If you are looking to have a thriving Facebook community and vision yourself as a community manager—par excellence, you might just love these tips:
Know your company’s voice
Branding on social media is rather a necessity. However, what you must know is: only when your voice is in sync with the brands philosophy, will you be able to get the first step right.
Answer these: Are you the serious sort or a littlelike to add humor to your posts? Do you just talk about business or interesting stuff that excites you? Is stirring-up things your forte, or remaining neutral is what defines you?
If you are a single person handling the page, you’ll find it easier to maintain a consistent voice. But, for multiple employees handling the account, it is important you device a ‘voice for the company’ and give a list of do’s and don’ts to all your community administrators and managers.
Impress visually
A very important part of Facebook is visual marketing. This simply means to draw attention using photos, screenshots, graphs and of course—infographics. Even if interesting visuals and your brand do not go hand in hand, you can consider these:
– Screenshot of a demonstration
– Image with a quote about your niche
– Info-graphic with statistics about your industry
– Behind the scene photos
Know the rules
Of course! Make sure you read and understand each of the policies stated by Facebook. Pages can be shut down without a warning in case you cross the line. Besides, keep yourself updated with the latest terms as they change frequently. For example: a few months ago, Facebook altered its cover photo policy.It maintained the 20% text limitation, but did away with rules about featuring a call to action or purchase information in cover photos.
Know the industry
Now, there are a lot of us who manage someone else’s page. What becomes important here is to know the industry. It won’t go too well with the followers if you use terminology that does not reflect with the brand they know of.
Recognize members
It’s important to make each member feel like a part of your community. Know them, interact occasionally, and at times, mention them.
Be calm to negative posts
Even if you get an angry post, be calm and take it in your stride. Respond to the comment with an effort to ‘maintain the relationship’. You must also know that if such a situation has cropped-up, there must be some reason behind the upset Facebook fan. Try to address their concerns and offer solutions. Remember, even if the fan is being unreasonable, you need keep your tone gracious. Snarky comments, or replying in the same vein as an angry fan can backfire horribly. Some of the top brands like Nestle have learnt this lesson the hard way.
Have fun
Have a live Q&A chat or do a live stream; your followers would love you! When you have such interactive sessions, you get to know each other well, which is only necessary. So, the next time you launch a product, conduct a live Q&A session, letting your fans ask relevant questions. Doing so, you will be able to publicize your product a great deal.
Besides, be a great resource for your community and give them an experience. Think, and keep evolving.
About The Author: Vishal is the founder of Appsquare, an app development company in Australia that creates innovative apps, provides part funding for selected app ideas and also helps app developers get funding through its network of Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors.
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