social media Archives

Ensuring Consistent Brand Voice through Community Governance

September 13, 2017 By Jim Storer

When we talk about the eight competencies of the Community Maturity Model people tend to get really excited about the work they do for culture, or content and programming. There are even those among us (Jillian, I’m looking at you!) that get super fired up about metrics and measurement. Policies and governance tends to get overlooked, which is crazy since our research shows that paying attention to the policies in place in your community has a big impact.

This case study from Aetna illustrates how having a comprehensive governance strategy for your community can ensure a consistent brand voice. You’ll learn how Aetna uses a community playbook, comprehensive social media training, and regular social media audits to achieve their community governance goals.

Download the free case study now.

Throwback Thursday – Community Management 101

September 1, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

Looking to get started in community management, or just need a refresher on the basics? Check out these community management 101 resources! We’re highlighting the fundamentals of community management in this week’s #throwbackthursday post – including an exclusive glossary of community management terms for members of TheCR Network!

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on Community Management 101 – getting back to basics with some fundamental community definitions.

Defining Community – The challenge with the word “community” is people mean a lot of different things when they say it, but there are few definitions. Joshua Paul at Socious took a crack at this issue and provided some great suggestions on how to differentiate between several meanings of the word, highlighting the preposition that comes before it. Is it ‘The community’, ‘our community’ or ‘a community’?
Differentiating Between Social Media and Community Management – As someone who works with social media managers and community managers, it seems the line between the two types of positions is not terribly clear – and maybe doesn’t need to be – but I think it would be helpful to distinguish between the two. Why?
Community Types and Terms Defined – There still seems to be a lot of confusion and disconnects when people are talking about their community or talking with The Community Roundtable about how being a member of TheCR Network can help them. And it’s not surprising. Much of the lingo and concepts are still very new in organizations and understanding what lens you view community practices through is important.
Connection, Friend, Member – Who’s In Your Company’s Online Ecosystem? – We came across this article last week about defining your online community to higher ups, and it resonated because people mean a lot of different things when they use the word community. As the article so aptly states, it is hard sometimes to understand if you are “referring to the online community at large, the community of people that your organization interacts with online, or an online community where your customers, employees, or partners can engage one another and support your customers or members.”
For TheCR Network Eyes Only: Community Management Glossary – Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this exclusive glossary of dozens of community management terms – and add the ones you think need to be there!

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Six Tips for Selling Social Media and Community to the C-Suite

August 9, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Amy Turner, The Community Roundtable

Need some help convincing executives why your organization needs to be more active in social media and community? TheCR Network spoke with Jaime Punishill and discussed practical strategies for selling these important social functions to the C-Suite.

Set the Control Function Areas of the Organization Up for “Wins”

The control function areas refer to legal, compliance, fraud, risk, information security, IT, etc. These folks see everything that you are presenting to them in terms of risk and thus have trouble absorbing the opportunity sets. Therefore, Jaime’s strategy is to deal with these groups first, realizing they are perceived to be the blockage to all business so you can move forward versus continually jumping hurdles.  

Ask for Probability and Worst Case Magnitude

When dealing with these control functions, be aware that for every objection they give you, it will be framed up as a 100% probability and the worst case magnitude. A best practice in this instance is to always lead with the question: “Give me probability of magnitude.” When you actually press them on it and get to real probability and magnitude, now you have the ability to frame a business case around opportunity vs. cost vs. risk.

Translate Social Media to the Organization’s Business Objectives

Always present your case in relation to your business objectives. It is the only language that the C-Suite understands. Furthermore, when faced with presenting a crash course in social media and community to help get executives or the control functions on board, do not overwhelm them with too much information. The critical thing is to convince them that you know how to translate social media and community into business objectives.

Frame up the Risk

Sometimes, legal will ask you to put disclosures and disclaimers on everything that is the printed word. That just is not going to work, but they will push for it without even a valid argument. If this happens, tell them to frame up the size and the risk of doing it or not doing it. Then, armed with that information, you can present your case to a business head and see if they are willing to accept the risk.

Show the C-Suite What your Competitors are Doing with Social Media

Show all the things that competitors are doing wrong and that you would never do. This gives legal and the executives a sense of the broad sets of activities, and that you are responsible, careful, cautious and understanding the legal concerns. It also simultaneously shows how you are trailing behind the competition.

