What Is Social Media, Exactly?
Social Media is a constant study of what’s trending right now. It is the hottest revolution since the Industrial Revolution. It’s the result of an economy that’s gone bust, and a population that wants to know the people behind the brand and just exactly who it is that they’re giving their money, their time, and their loyalty to. The rules change and evolve constantly and you need someone on your team to be on top of it with every twist and turn. This is the first time in the history of advertising that media is done in real time, with real people.
Social Media is about inspiring people to want to get to know you, your people and your brand. Social Media is about the following 3 things: Transparency, Authenticity and Engagement. It’s that simple.
“It’s not about the platform, it’s about the community and building relationships.”
Any on line campaign that doesn’t have a real community, with real people behind it AND out in front of it doesn’t have a social media platform, they merely have a campaign. Social Media is about connecting the people behind your brand with a real world scenario. It’s about making people feel connected to the people behind your product or your service. It’s about building relationships. It’s about engaging people in mini conversations that enable them to experience a real world scenario with you and your brand. And it’s all done in real time.
“People want to know the person behind the scenes.”
People want to meet the person behind the conversation, so once you build your community, you also want to provide an opportunity to meet your followers in person. Real world interaction with your followers seals the deal on the long term relationship. Show your followers how involved you are in your community by planning events where you can introduce yourself and thank them for their loyalty.
“Social Media is an opportunity to credit your competition when they do something well.”
Social Media etiquette is not about “Me.” It’s about a community of people deciding what’s important and creating an energy of its own. People become personally invested because it’s all in real time, with real people engaging in a social atmosphere. Etiquette is critical to building a successful social media strategy and the rules of engagement are different than in any other advertising we’ve ever seen.
“Listen to what your community is saying.”
Many companies talk about what they want to talk about, rather than listening to what others are already discussing. Followers will start generating conversation. It’s up to your community managers to capitalize on the needs that your community (your followers) are saying. An excellent community manager will look for patterns in follower comments and respond to what’s being discussed. This is an excellent opportunity to build a loyal fan base.
What is community management?
In addition to Blogging Agents, Community Managers are the fastest growing profession in the United States and Europe. A Community Manager is the person in your organization who manages the tweeters, the bloggers, the Facebook interfacers, the vloggers, pod casters, and the entire social network community by engaging them sincerely and professionally.
“The number of social media players is growing exponentially every day around the world. Your community is already out there somewhere. It’s up to your community manager to find them and build a relationship with them.”
In Part 2 of this series on social media, we’ll learn a little bit on what a Community Manager is. Stay tuned for more great information by “Liking” us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter @bigforkweb.