Category: Feedback

Community Manager, the Social Marketing

Community management

This profession appeared in 2005. It originally resulted from the tedious, and often voluntary, work of forum moderators. Reinvented and integrated by companies, the essential objective of the Community Manager (or CM) is now to bring the brand closer to its consumers. To do this, he creates digital content and interacts with different communities. Generally speaking, he is in direct contact with his audience.

The audience consists of potential prospects, consumers and brand ambassadors. Thus, the CM (acronym for Community Manager) has an ideal position which allows him to better know and understand his customers, and therefore, the market in which his company operates.

What are the missions of a Community manager?

In order to popularize his responsibilities, here is what the missions of a newly hired CM, representing, for example, a clothing brand, would look like:

• Identify communities: At first, they will identify the communities that talk about the brand. If the brand is still new on the market and nobody is talking about it yet, they will create this community. You will be surprised to see that there is a plethora of opinions and discussions on all subjects. We are probably already talking about you!
• Join and animate communities: Once identified, he joins these communities and leads them. At this point, you have to redouble your creativity and empathy, because you have to go from being a new member to a reliable point of contact and absolute reference in this community.
• Develop the community: They will develop and evolve this community, improving the brand’s influence by increasing the number of subscribers. More people will know the brand, its image, and its values.
• Engage the Community: They will share exclusive information and support members, increasing interaction rates, engagement on networks, and transforming virtual subscribers into active ambassadors in the real world.

The pattern is simple: The more content you publish, the more love for your brand will grow, and the more ambassadors you will have to speak and praise your products.

The importance of data

Thanks to immersion in your audience, the CM has access to raw, natural, and authentic data. They can translate and format this data for colleagues who don’t have access to it. This source of information brings consumer feedback, response elements on product improvement, and clues for concrete solutions in decision-making meetings. It also helps stay tuned to weak signals to avoid bad buzz.

Choosing the right networks to interact with is crucial, according to your targeted customer (Persona Buyer). A common mistake is wanting to be present on all networks at the same time, which often results in a lot of effort for few results.

How to define your editorial line?

When you have chosen your networks, you need to define your editorial line:

• Buyer Persona: Choose the tone, mode, style of writing, and general approach of your communications according to your persona buyer. It’s about adapting to your target to make reading easy and enjoyable.
• Types of interactions: Define the types of interactions you will create with your community. Practice will likely lead you to modify some elements of the first step.
• Emotion: From these exchanges and interactions will emerge an emotion. This emotion will stay in the mind of your audience when they think of your brand. This is the key element of the editorial line.

By choosing the emotion you want your brand to generate, you can deduce the style of communication you want to adopt. The emotion is often linked to your branding. These choices of communication style, interactions, and emotions are called the editorial line. This is your “communication guide” on social media.

You will need to adapt it to each of your persona buyers and the style of the social network where they are to optimize your communications.

What is the profile of a community manager?

Basic Requirements

The general qualities required for community managers are:

• Curiosity: Follow the behavior evolutions on social media and appropriate them because it is essential to become an actor there.
• Common sense: Remember you are the voice of the company, despite the “cool” side of social media. Adapt to the client’s behavior and humor, not the inverse.
• Knowledge of the editorial line: Know and master the company's editorial line and its positioning on the market.

Depending on your company, whether you are selling a product or offering services, you will need a specific type of Community Manager profile. Define your global communication strategy, determine the criteria to be monitored (views, engagement, conversion rate, etc.), and make them evolve according to your monthly objectives.

Recognized profile types

We can identify 7 different CM profiles with their specific qualities:

• The content creator: Focuses on content creation. They position themselves on questions that web-surfers ask, demonstrate the expertise of your company through various media, and require skills like copywriting, creativity, and adaptability.
• The statistician: Takes a logical, mathematical approach, analyzing results to refine and improve content, and needs skills in data analysis and teaching.
• After-sales service: Represents your services and brand on networks, responding quickly to comments, questions, and messages, and requires communication skills, patience, and empathy.
• The newsjacker: Keeps up with the latest news and trends, sharing high-potential information relevant to your community, requiring a good sense of information and judgment.
• The community animator: Engages in platforms of exchange, requests for advice, and support, creating content on recurring issues, and needs technical knowledge and pedagogical skills.
• The web marketer: Optimizes page layout and navigation to increase conversion rates, requiring knowledge of user behavior and marketing processes.
• The social media manager: Oversees the CM team, drives the global media plan, coordinates campaigns, and ensures homogeneity in communications, requiring strong decision-making, communication, and negotiation skills.

