Sprout Social defines a Community Manager as being “responsible for advocating the brand on social networks. They create their own social persona and actively go out within the online community to connect with potential customers and advocate the brand.” In other words, Community Managers spark conversation between the brand itself and current, as well as potential, consumers on social media channels.
24/7, 365, a Community Manager Breathes the Brand
Although you may be aware there is a person behind the brand responding to you, did you know that this person eats, sleeps and breathes this brand? Just like social media is a never-ending, 24/7, 365 days a year entity, so is the community manager of a brand, who’s the puppeteer behind the brand’s persona. Although the persona of a brand may change in some ways as time goes on, one thing stays constant: a brand should always be in contact with its audience.
Two Top Tools
Although social media can be a space where anything goes and people can say the first thing that comes to mind; there are some best practices that any Community Manager can adopt into their repertoire. In order to grow and maintain a social media community one must always be in the know of what people are saying about their brand, both the positive and the negative. Fortunately for Community Managers, there are tools available that allow for constant communication.
Hootsuite:
The best tool for managing a brand, or multiple brands, across more than one social media channel is Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows its users to monitor what people are saying about a brand and also allows for you to respond instantly. Hootsuite lets you:
- Schedule Facebook posts, tweets and now Instagram posts
- Simplify monitoring and make it more efficient
- Monitor through a mobile app
- Pull analytics for multiple channels of a brand to see what’s working and what isn’t
Analytics help strengthen the social media presence of a brand, which in turn grows the brand’s online community.
Iconosquare:
Iconosquare is only geared towards Instagram, but with 70% of Instagrammers actively looking for brands to follow, it is a platform goldmine for growing a community. Iconosquare:
- Offers analytics for Instagram that can help one see best times to post, trending hashtags and the demographic of your brand on the channel
- If you’re looking to increase your Instagram fan growth and engagement, your best bet is doing a deep dive of Iconosquare
Key Takeaways
There is so much to learn about a brand through the eyes of its social media communities. However, it can be difficult to find these communities and keep in constant communication with them. Utilizing tools such as Hootsuite and Iconosquare gives a Community Manager the tools necessary to keep a brand relevant, and active to its followers and also allows for the opportunity to reach out to potential community members.