We recently on-boarded a new client. Doing our usual audit, which includes a social media audit, we noticed a few things that could be improved in the community management department. We realized some of these “mistakes” are actually quite common and can be improved easily. This is why we thought it may be useful for others and wanted to share. Here we go:

 

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT DON’TS

 

NOT ANSWERING SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS AND DIRECT MESSAGES 

That is just a bad look. Sometimes you may feel like some people and comments are less relevant (aka, they are not interested in buying from you soon or they are not in your area). Still, you should answer. Why? Simple: social media is not for selling it is for being social. By only answering “potential leads” comments you are not engaging with your community and thus limiting your growth potential.

GENERIC ANSWERS TO ALL SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS 

What we saw a LOT of were generic answers (or even worse: a generic answer). For example, all of the answers were redirecting to their phone or email for information. Sometimes it may be relevant, for example, if a follower is requesting a quote, that makes sense. However someone is commenting about how your product looks nice, the best answer would be to thank them. If they are requesting specific information about a product, try your best to answer it in the comments or DMs before redirecting them to the email.

WRONG CONTACT INFORMATION (E-MAIL, PHONE, WEBSITE)

As painful as it is to say, it is true. Doing audits we do see accounts giving away the wrong information. Make sure your website links, phone number, email address are correct before putting them in your bio or giving them to users in the comments. After all, you are not on social media just to have a cute Insta feed: you want your social media followers to convert. Make sure you help them do so.

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT DO’S & HOW TO?

So, how am I supposed to “community manage” the right way, you ask. Well, here are a few tips:

 

ANSWER SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS

Answering comments (and / or liking) and DMs is MANDATORY. If you tend to forget, here are some tips:

• • If you are wondering why you should, here it is: you have to be social on social media (duh!).
  • Make sure the notifications are on (at least for the DMs).
  • Just block 30 minutes to 1 hour 1 to 3 times per day to engage with your community.

 

PREPARE A FAQ FOR COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT USE 

A FAQ will enable your community manager(s) or marketing / social media agency to have access to the most asked questions. This ensures answers are consistent and can also save a lot of time by avoiding back and forth. It also enables the person handling the community management to answer faster (and you want that Facebook response time to be short).

KNOW YOUR MISSION 

When you are doing community management (whether it is your only role or one of your roles), you are not doing sales. Your mission here is to manage the community, be social and engage.

FORGET THE COPY-PASTE 

Make sure to adapt your answer. Even if you have a few similar questions in a row, make sure to switch things up.

KNOW YOUR BRAND TONE OF VOICE 

What may help with the previous point is really knowing your tone of voice and trying to stay authentic to the platform. If you are managing a business account, for you it is work, but keep in mind that if you are on Instagram or Facebook, for your followers, it is their personal sphere. That doesn’t mean you should be unprofessional, simply try to be authentic and adapt to the platform and the user. For instance, if someone comments on Instagram: Hey there, what’s the price? You should not comment: Dear customer, for detailed pricing information please visit [your webpage]. This is cold, not engaging and not adapted to the platform or user. A better answer option would be: Hey, thanks for your comment/interest! This product is from $9.99. If you’d like more info make sure to check our website.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for more social media tips! If you leave a comment we’ll answer it (pinky promise). And if you need help with community management, we’re here!