3 WAYS OUT OF THE BAD BUZZ!

BAD BUZZ. The terror of all community managers in the digital age... What are the main principles to bear in mind during this type of emergency? How do other companies do it? This article is here to help. What is a bad buzz?

It's a word-of-mouth phenomenon that can have a serious impact on your brand imageand especially on social networks.

Ok your plane is crashing, you have 3 exit doors.

EXIT A: BE RESPONSIBLE

Never be in denial and restore the truth, react!

If a rumour spreads about your brand, there must be some truth in it and some that has been invented by malicious people. Don't remain silent - that would mean you agree with everything that is said about you in the public eye. Take your time, but always give a clear answer that is as close to the truth as possible.

So don't delete the content This will probably have the opposite effect, so be the captain of the ship. The aim is not to make the bad comments disappear, but rather to regulate them as best you can and calm the situation down.

LOOK! Here's how Whole Food did it by responding to critics with a quick apology, a good pun and a improved packaging. ... it was a blow for the brand when a Twitter user posted a photo of their peeled oranges arranged in plastic containers... The crime scene here.

EXIT B: BE HUMAN

You need to find an answer that everyone can relate to, so that they feel listened to even when they're wrong. These days, with the personalized marketing Customers want to feel that they can have an impact on your company. It's a one-to-one relationship.

LOOK! This is how Next Media Animation, an animation studio based in Taiwan that creates satirical videos, responded to their former employee Marina Shifrin, who had made a video of herself to announce her resignation. The video shows her dancing while listing all her criticisms of her company.

Next Media Company used a more humane form of communication instead of taking her to court.

Here's the parody video (unfortunately Marina's original version is no longer available).

THE ANSWER FOR MARINA

EXIT C: SORRY

It's not too late to apologise. The public need to hear that you (sincerely) regret the situation and they want to know what you're going to do next to improve the situation. "A fault confessed is half forgiven

LOOK! Here's how La Redoute dealt with the naked man affair: bad choice on the part of the brand to leave a naked man in the background of a photo of a group of laughing children! But watch how effective this two-stage crisis management is: first apologising, then this funny advert (sorry doesn't mean boring).

Their Twitter account, where everyone is dressed.

YOUR LIFEJACKET :

After the crisis, it's time to take a step back and analyse why it happened. That way, you'll be an expert next time.

One of the secrets of crisis communication is to be prepared for all eventualities.

Make plans to deal with every possible situation: if something goes wrong with the quality of your product, if there's an employee strike, if your muse doesn't give a good image of your brand, etc. This is how big companies cope: for every potential event that could destabilise the company there's a crisis communication plan.

You also need to be aware of what's going on with your brand. As Thierry Portal, a specialist in e-reputation Nitidis: "Reputation crises occur when weak signals are ignored".

Back to the blog

How to design your brand for China

You've finally decided to sell your product on the Chinese market.

Why not? After all, China has 1 billion consumers, a booming economy and an increasingly sophisticated market. Enough to thrill anyone with an entrepreneurial streak. But you know very well that this diversification remains risky. For a number of reasons, including design of your brand.

So how do you adapt to the Chinese market?

• Make sure you hire a professional to translate your brand name effectively into Chinese, taking into account its phonetic implications and literary meaning. A simple literal translation can have catastrophic results.

• Unlike the West, the Chinese process information differently. They process general information first and then analyse the details.

• As you can imagine, colour and symbolism differ in meaning from the West. For example, the colour red is considered lucky in Chinese culture and the apple is a symbol of peace. Research the colours and symbols of your brand. This may lead you to make changes to your design but also to identify communication opportunities.