 Skinny Down the Ask

How do you handle the second stage of social media, i.e. to garner the funds to help the community grow? Jaime explained that the best way to do this is to get creative and “skinny down the ask” to make it small enough to do the initial experiment that proves the business case. Also, gain an understanding of how your organization manages the P&L and find a business case that people can rally around.

Remember, it takes a risk-taker to sell social media and community to the C-Suite. If that is not you, find a risk-taker in your organization who can support you. Are you that risk-taker, or do you take a team approach to selling to the C-Suite? Share your tips and insights with us!

Friday Roundup: Facebook, Twitter and Social Media Evolution

April 24, 2015 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

Image courtesy of ourpangea.com

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that connecting via online communities and social media is a new
way of communication. LinkedIn was founded in 2003, Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006. Of course there were early social predecessors (here’s to you, MySpace!) but the big three above, coupled with widespread use of smartphones and ubiquitous wifi, led to the explosion of social media. Of course, they are constantly evolving – just like your community. This week we took a look at how some social media platforms are changing and how that affects community builders. Rachel’s post, Facebook Pages and How Social Networks Lost Their Way, sparked a spirited discussion on Facebook and some reaction from Dennis Howlett, among others – we’d love to hear your thoughts, too, either here or in our Facebook group – which is replacing our Facebook page!

Inside the Network, our members had a related conversation with Jeremiah Owyang on a Roundtable call this week. Jeremiah led a discussion on the emerging collaborative economy and how leaders can adapt their models to leverage the power of communities. There was a lively conversation about how leading companies are using the crowd across their organizations – in innovation, product, marketing, fulfillment and customer care.

Things We Are Reading This Week

Facebook Pages and How Social Networks Lost Their Way – I have long thought that Facebook has been on a slippery path, because while it revolutionized the communications and engagement model from a linear transaction to a networked flow, Facebook’s founders built a traditional, transactional business model (advertising based) on top of it. Those two things are in fundamental conflict because they way value is created does not match the way revenue is generated.

The Operating Model That Is Eating The World – Tesla, the fastest-growing stock in the automotive industry, is run by a software engineer. Amazon has a market cap three times bigger than Target, even though it operates at a loss. Instagram, a company with only thirteen employees at the time, was acquired for a billion dollars just three months after Kodak filed for bankruptcy. These are technology companies doing extraordinary things. But there is a larger pattern here.

Does your online community feel like Twitter pre-2009? (It should.) – Earlier this month, we got an automated tweet reminding us that The Community Roundtable joined Twitter six years ago. It was a good reminder of how much has changed in social media in that time.

8 reasons for working out loud and narrating your work – Here are eight reasons for working out loud rather than privately, through email messages, or in closed meetings.

New Social Media and Community Jobs

Community Manager – Food52 – New York, NY
Remote Community Manager – ICUC – Work at Home
Social Community Manager – PolicyGenius – New York, NY
Director of Community Relations Vista Springs – Vista Springs – Lansing, MI
Community Partnership Manager – 211 San Diego – San Diego, CA
Community Events and Promotion Manager – Autodesk – California
Community Manager, Relay For Life – Portage – American Cancer Society – Portage, MI
Community Manager – Zomato – Boston, MA
Community Manager – Wattudo – San Jose, CA
Community Manager – Power Up TV, LLC – Long Beach, CA
Community Engagement Specialist – Alliance Health Networks – Salt Lake City, UT
Community Manager – SNAP Interactive – New York, NY
Community Manager – MassMedia – Henderson, NV
Community Manager – Las Vegas – Curb – Las Vegas, NV
Social Outreach Manager – BuzzFeed – New York, NY
Director of Community Relations – Detroit Red Wings – Detroit, MI
Social Media Coordinator – Planet Shoes – Waltham, MA
Social Media Moderator – Cablevision Systems Corp. – Melville, NY
Social Media Associate – GoGoGab – Culver City, CA
Converse Retail Communications Specialist – Nike – North Andover, MA
Sales/Social Media Coordinator – Hilton Tampa Downtown – Tampa, FL
Retail Communications Specialist – Converse 92 reviews – North Andover, MA
Customer Relations Associate (Social Media) – American Home Shield – Memphis,
PR/Marketing Coordinator – Fundracer LLC – Ogden, UT
Inbound Marketing Manager – ReadyTalk – Denver, CO

—

Looking for community peers to chat with, vent to and learn from? Check out our Facebook group and make some new community friends!

