What is Community Management & Why is it Important in Marketing?

Social media, for example, is always providing a consistent stream of content for everyone to view and benefit from. But in this modern age, and as things change, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to target relevant audiences through content marketing alone, which is why marketers are now looking towards community management as a way of reaching more people and ensuring they engage with the content they’re producing and sharing. But what is community management and why is it important in the marketing industry?

What is community management?

Community management is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s the act of engaging with your online community via social media to fulfil the needs of your target, relevant audience. It can be done via a variety of means, including: responding to comments, asking questions, liking posts, sharing valuable content and more. 

It’s the art of recognising how important social media is when it comes to marketing strategies as you’re directly involving those within the community. This is important because it is those people who you rely on to make sales and build relationships with.

Why is community management important in marketing?

Where companies count on a variety of marketing strategies, including content and social media, for example, it might well be correct to assume that some marketers haven’t yet considered the benefits that community management has to offer in the field. Community management is important for the following four reasons:

It keeps things relevant

The internet is constantly evolving. Therefore, it’s important that you must evolve with it. This is why keeping things as relevant as possible when it comes to establishing a brand and retaining customers is so important. But this is also where community management comes into play. 

One way in which you can be relevant is to offer up your own opinion by adding it to a trending conversation, whether it be online or otherwise. But be careful not to offend anyone in the process. Simply use it as a platform upon which your voice can be clearly heard. It shows you’re both aware of, and keeping up with, the latest trends, which will help to build trust between yourself and your customers.

It adds credibility

Social media users are more aware of fake news and accounts online, especially when it comes to trolling. This lowers community engagement considerably and, in turn, reduces trust between customers and a brand. Your main aim is to add legitimacy to your business. This builds trust and makes it more likely that your customers will choose you over your competitors for their every need. The more legitimate and trust-worthy your brand is, the more credibility it adds and this can be done, simply, through community management.

It creates humanised content

Automated responses on platforms such as Google Reviews and other sites isn’t the way to go about building relationships with your customers. Incorporating community management into your strategy is a great way of making your brand seem more human. It lets your customers know that you’re making the time for them all, individually, and not just giving each and every person the same response. This humanises your business, making it more likely that customers will return and remain loyal to you.

It builds relationships between a business & their consumers

This is something that can be achieved in multiple ways, but it’s often something that can be done via the comments section of your articles or news or blog page. The comments section should be thought of more as a virtual room that a company can use to speak directly with their customers and vice-a-versa. 

It might also allow you the opportunity to talk with prospective clients or with people who you might not have otherwise encountered in real life. Use this as a way to get to know your customers and what they want. Brand loyalty can also be established in the process. In addition to that, you may well experience an increase in online followers, depending on the customer service.

To conclude…

Statista claims that 44% of people are spending more and more time on social media, now more than ever. Community management provides marketers with the opportunity to see exactly what their followers are talking about and what is currently trending. It’s essentially about building relationships and maintaining them whilst creating a solid, loyal following in the process. If you don’t feel confident enough to execute community management strategies yourself, then look to a dedicated marketing agency, such as us here at Kumo Digital.

Kumo Digital is a highly-experienced digital marketing agency with an extensive range of industry knowledge to draw upon. With a specialised team of SEO and PPC specialists, as well as content creators and website developers, you’ll be in good hands with our innovative, forward-thinking marketing team. If you want to set yourself apart from your competitors, get in touch with a member of our dedicated team today – we’re pleased to serve clients throughout the UK and who work in a wealth of industries.