Bark’s Top Five Tips for Effective Community Management
Develop a natural personality
More than ever, people crave community. Tapping into that sense of belonging is a fundamental component of effective community management. That’s why we’ve compiled our top five tips that will help refine your approach to building a perfect environment for your brand.
One of the pillars of great community management is cultivating a memorable, trustworthy and conscious personality. Your community is looking for a real human behind the screen and emitting a stiff, robot-like impression can be detrimental to a burgeoning environment.
Studies show that 86% of Americans value transparency higher than ever. The simple answer? Engage authentically with your audience.
Don’t fear experimentation. Get creative!
Of course, nobody is a fan of failure, but it’s important not to let this fear force you into playing things safe. Think of social media as an enormous, virtual focus group. It’s in your hands and ready to go, so make the most of it! The best way to mould the distinctiveness within your community is to constantly investigate, evaluate and implement.
Engage productively
For your community to flourish, creative interaction is a necessity. Unfortunately, you’re the one who’s got to break the ice. Try sparking and encouraging conversation, without overstepping the mark. You’ll lay robust foundations if your audience begins to interact not only with you, but also without you (Yorkshire Tea being a prime example). The more you sustain these interactions, the deeper the communal roots will grow.
Find the right channel
It might be a platitude, but quality always trumps quantity. A small audience that engages with you and others is far more valuable than a bigger one that doesn’t. Would you go fishing in an empty lake? Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or even Whatsapp, spend time looking for the right kind of people, without worrying too much on big numbers.
Deal with negativity appropriately
It’s important to bear in mind that unhelpful comments will always have a presence in online communities and dealing with them poorly can be detrimental to effective community management. Never ignore negativity, but try not to inadvertently make a small issue into one that occupies a significant portion of your community space. Also, censoring your audience, Big Brother style, can illicit unsavoury reactions and is a sin many community managers too easily commit.
Never underestimate the importance of keeping your audience hooked without overstepping the mark, balance your posts and align your approach with our Top Five tips and, inevitably, you’ll fly through the maze that is community management, with ease.
Never underestimate the importance of keeping your audience hooked without overstepping the mark, balance your posts and align your approach with our Top Five tips and, inevitably, you’ll fly through the maze that is community management, with ease.
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