We don’t just build websites; we build communication channels between our clients and their customers, prospects and target market. These sites are meant to be driven by sales, marketing, public relations and customer support teams to manage customer-facing communications with their clients and prospects.  Depending on your content commitment, you will find that having help will allow you to bring your vision to life more rapidly.  Start with your internal staff and fill the gaps with experts where needed.

You can have many people communicating your messages and interacting with your audience on a regular basis, but minimally you need one: the Community Manager.

Working to build, grow and manage communities around a brand or cause, Community Managers have a wide range of responsibilities:

• Brand Evangelism and Protection: Controlling the direction of the online presence, providing the strategy and goals for the program.
• Writing and/or Approval of Content and/or Messages: Blog posts, articles, newsletters, communications materials and material for other social media channels
• Social Media Marketing: Creating, managing and growing company’s online network
• Event Planning: Monetizing your network by filling internal events and trade show visits
• Public Relations: Managing relationships with media, bloggers and content partners
• Legal / Regulatory Concerns: Monitoring any special considerations for your industry
• Customer Relations: Answering questions and providing company’s public-facing communication.
• Business Development: Monetizing your network with leads and sales
• Analysis of feedback and site reviews: Continually looking for ways to increase your Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and serving as a good ombudsman for your network

From what I know about Community Managers, they work tirelessly to watch the feedback and make alterations focused on their goals. Companies with successful social media programs often have one of two people operating in this role: the business owner or a marketing manager.

We are talking about marketing with extensive feedback mechanisms.  When a campaign is not as successful as you hoped, learn from it, make adjustments and try again.  It is a lot cheaper to test a blog post than a billboard ad, the metrics give you clearer insight and you can change it on a dime.

New networks don’t grow overnight. You get what you put into it.   Your site, content, sales funnels and messaging can always be better. The programs scale with your commitment.  For start-up businesses and local business owners, it will be more important to establish a plan that fits with your commitment level, available staff and budget for help.

As a small business owner, I know what it is like to wear multiple hats.  I also know the sigh of relief when you find good people that meet your expectations.  My intent is not to scare you – just having a presence in the social media channels is better than nothing at all.   My focus is on giving you the tools to enter social media at a pace you are comfortable with and provide the support system and talent when you are ready to expand your programs.

Our company doesn’t manage communities, we make Community Managers look good.  We are tirelessly working on our processes to make your job easier.

We have developed a planning kit to help business owners and marketing managers prepare for integrating a social media program into their marketing mix.  We are offering it free – no obligations – to those serious about opening new doors to their customers.   Download it here and share it with your friends.