• Thoroughly research what your brand means to the Western market and transpose it to the Chinese market to see what is likely to be misunderstood. Bear in mind that you may need to ask an expert for help.

When you think of design, you don't necessarily think of China as one of its main markets. contributors history, and it's wrong. It was in China that printing and paper were invented. This led to China having its own aesthetic, its own calligraphy and its own interpretation of visual content.

The reason why China is not associated with graphic design and art is due to the Cultural Revolution. During this time, any visual medium that did not come from the State was prohibited. But times have changed, and the China has opened up to the free market. For Chinese companies, this has meant problems to overcome. For example, adapting the design to their needs. cultural heritage while being modern, a balance that is not always easy to strike. Today, Chinese companies are fond young talent contemporary who can effectively communicate their company's values.

TYPOGRAPHY

Why is typography so important in China?

For brands in China, typography and naming are an essential part of the design for the simple reason that thevisual appearance the brand name and the meaning are completely inseparable. If the Chinese brand name is not studied, the repercussions can be quite serious. serious and often fails to penetrate the market.

Typographic 'failures

Upon entering the Chinese market, Coca Cola defined its Chinese name as 啃 蜡 (Kēdǒu kěn là) which is phonetically correct but translates to "biting a wax tadpole. They later changed their brand name to 可口可乐 (Kěkǒukělè), which means. "tasty happiness which is much better suited to Coca-Cola's marketing.

Mercedes Benz is another example. The "Mercedes" part of the brand is difficult to pronounce in Chinese and has no meaning. For this reason, the carmaker decided to adopt the Chinese name of 奔驰 (Bēnchí) , which means "Mercedes".top speed". A memorable, beautiful and meaningful brand name.

Successful typography

Once the name has been defined, the visual identity of the brand and its meaning will be merged. This can easily be detrimental to your brand if poorly executed. However, if it is done well, the opportunity to convey the meaning and values of your brand is increased. exceptional.

SYMBOLISM

Symbols from China

Through the prism of different cultures, symbols and their meanings can vary considerably.

Green is associated with positivity in Western culture and red with negativity, whereas in China.., is the contrary. Red is associated with luck and good fortune, and green with exorcism and infidelity. In China round shapes are generally associated with reunion, harmony and unity because they are more organic, whereas the geometric shapes with sharp angles are negatively associated and considered unsightly. And these are just some of the more obvious interpretations.

China is a country extremely rich in culture and in historyIt is for this reason that we recommend an in-depth study of the interpretation of certain symbolisms that could affect your brand.

MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

From the largest to the smallest

The Chinese tend to think in the most general at more detailed, whereas Westerners tend to do the opposite. For example, you can see this in the way the Chinese write their name (surname then first name), but also in the way they present the date (year then month). This sequencing can be translated into your brand's visual identity to better adapt to your Chinese customers and maintain clear communication.

Information consumption

In the West, visual information is conveyed in a lighter, more streamlined way, with the emphasis on the main aspect of the message. Whereas in China (and Asia in general), the media are much more focused. more busy in information. There are several reasons for this:

• Firstly, Chinese characters take up less space than Latin characters and all Chinese characters have a square shape, regardless of their complexity,

• Secondly, because information is consumed differently, the Chinese tend to browse and consume much heavier content on a single page with smaller images. In other words, when designing your interface, don't hesitate to use lots of elements.

The design principles apply

All this may seem complicated, but there's good news. Even if they are interpreted in different ways or with different emphasis, the principles of design still apply and can even be totally transposed from one hearing to the next.

Do you need help to tackle the Chinese market? The answer is... probably. If it's essential for your brand to be easily identifiable or if you're in a competitive segment, particularly with Chinese brands, there will be subtleties to take into account to create effective branding in this market. It is therefore risky to try and do everything in-house without any knowledge of these concepts.

If you're setting up your own brand, don't forget that certain Western elements will also be a factor in your success. asset. Indeed, a "European" touch is a guarantee of quality in the perception of Chinese customers. So adapt your brand enough so that your values and your message is optimized to your audience, but not to the point where brand identity is completely erased.