Facebook Pages and How Social Networks Lost Their Way

April 22, 2015 By Rachel Happe

By Rachel Happe, Principal & Co-Founder, The Community Roundtable

I have long thought that Facebook has been on a slippery path, because while it revolutionized the communications and engagement model from a linear transaction to a networked flow, Facebook’s founders built a traditional, transactional business model (advertising based) on top of it. Those two things are in fundamental conflict because they way value is created does not match the way revenue is generated.

That conflict is starting to come to a head – Facebook Pages no longer generate much organic reach through engagement and the latest changes to the Facebook news feed algorithm make it even worse. You have to pay to play. The irony in all of this is that it all stems from the fact that they made engagement too easy.

Let me use BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model to explain. Facebook wanted people to connect with brands, so they made liking a page super easy and gave people lots of triggers to do so – requiring little motivation of people. So people liked a lot of pages, which seemed initially to demonstrate value. Now that is biting them in the backside because people have liked hundreds of pages, many of which they actually care very little about – and don’t want them bumping their friends’ posts from their news feeds. Facebook’s solution? To keep diminishing the percentage of Page activity that shows up in peoples’ newsfeeds and prioritize based on who pays. The new problem? That solution doesn’t align well with what people really want to see, or the way they prioritize pages that have value to them. It’s solely driven by which page owners are willing to pay.

So what are organizations to do? Well, we think owning your own social experience by creating communities is the only way to really protect yourself from the vicissitudes of social networks – and it will feel a lot more like social media did before the big players had to figure out a business model.

Want to be a part of the community for the best community managers? We’d love to have you join TheCR Network! Learn more on TheCR Network page of communityroundtable.com.

Building Reputation: Becoming a Social Strategist

January 14, 2014 By Jim Storer

By Shannon DiGregorio, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

For many social media and community practitioners being viewed as an expert in something that everyone thinks they are great at (social media) can be a real challenge. Just because someone loves Instagram or has 500 friends on facebook doesn’t mean they truly understand that intricacies of managing a comprehensive social or community program. How do you build your reputation as a social strategist – a true expert on social media and community initiatives?

The role of the corporate social and/or community strategist is unique from that of a community manager although the two roles are often done by the same person in smaller organizations. Check out Rachel’s presentation below for an in-depth look at the social and community strategist roles, and how you can build a reputation as a knowledgeable and trusted social expert.

The Social and Community Strategist Role from The Community Roundtable

————
Interested in learning more about training to help further your career in social media, communications, community management or marketing? The slides above are a small portion of the Community Strategist training course offered by The Community Roundtable, WOMMA & ComBlue. If you are interested in that class, you can find more info here: https://community-roundtable.com/what-we-do/training/ and find other classes and online training courses and certifications for Community Managers that might be of interest.

The Value Of Social Business – Infographic

January 9, 2014 By Jim Storer

As we continue the conversation on the value of community management I think it’s helpful to take a step back and think about social business as whole. This weeks infographic, originally published on MindJet is a great look at how companies think about social as a business tool.

Not surprisingly, the highest reported uses are for marketing and customer service. A whopping 77% of respondents are not actively measuring the ROI of their social business programs – more support for the idea that measurement and metrics are huge topics in the social media and community world for 2014.

Is tracking ROI high on your priority list for 2014? What metrics do you have in place to accurately assess the impact of your community or social initiatives?

Advisory:
———————————————-

The Community Roundtable offers customized advisory workshops that are ideal for companies looking to start their journey, build out their community program or grow a community program that is not yet at its full potential. Sessions can be conducted in person or virtually and are designed to meet your needs.

Learn more.

Becky Carroll on Using Educational Content and Idea Exchanges

May 5, 2011 By Jim Storer

The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our series continues with episode #26, featuring Becky Carroll, Community Program Manager at Verizon. Podcast highlights include:

Using educational content rather than product-focused content, to cater to customer lifestyle rather than a hard sell in the “Room to Learn” community.
Using an idea exchange; workflows, processes and partnership with product team
Advice for getting started in community management

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Jay Batson on Open-Source Communities

April 28, 2011 By Jim Storer

The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our series continues with episode #24, featuring Jay Batson, VP and Founder at Acquia, a provider of commercial services around the Drupal open-source web platform.

Podcast highlights include:

Considering long-term health of an open-source community hen launching a commercial enterprise from within it
The kinds of companies adopting open-source community platforms
Can developer communities provide examples for other types of communities

Download this episode

Subscribe to this podcast series

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS