In this age of social media and digital marketing, community management has become an important activity for businesses. Investing in an online community can take your business to the next level.
When you choose a professional digital marketing agency for SME New York, you should check whether community management is included in their services or not. Here we discuss a few basics about community management which will help you make informed decisions in your marketing strategy.
Defining Community Management
In today’s well-connected world, it is detrimental for businesses to build communities. It boosts the relationships with the customers which eventually leads to business growth.
Social media community management refers to the process of creating a community of customers, employees, and partners, and enabling interaction between them. It is how the brand creates a network of customers to stay connected and grow the business. It starts from the very first of the customer journey which later develops into a strong bond with the customer.
How is It Different From Social Media Marketing?
Many times, business owners confuse community management with social media marketing. Though they are related to each other, there are a few differences between community management and social media marketing. While social media marketing is all about the production and distribution of content, community management deals with engaging with your audience. The difference here is more or less strategy vs relationship.
Social media marketing communicates to a group of people whereas community management prefers to have one-to-one communication with the customers. Most of the tools used in social media marketing are handy in community management as well.
Why is Community Management Important?
Community management is vital to businesses for a plethora of reasons. If done right, community management can become a key asset for your business. Here’s how.
Improved Customer Experience
A bad review or angry feedback from a customer can hugely impact your small business in the age of social media channels. Customer experience is crucial for business growth. Creating a space for your customers to share their concerns or emotions regarding your brand will boost the customer experience. They feel they are recognized and heard when you have a strong community management strategy.
Humanized Communication
Though we live in the age of automation, automated responses can hardly create emotional bonding with customers. To create personal and real relationships, you need to have conversations with a human touch. When you have real conversations and express the brand’s voice, you are creating a group of authentic customers. It helps to convert a one-time buyer to a long-term loyal customer.
Better Customer Support
Community management allows your customers to get instant support from the community when they need it. It opens a space for peer-to-peer support among the brand’s customers. It allows them to have meaningful interactions about your brand as well. Not only does it opens up opportunities for your brand’s growth but also lowers your support costs.
Increased Customer Retention Rate
With customer acquisition costs on a rise, customer retention has become more important for brands now. Community management allows brands to understand more about their customers, their pain points, post-purchase thoughts, and more. Having a better understanding of the customer’s desire and reaction to your brand helps you make relevant changes. It eventually helps in retaining the customer leading to improved business growth.
Facilitates Data-Driven Improvement
A vibrant community of customers gives powerful insights about improving all aspects of business such as product improvement, sales, customer service, marketing, and more. Having meaningful conversations with your customers gives you more understanding of the areas for improvement. It gives you relevant data sets for analysis and enhancement. Unlike other platforms, the data ownership of online communities stays with the business and not third-party.
Let’s Help You Build A Strong Community!
Are you looking for a digital marketing agency for SME that provides online community management services? We have got you covered. We have experts for managing online communities across all social media platforms. If you are planning to build a loyal community of customers, we can help you achieve it.
Get a free consultation on community management services from our team!