Do you think your future Chinese customers will appreciate your touch? exoticism?

HI EVERYONE!

I'm Lucie Spillebout, and I've just finished my internship at the graphic design agency What'zhat in Paris. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. So I wanted to write an article about this internship and the fact that I lived for 2 months in this huge city and economic capital of Vietnam: Saigon.

Firstly, I wanted to come to Vietnam. I didn't yet know in what context, when or for how long. Initially, I thought I'd come here as a backpacker, but I came as an intern, which enabled me to combine the discovery of a country with work experience (so the road trip will be postponed). I wanted to come here because, after my studies, I want to move to another country, probably an Asian country, for a few years. I'd really like to immerse myself in this culture, which intrigues me.

EVERYTHING HERE IS CRAZY!

To begin with, the Vietnamese are great, they're all smiling. Well, not all of them, but ¾ of them, because seeing tourists all day long must be exhausting in the end. But they're all smiling, and the most adorable thing is the children who wave or come up to us to say "hello". I remember cycling through the jungle near Can Tho and passing houses, every other house I heard the inhabitants say hello to us.

Secondly, here stress is not a way of life compared to France. People are calm and don't run around. Like in a restaurant, for example, it's very rare for everyone to be served at the same time, waiters don't run around, you don't hear stressful remarks coming from the kitchen, and service is done with calm and a zen attitude. I've seen scooters break down on the side of the road and the driver calmly fixes it on the side, whereas in France we'd tend to get excited.

DRIVING IN HO CHI MINH IS DEFINITELY AN EXPERIENCE WORTH TRYING OUT!

To get around in the same way as the Vietnamese, I downloaded theapplication Grab. Grab is Asia's Uber, but here most of the shopping is done by scooter rather than car. Unfortunately, I didn't hire my own scooter as I don't know how to drive one and I didn't want to risk accidents on the other side of the world. And I'm not good enough at driving Mario Kart...

The most impressive thing about their driving is the red lights - you'd think you were at the starting line of Mario Kart, once the light turns green all the scooters go off at the same time and in all directions. You're being overtaken from left to right, everywhere.

What's more, their driving is quite noisy, and here the indicators are used very little, unlike the horn, since they drive where there's room on the road. They use their horns to warn others to turn, to overtake on the left or right, or to cut through a junction... (I wonder how the drivers know where the noise is coming from, knowing that all the vehicles are honking...).

NOODLES, RICE, MARKETS AND MORE!

I also tried out some typical Vietnamese dishes such as the "Phở"which is a rice noodle soup with meat and herbs.Bún chả"andBún thịt nướn", which are thin rice noodle dishes with pork and vegetables. The shape of the pork differs between the two dishes and the "Bún thịt nướn" contains spring rolls and peanuts.

The dishes here are all based on rice, noodles or rice noodles and meat. I visited the rice noodle factory in Can Tho at Mekong Delta after visiting the floating markets.

I also tried some typical South Asian fruits such as small bananas, mangosteen and dragon fruit, but I didn't try the durian. This fruit is notorious for its repulsive and very strong smell, which is a fact and the smell is comparable to that of rubbish. In fact, they are strictly forbidden in airports, much to the annoyance of the Vietnamese.

At work or at home, we've got into the habit of ordering on Grab food and have it delivered directly to the site. This meant we could access food from other districts quickly and easily. At work, we often ate together, either in the restaurant or at the agency.

During my work placement, I worked and lived in Thao Dien in district 2, which is more of an expatriate neighbourhood. I met a lot of French people there, but also Americans, South Africans, Irish...

I mainly spoke French and English, so I didn't learn many Vietnamese words, just how to say bonjour "Xin Chao" and merci "Cam on". The Thao Dien district and the city of Ho Chi Minh in general is not a pedestrian zone, so it's not very easy to get around on foot here, which is why I mainly got around on a Grab scooter. District 2 gives you the opportunity to eat all types of cuisine, being an expatriate district, you can find all types of restaurant here. Last but not least, the area is quite quiet, which is nice for walking around in the evening when the traffic is lighter than during the day.

