Evolution-Social-Media-Friendships-7Social media is a true gift to marketing, thus, community managers should appreciate the user-driven communication tool and pay attention to the following to improve their media skills:

The network determines the rules

First, become familiar with the terms and policies of the platforms on which you are represented, before you really take off in social networks. If, for example, your Facebook fan page gets deleted because of a violation of the terms of use, you, as a community manager, hardly have a chance to bring your site back online.

Particularly treacherous is the fact that the platform operators change their policies often without communicating this. Especially Facebook comes here to my mind, which makes Facebook’s Newsroom and Marketing page a valuable source of information for all those who need to be in the know regarding these changes. But, of course, modifications do not just apply to Facebook, but Twitter, YouTube and Google+ as well in the recent past. Given the limitation of tweets to 140 characters, dealing with complex issues on Twitter is anyway difficult to achieve - at most via a link to further information. And in contrast to other networks, discussions on Google+ are amazingly high level content. Therefore, it is important that you know all these distinctive features to master and then adjust your communication accordingly.

In addition, your company’s individual communication style should be recognizable in your communication on social networks to remain authentic and gain the trust of fans and followers. An internal rule to a single tonality is therefore particularly necessary if several employees serve the social services.

Manage the cooperation

Create rules for the sharing on social networks that apply to their users and also within your company. Write them down in your "Social Media Guidelines". This framework determines who is allowed to represent you in social networks, who decides what, and how to respond in case of escalation. But determine there as well how your employees are allowed to react on corporate issues with their private profiles. In particular, large companies should define a "tone of voice".

And just as essential are clear guidelines for users that regulate their interaction with each other on your site. In short: through your “netiquette” you help to neutralize your spam, trolls and insults quickly. Formulate your rules in a clear and unambiguous way and publish them, e.g. on Facebook, as own "Netiquette Tab"

The netiquette even allows you to delete particularly unwanted posts, without incurring the wrath of your fans. However, since the freedom of opinions enjoys a high status on the internet, you should allow more aggressive post as well. Take the writers serious and respond in a reasonable, calm and level-headed tone. In this way you can successfully de-escalate the situation in most cases.

Without doubt you will have to put lot of work and effort in your social media activities, but the many benefits are worth it. So, never forget to thank your fans honestly and sincerely for the profitable cooperation.

For this purpose, it is advisable to regularly offer your fans events and activities that are fun and further enhance the mutual bond, such as e.g. parties or video chats. And keep in mind that these activities can even take place outside of the networks. Have fun!

By Daniela La Marca