Social interaction is necessary for humans to learn, sense, and understand each other. But can you imagine that people still feel disconnected in this digital generation? It is true! Until recently, social media marketers have only focused on promoting their brand, overlooking the importance of community management.

However, change is afoot. From everyday brands to human brands, marketers have started tapping the powerful medium of social communities on different platforms. Many advanced brands have also started their own online community platforms to manage communities and interact with the audience.

So, it is not false to say that the key to success in this digital world is managing an active online community. If you are new, continue reading to know its true essence. 

What is community management?

Let us get our basics straight. Businesses build communities to create bonding between the external audience who consumes services and the internal members who generate brand products. They utilise different platforms to interact and maintain online communities. 

The aim of a community is to build lasting relationships and trust. The objective is to offer benefits throughout the customer lifecycle. Hence, most businesses hire an individual for the post of community manager. The sole duty of the manager is to manage the community by interacting with the audience and sharing valuable insights regularly.

Social media manager vs community manager

Well, the answer is quite simple. A social media manager only focuses on the brand’s products and their marketing at the right time and platform. On the other hand, a community manager’s task is to protect the brand. They interact with the community through different means, like comments, mail, DMs, etc., and build relations. 

The primary goal of community management is to make a brand human by communicating with the audience then and there, bypassing customer service 24/7. There can be different types of communities for different brands. Depending on the audience demographics, community platforms may vary from brand to brand. For instance, if a podcaster is looking for ways to increase followers on Spotify, he may create a channel on Discord to host live chats with renowned musicians. 

So, community management finally boils down to how brands build new opportunities to interact with customers through various platforms and make their presence relevant and lively. Now, let us dive deeper into the importance of community management.

Why Is Community Management So Important?

It is 2023, and customers no longer linger for channels to correct unsatisfactory services. In this generation, a brand’s online behaviour plays a more valuable role than its monetary profits. Research says 86% of customers are ready to pay more for a better customer experience. 

Understand your target audience better

One of the benefits of good community management is that you get to know your audience better. You can gain honest feedback and insights from your audience. You discover their likes and dislikes and what they anticipate from your brand. 

Knowing your audience better can help you create promising products in the future, which will gauge more interest and interaction. For instance, if you conduct a poll on Instagram, your audience will directly communicate by voting for their preferences. By examining their behaviour, your brand can perform better with attention to detail and boost popularity on social platforms.

Build loyalty and awareness

This is a digitally evolving era, and no Gen Z customer is willing to spend valuable time on an everyday brand that sounds like a bot. So, if you truly want to build long-lasting associations with your customers, turn your brand into a human. 

You have to use every opportunity to better understand your customers’ concerns. If your audience feels your affinity, they will surely reward you with loyalty. Likewise, your brand awareness will grow and spark curiosity in other people who are yet to follow you. 

Provide support to customers

Another aspect of community management is providing support to customers when they require it. For any brand, customers come first. If you fail to recognise the needs of your customers, you have failed as a brand. Nothing can be more fundamental than providing support to your customers if you want to protect your brand’s face and value. 

You can offer support via FAQ sections, live chats on your page, forums, etc. On social media, you can effortlessly help your audience by replying to their questions in comments or DMs. You can also use tools like Vanilla Forms to help build online forums and manage conversations. 

If you are able to deliver the best assistance and resolve issues in real-time, nothing can prevent your brand from becoming the next big thing!

Takeaway

More than advertising daily products and brand services, it is essential to comprehend the desires and expectations of your target audience. Only when you interact with the community will you grow as a brand.

Ellen Diamond, a psychology graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, has a keen interest in the fields of mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.