In district 1, or the hypercentre, you can also find all types of food at all prices. If you want to find cheaper food, you still have to get out of the expat or tourist areas. There are also a lot of markets, and I went to one in the city. by Bén Thành the one of Bà Chiểu and one in district 10.

MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

I wanted to write this article for 2 reasons, firstly because it was my first professional experience abroad, and secondly because I don't think I'll ever be able to find a similar working environment in France.

I did my work placement with the What'zhat design agency, which was set up 1 year ago by 2 French expats living in Vietnam.

Working here, or rather working at What'zhat, means working independently and having objectives to achieve each week, so I had to learn to manage my timetable and my daily tasks. So I had to learn to be independent and rigorous in my work to prove that they were right to trust me and let me be independent. I really appreciated the weekly meetings to analyse what I'd learnt, explain what I was planning to do for the following week and talk about our personal and professional feelings.

I had 3 main missions:

• The first is business development, i.e. enriching the company's customer file by prospecting on LinkedIn.
• Secondly, I was responsible for referencing the website on directories, or netlinking, to improve the e-credibility of the What'zhat website and increase its visibility.
• And finally, my last main task was to develop the agency's Instagram account, and to monitor and develop sales on this platform.

I found it a rewarding experience, as it enabled me to learn more about how companies work, how they sell and how they canvass customers. I was also able to discover how SEO works and a company's brand image on social networks. What's more, this working method has enabled me to learn more about myself, my autonomy and my way of seeing and approaching work.

Have you ever been there or worked there? Tell me about your experience in the comments.

Fear of becoming an entrepreneur

Work for your passion

As many people say, "PASSION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS". But why do so many entrepreneurs still worry about their business, if passion is one of the main reasons they started it?

Let's start with a few facts:
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the average fear of failure rate in the world's economies is 40%. If we look at the statistics, we can see that in the first few years, around 80% of new businesses fail. No wonder people with an entrepreneurial spirit are afraid to start their own business! The prospects don't look good.

As an entrepreneur, you create a business for which you believe that no one else meets the needs of your customers. You want to build something unique that changes the world. Whether it's something that actually solves global problems or offers services to help others. Entrepreneurs are defined as supportive humans who try to help people while keeping the financial motive in mind. They combine their dreams with their careers and do what they love. You could say that setting up their own business is linked to following their passion.

It sounds very attractive, but I asked myself: what does passion really mean?
According to Jemi Sudhakar, "passion" can be described as follows:

"In general, it refers to someone who has intense feelings about a subject. (...) Your passion can be anything that simultaneously challenges, intrigues and motivates you. Contrary to the idea that doing what you love makes work effortless, a passion puts you to work. It's what you're willing to sacrifice leisure and lesser pleasures in life for."

Well, it seems to me that being an entrepreneur is all about doing what you want?

Let me tell you, a passion for business can motivate an entrepreneur in his or her day-to-day tasks - but entrepreneurship isn't just about the good stuff. Entrepreneurship isn't just about being your own boss and working flexible hours. Nor is it just about working from anywhere: today in Berlin, tomorrow in New York and maybe in the local café or in your pyjamas straight from bed? All this may seem very attractive to today's workforce, and doesn't really sound like a real "job". But just between us: you, as an entrepreneur, are scared! I know that there are scary aspects to this job, such as continuous improvement, responsibility for success, competitiveness and supervision of all activities. What's more, leisure time and time for yourself can be limited.

Now is the time to face up to these fears, accept them and embrace them so that you can continue to succeed.

In addition to those already mentioned, what fears do entrepreneurs have when they own or launch their own business?

The fears of an entrepreneur

👉 Fear of not being accepted

Why do people always seek acceptance from others? Why is it so important what other people think of you and what YOU do? Shouldn't you focus on yourself? Develop and strengthen acceptance and confidence in your abilities and skills. Investing in yourself is the most important thing. The more confident you feel in your skills, the more courage you will have to develop your business. And in the end, you don't have to fear the acceptance of others because you know what you're worth.

