Killer Tips for Better Social Media Community

Social media has become such an integral part of doing business. Creating a social media presence is essential for your business or brand to succeed. Being in social media means fostering communities – and this can be a full-time job in itself!

If you have ever managed a Social Media Community or wanted to manage one, here are some tips to help you along:

1: Don’t just broadcast, join the action

Viewers are not only interested in a simple broadcast; they want action and most of all proof. Let your viewers know that you are involved. You must participate, not just passively watch as creating a real story. A true story is what viewers really need. Try to involve the people around you, get into a conversation with them and listen to their story.

2: Provide your viewers with significant information
What would your readers want to hear or talk about? Do some research and monitoring to help you produce a good topic of conversation, be it a status update or a question. If you can find some way to relate your brand or business to this topic, then even better!

3: Be interesting

Once you’re decided what to talk about – how do you talk about it? How do you start this discussion? Sometimes, if a topic is interesting enough, it can get lots of “likes” and “retweets.” But, more often than not, you’ll have to find some way to elicit reactions. A good way would be to ask a question about your viewers – people love to talk about themselves, and asking them for their opinions or about themselves will surely get a lot of reactions.

4: Find that balance

You have to find that balance between being hands-off and dominating the conversation. Sometimes, it’s tempting to just leave your readers alone and let them run wild, or sometimes, you end up just  controlling the whole conversation. Try to answer questions, and certainly, if things are getting off-topic or heated, step in and try to get things back on track. But, if there are some valid opinions that may not match with yours (personal or company), try to answer or acknowledge them gracefully, don’t just go for the jugular.

Managing social media communities need not be a headache. Truly, if you love to listen, and like to act on good ideas, you may actually enjoy it. Plus, you can learn a lot from the people in your communities, so don’t think social media is just a waste of time.