5 Traits That Make a Social Media Community Manager Successful
Social media is growing fast and non-stop. Businesses, organizations, brands, and want-to-be influencers must be present in this space. However, it is not just about knowing how to utilize social media that will make you a great community manager.
Here are my top five personal attributes and skills that it takes to break out in this evolving profession:
Be honest, vulnerable, and open to hearing what people have to say. This will make your audience feel comfortable sharing their content within a group.
For me, empathy looks like sharing my journey through eating disorder treatment and giving people an insight into how my mind works and what I go do to attain recovery.
In order to interact and keep a community flowing, you need to be able to write intriguing stories and present your conversations (or the brand’s) in an organized, well-written manner.
I received my undergraduate degree in Communications and am currently studying for my master’s degree in Mass Communications. However, you do not need to go back to school to become a social media community manager. Check out Talent Solutions’ 10 ways to improve your communication skills.
Dr. Carol Morgan, a communications professor with a Ph.D. in Gender & Interpersonal Communication, stresses that highly personable people know that listening is a relationship tool. It gives the other person a message about whether you care or not. This is important in helping people determine whether or not they want to stay a part of a community.
Within my previously stated Facebook Group and throughout my social media accounts, I try my best to respond to everyone who comments on my posts. I then feel more connected to them and receive a sense of hope that they appreciate me having a further discussion.
We see how far social media has come just within the past 10 years; therefore, community managers always need to be open to change. Trying the latest trends and being willing to shake up your community’s content if need be is important for sustainability.
My newly created Facebook Group, “It’s Fine. Everything’s Fine.” is about spreading positivity in a time of negative internet. However, as my group (hopefully) grows, I will suite it to the needs of my followers, not solely feed them information I care about.
According to Anthony Quintano, TD Bank manager of visual storytelling, one of the most important responsibilities of a community manager’s job is not to continue to push the brand’s message, but to empower the audience and give it a voice.
As a community manager, you must not constantly post content for your audience to see and respond to. I yearn to get my newly created community to start discussions of their own, making it an even more interactive and safe space of the internet.
Do you agree? Would you swap out one of these for another trait that makes social media community managers successful?