👉 Fear of financial problems

Starting your own business automatically comes with financial fear. Without it, it would be a bad sign - it would mean you were far too confident in what you were doing. Life can change quickly, so you need to be prepared for the difficulties that may arise. Financial security should be a reason to work hard every day. To make your business successful, there will always be something you need to invest money in. A general knowledge of the financial situation is therefore essential.

👉 Fear of losing creativity

Creative ideas are what entrepreneurs need to run a successful business. So the thought of not being able to come up with unique ideas in the future is understandably frightening. Always feeling the pressure to come up with something more creative and better than last time or than your competitors. So it's important to nurture your creativity.

👉 Fear of failure

Fear of failure is probably what most entrepreneurs feel. It's the word 'failure' that is associated with something negative, as if someone hasn't succeeded. But is it really that bad to fail? What about the things you've learned after failing? Maybe failure can still be a success. Maybe not for the business you've created, but it can be seen as feedback that should be used to improve your business. Always think of the worst possible scenario you could encounter by failing - and you'll see that it's probably not as bad as you'd imagined.

One of the most famous entrepreneurs once said:

"It's fine to celebrate success, but it's more important to learn from failure."

Bill Gates

The resources you'll need

Reading this, you might think that's not what you're afraid of. Why shouldn't I be able to come up with creative ideas in the next 2, 5 or 10 years? But maybe you've just been putting off these doubts? Because you know, in the end, people will just say: I knew you couldn't do it.

I'm telling you: all entrepreneurs experience different fears throughout their careers. The most important question is: who takes risks and fights for their success? Moving forward even if you're afraid means you're always one step ahead of those who avoid fears and take the safer path. Facing your fears will allow you to move forward, take on new challenges and grow, while your competitors will remain stuck in old habits.

Despite all these possible uncertainties, being passionate about what you do can be a differentiating factor between an entrepreneur's success and failure. Not only is passion necessary for an entrepreneur. There are certain characteristics that are also crucial to success.

Essential features for a contractor :

✔️ Imagination

Being creative is the foundation of any business. Entrepreneurship is about thinking outside the box and offering advanced solutions that are better than those of your competitors.

✔️ Self-motivation

Since entrepreneurs are their own boss, there will be no one to push you. It's up to you to provide plenty of personal motivation to stay true to your overall goal.

✔️ Versatility/Flexibility

As an entrepreneur, you'll often find yourself in unfamiliar situations where you won't know what to do. Changing trends are part of your business. Your business only works if you can adapt to different tasks: social media manager, accountant or website developer?

✔️ Self-confidence

Of course, you won't always be confident in what you do. Even so, without confidence in what your business offers and in your abilities, your business cannot succeed. Be committed to your work.

✔️ Optimism

You need the right amount of optimism to achieve your goal. You need to believe in what you're doing. But don't be naive!

✔️ Visionary

Without a business vision, why are you working? A goal is essential - it's what gets you up in the morning and keeps you awake all night. Without a vision, there will be no success.

As you may have gathered from reading this article, entrepreneurship isn't for everyone - and that's normal. But for those of you who have decided to start your own business or are already running your own business, there are challenges you need to overcome in order to succeed. As we've learned, passion can be a useful trait, but it's not the only important one for entrepreneurship. At least we know that passion is what you need to bring when you start your business, in order to get the daily motivation and aim for something bigger and better.

And don't forget :

"One of the big mistakes people make is trying to force themselves to be interested in something. You don't choose your passions; your passions choose you."

Jeff Bezos: Founder, CEO and Chairman of Amazon

As an entrepreneur, don't let your weaknesses cover up your strengths. Focus on what you're good at. It's your job to sell your customer what you're good at, and in the background, get help with what you struggle with. It's your choice to decide how you want your customer to see you: as a company with its own problems or as a company that has everything under control.

At Whatz'hat, we know the challenges you face at the start of your entrepreneurial journey. We've been there, and we've helped many other businesses at the start of their journey or at a later stage when rebranding became an issue.

Working with Whatz'hat frees you from the tasks you struggle with, so you can focus on the aspects of your business you're passionate about. We'll give you confidence in what you do and create something unique WITH you for your future.

Don't hesitate to contact us for a free audit of your business - we're here to help!