Editor’s Note: Hey, hey! Our team at Blackwood has a podcast called The Big Brand Theory! This episode, our host, Kyle Johnson spoke with Joe Sproles, Digital Marketing Pro at Blackwood Creative and Abby Gilbert, Digital Marketing Assistant at Blackwood. 

| SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED |

Content creators and community managers just aren’t the same thing. The reality is, you need both to succeed. The need for both has become even more evident during Covid-19 as many businesses were forced to move operations online and many customers were forced to transition their consumption online. Now, in this new normal, people will expect your business to not only be open as it was before for any in-person needs, but it is now an expectation to maintain all online features you introduced during the pandemic. Because of that expectation and the number of customers who are now online, having a community manager on top of a content creator is paramount in running a successful business.

WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME. WE’RE NOT GOING BACK TO NORMAL, THIS IS, IN THEORY, A VERSION OF THE NEW NORMAL – Kyle Johnson

Content Creator South Bend Indiana

| WHAT IS A CONTENT CREATOR? |

Content creators do what they sound like they do; they create the content. Content for virtually any platform and anything. This is ideally a media specialist who knows their way around a camera and editing software. This person has an eye for trends and is collaborative with the community manager. 

“As consumers, we’re looking at social media beyond just that I want to see your cool content” -Kyle Johnson

In the same way, a content creator is creating meaningful content. While having cool and aesthetic content can look nice, it ultimately doesn’t benefit anyone if there isn’t any substance to it. Meaningful, educational, and eye-catching content is always the best kind of content. Be sure you have someone in place who understands the concept. 

| WHAT DO COMMUNITY MANAGERS DO? |

A community manager is a person whose only job is to interact with your followers in any required way. This could mean a variety of things. They’re responding to DMs, comments, messages, etc, but they’re also interacting with your followers in fun, unexpected ways. Liking people’s posts, commenting back, etc. This aspect of social media is absolutely crucial because it engages your audience, communicates that you care as a company about what your audience is saying, and also involves you in other online communities. 

“You’re not talking to anybody. You’re not giving value” -Joe Sproles

Content is ok and can communicate some with your following, but if you’re not following that up with a conversation, you’re simply not giving value to your consumer.

Community manager increasing engagement Mishawaka
Community Managers are customer service

| COMMUNITY MANAGERS AS CUSTOMER SERVICE | 

If you think about it, community managers are an extension of your customer service team. They’re talking to customers and interacting with your audience. If you don’t have the marketing spend to fit a community manager in, it could be wise to consider fitting a community manager into your budget under customer service instead marketing. This could give your company the flexibility to still get someone in who can keep up with all online social media interaction without having to push budget constraints in other places. After all, having a community manager could make or break your business’s online presence.

| ADVICE TO SMALLER COMPANIES |

Sometimes, taking a second to respond to a notification can feel distracting to whatever task is at hand. While at times it is wise to complete a task before taking a small break, our general advice to you is don’t wait. The longer you wait, the worse the consumer is likely to feel. Also the longer you wait, the more likely you are to forget about it. 

“Being prepared and committed” -Abby Gilbert

Our rule of thumb at Blackwood Creative is no longer than 48 hours if even that. The goal is at least 24 hours. Set a timer or check your accounts on the hour for five minutes multiple times a day. This will ensure you never miss anything and that your audience is hearing back from you. In addition to that, we also recommend being prepared with various, pre-written responses. In many industries, you can predict what most customer questions will be about. Preparing responses to predicted customer questions can save you valuable time and can help the customer even faster. 

Online community through engagement

| CREATE A COMMUNITY |

Your audience wants to hear from you! No one likes leaving a comment only to not get a like or response on it. It’s embarrassing in a way. Encourage other people to engage and interact with you content by being on top of responding to others. Create a community on your page where people feel welcome!

If your current marketing strategy just isn’t cutting it anymore, you’ve come to the right place. Our team of experts here at Blackwood Creative would be more than happy to work with you and help you meet and exceed your business goals. We’re in the business of building remarkable brands – yours could be next. Reach out to us today!

3 Keys to Mastering Social Media for your Business

3 Keys to Mastering Social Media for your Business

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