image of your brand?

We know that generally on the Internet only the dissatisfied come forward, in any case they are the ones whose voice has the most voice. The Community Manager will therefore act on two levers: on the one hand he will try to balance the discussion by giving more space to satisfied users and on the other trying to act in favor of the dissatisfied.

We must understand one thing: if the Community Manager counts on his community, the community also counts on him to make its voice heard within the company. This might allow you to change some things, understand your customers’ expectations, create new sections on your website, etc.

Write content for your blog

This attentive listening will give them the opportunity to understand where users are encountering problems and therefore to write articles on your blog answering questions and expectations. This could be in the form of a tutorial, for example.

The Community Manager is also a web editor. He is not just an ordinary writer with a nice pen, he also knows the secrets to giving visibility to his contents.

These articles will add value to your website.

It will have a beneficial effect on your SEO

We know Google is passionate about content. The more he can browse, the more your SEO will benefit, especially if this content is of quality and respects certain rules that your Community Manager should know. The articles he writes, the action he takes within social networks to make them known, will inevitably do so have an impact on your SEO and website traffic.

Develop a digital strategy

Before diving headlong into the world of social networks and/or creating a blog, it is absolutely necessary to develop a digital strategyplan a publication pace and an editorial line.

Without it, you risk quickly losing yourself and your community too. There’s nothing worse than sending out an invitation to follow you on your site’s social media, only to realize that your last post was months ago!

By knowing your community and identifying your corporate identity, the Community Manager will also find the right tone to adopt. Depending on the case, it can be calm and serious or tinged with humor, young or unusual.

For all these reasons, and many more, if your company’s situation allows it, hire a Community Manager and start communicating (well) where people are: social networks and the Internet as a whole!