You’ve probably heard people talking about community management before. A lot of people think of it as synonymous with social media marketing, but the truth is that the two are drastically different and that they require a different set of skills.
At the same time, though, the two are complimentary to a certain extent. Social media marketing is the process of using social networking sites to achieve traditional marketing goals such as increased sales or more brand exposure. Community management, though, is all about facilitating discussions and moderating where appropriate to weed out any bad apples. If social media marketing is running a Facebook page then community management is running a Facebook group.
Fortunately, building a community around your brand and using social media marketing to sell products don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, if your brand doesn’t have a community around it then social media marketing is almost redundant, because if you’re only using it to try to sell your product or service then nobody is going to pay you any attention.
The All-Powerful Community
So far, this blog has focussed mostly on social media marketing, but the community around your brand can be equally powerful elsewhere. If you’re having an in-store event then you’ll need people to actually show up to it. If you’re writing a blog then you’ll need people to read it. Tactics like paid advertising can bridge the gap in the short-term, but unless you want to keep on paying for the rest of time then you’ll need to build a community. It’s far more cost effective.
Some marketers in more traditionally “dry” industries like finance or healthcare feel as though community-building is less relevant, but that’s not necessarily true. In fact, you might be surprised. There are all sorts of dedicated communities in specific areas, and one of the best ways to build a community around your brand is to take part in discussions that are relevant to your industry. So if you’re targeting hospitals, start talking to doctors.
The beauty of community building is that it also humanises your brand and makes it seem more approachable. Instead of being seen as a faceless brand, you’ll be seen as a collective of people who all know the industry they’re working in. But this will only work if you make sure that you’re adding value to the discussions you’re taking part in. Don’t go into it expecting to sell products. Don’t even mention that you do sell products unless it’s relevant to the discussion.
Conclusion
Community building can be of great value to both B2Cs and B2Bs and you’re missing a trick if you’re not taking part in discussions around your industry. At the same time, marketing and community building aren’t mutually exclusive, and the best approach is usually to go for a mixture of the two of them.
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.