Hi I’m Matt and I am one of the Community Managers here at Face.
Before sitting down and writing my first Face blog I had already decided on my topic – ‘Top Tips for Community Management’.
A simple exercise for an experienced community manager, right?
Wrong.
In a world restricted by budgets and processes, community management sticks out like a sore thumb. On a daily basis a community manager deals with something that frightens the life out of lots of people in business – unpredictability.
When you have a large community, you are dealing with individuality on a large scale. Community members aren’t bound by contracts and have a right to express their opinion, whatever it may be.
The unpredictability of community users (and their opinions) is great in terms of output; however it’s not so helpful when writing top tips for community management! So, I have avoided specific situations and concentrated on 5 general rules that I always abide by…
Know Your Audience
I know this is a bit of a no brainer but it is almost impossible to build rapport with your users if you do not have a method to connect with them. Every research and brand community is a unique environment, so you cannot treat each one the same way. A research community for 16 year old girls is poles apart from a brand community aimed at 16 year old boys, so treat them differently. It always takes a bit of time to develop a consistent voice that your audience will proactively engage with but it is crucial to a successful community.
Be Human
I still find it incredible that so many sites seem to be controlled by automated community robots lacking any kind of personality. To connect with a community, you need to talk to them in a natural way. Just because there isn’t an actual physical interaction doesn’t mean that people will accept being spoken to in a cold, inhuman way. Every person who interacts with a community member has their own personality and it is important to show this, it creates a much warmer and open atmosphere.
Listen
Always ask your members what they do and do not like about your community and act upon their responses. Not all suggestions will be relevant but listening will, without doubt, bring errors to the surface and allow you to make changes. Small errors can sometimes be the most monotonous and will only be revealed after continuous use of the site, it is essential to get these sorted. Not only will this make your site more intuitive but also make the users feel part of an open community.
Stick to Your Guns
Always remain consistent with your communication; clarity is key in a successful community. If anybody questions your actions make sure you refer them to the initial contact and deal with them affirmatively. The easiest way to drive members away is through ambiguity so make sure you lay everything out in the open. If you do need to make changes, explain your reasons to the community.
Reward Responsibly
When running communities you come across loads of different people and lots of different personalities, some you will like and some you, naturally, won’t. This shouldn’t mean favouritism though; it is natural for some users to question your authority and generally those who are most engaged will ask more questions. It is key to reward users on their achievements within the community above anything else. Treating and rewarding users differently will only have a negative effect on any community.
There you go my top tips for creating an open community atmosphere. If you have any other tips which help the community environment please comment!!
Matt
Very interesting post.
Shopping centres. We operate them. they need to become community centres otherwise they will terminally decline. Looking to modernise the experience of them. Community loyalty cards etc. But, need help. Participation is key. Shall we meet?
Mike.
P.S. Get a feel for my take on twitter…