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 image, 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.

Also, don't delete the content in question, as this will probably have the opposite effect. The aim is not to make bad comments disappear but rather to regulate them as best you can and calm the situation down.

LOOK! Here's how Whole Food responded to the criticism with a quick apology, a good pun and improved packaging. It was a blow to the brand when a Twitter user posted a photo of their peeled oranges arranged in plastic containers... The scene of the crime 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 every eventuality.

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.

So you always need to be aware of what's going on about your brand. As Thierry Portal, an e-reputation specialist at Nitidis, puts it: "Reputational crises occur when weak signals are ignored".

Back to the blog

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!