Marketing December 12, 2014

SMXChat Recap: Successful Social Media & Community Managers

Every Tuesday at 3 pm EST the Social Media Managers, Community Managers and On-line Marketing communities come together to chat about all sorts of related topics. Everything from best practices in Social Media, new platforms and the future. This Tuesday’s Twitter chat was a bit different. Instead of the usual to the point questions SMXChat asked fill in the blank questions.

Here are some of my favourite responses including my own to this weeks questions:

Q1) As a Community Manager, my most important role is ______.

A1) As a Community Manager, my most important role is to be dedicated, at ALL times.@SMXChat #SMXChat pic.twitter.com/urgrka5Kmx

— Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

@SMXChat A1: Engaging with our audience, social listening, sharing and creating relevant and helpful content, and following up. #smxchat — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) December 9, 2014

A1 CMGRs are at the front line of everything – cust serv, sales, feedback, training..we are the go-to guys & gals for the brand #SMXChat

— Movy (@movystream) December 9, 2014

A1. Never ignore a mention/message. People always need to be responded to—even if you might not want to. #SMXChat — OUTSIDER (@outsider_nyc) December 9, 2014

Q2) When my Mom asks what I do as a Social Media Manager, I say _______.

A2) …I’m a part of the growing future of online #marketing. And then the details.. #smxchat @smxchat

— Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

A2: I help foster realtionships between companies and consumers. #SMXChat

— Stephen Willlis (@eclecticmkt) December 9, 2014

Good asnwer! MT @vegecomgirl: A2. When my Mom asks what I do as a Social Media Manager, I say juggle a lot of things at once hehehe #SMXChat — Mark Salke (@marksalke) December 9, 2014

Q3) If there was no internet and social media, I’d probably be a _______.

A3) Q3) If there was no internet and #socialmedia, I’d probably be a #marketing manager. Close enough ;”) #SMXChat @SMXChat

— Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

Q3 may be the perfect question to prove the fact that so-called social media marketing is just marketing. #SMXchat — The Gary J. Nix® (@Mr_McFly) December 9, 2014

A3. Nun? #smxchat

— Ernestine Chua (@tyna__c) December 9, 2014

Q4) If someone asks me how they could gain the skills required for my role, I tell them _______.

A4) If someone asks me how they could gain the skills required for my role- Step 1: dive right in! Learn from doing. #SMXChat — Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

A4) If someone asks me how they could gain the skills required for my role- Step 2: Study all platforms. #SMXChat

— Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

A4) Step 3: This is your checklist: Strong communication, empathy, be organized, know your analytics & find a brand you love #SMXChat — Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

@HumaraKausar Yes to the study all platforms and then determine where your audience is. #smxchat

— ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) December 9, 2014

@HumaraKausar Yeah, diving in and learning the platforms/becoming a real user certainly helps! #SMXChat — Top Ten Reviews Biz (@TopTenSmallBiz) December 9, 2014

@ThinkSEM @SMXChat “Nothing like turning yourself into a case study and developing your own portfolio” Great Advice #smxchat

— Katyan Roach (@KatyanRoach) December 9, 2014

Q5) My inspiration comes from _______.

A5) My inspiration comes from real life learning’s and interactions. I bring it all to the social world and it’s magic! #SMXChat — Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

Q6) If I was to teach a course on what I do, I’d call it _______.

A6) If I was to teach a course on what I do, I’d call it “Mastering the real struggle of the juggle with Social Media” #SMXChat

— Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) December 9, 2014

@HumaraKausar The juggle is real. #SMXChat

— Brandon Seymour (@Beymour) December 9, 2014

A6) Create, Tweet, Adapt, Repeat #SMXchat pic.twitter.com/xFIEnehMG7

— Stephen 'Paddy'Dyson (@SDXcreative) December 9, 2014

Marketing June 20, 2014

Online Community Manager Tips

Online Community Manager: a growing and developing profession. People in this position work to build, grow and manage online communities around a brand or cause.*

I was recently approached by Sprout Social to be interviewed for their Community Manager Tips segment for their blog and to be shared on their various social platforms. Here are my quick tips:

Sprout Social is a social media management tool created to help businesses find new customers & grow their social media presence. With all of the platforms out there I must say that this platform is not only aesthetically pleasing but has everything you need to successfully manage your social media presence. I’m using the free trial now and so far, really good!

If you’re considering to be an Online Community Manager, I’d follow this check list to see if you have the skills and are prepared to take on this role.

1. PATIENCE – You need a lot of it. Building a community takes time and instant gratification.. well there’s really no room for that. You’ll see smaller gratifying interactions at first within the community you’re building and eventually will see it grow into a bigger community. With time it will become easier to attract more people. Be creative, have fun and people will follow!

2. WEARING MULTIPLE HATS – Often those who are online community managers are social media managers and manage other online marketing aspects of their companies. Sometimes it works, especially since the same online voice and information flows through all the online avenues. Your followers can pick up on it. But in some cases, especially if you have a large community it can hurt your companies growth. Investing in someone to focus on one crucial aspect of your social presence, be it your tweets/posts or building a community, works in the companies benefit. More time to brainstorm new fresh ideas and more time to create compelling content.

3. ANALYTICAL – Decisions you make as a community manager are usually based on data you have gathered through your social media. Whether it was a post that was worded differently and it got more views or if it was a tweet or post directed to a specific demographic. If you can understand that data and action it for the benefit of your community. Then my friend, you’ll do just great!

4. STRONG WRITING SKILLS – You’ll be writing a few sentences or one sentence post/tweets that will have to hold a STRONG message. Can you do that? Can you send a STRONG message to your brand/companies community that will impact them?

5. ONLINE PRESENCE – Do you have a Twitter, LinkedIN, Instagram, Google+ or better yet a blog? Because if you don’t then this role isn’t right for you. Create a colourful online presence as it shows dedication and your passion for this role.

What social media managing tool do you use and what do you love the most about it?

*Wikipedia definition

Marketing March 7, 2014

Women: Social Media Leaders – Why are they on top of the Social industry?

Is it a big surprise that women are social media leaders today?

(P.S Happy International Women’s Day!)

Let me just dive right in. Historically it is proven that women understand emotions and are more nurturing than men. Women are known to have a higher emotional intelligence.

is regarded as a far stronger predictor of success – in work, love and life – than traditional measures of intelligence, with 90% of leadership success being attributed to a high EQ.*

I believe emotional intelligence plays a key role in social interactions. A huge aspect of social media is interacting and engaging with your audience. Emotionally captivating them to continue to follow you on which ever social platform it may be. Women love to nurture relationships and create a strong foundation for a long term relationship. Don’t get me wrong, there are men out there who can do exactly the same thing. But a higher percentage of women can do it better and it comes naturally.

Take a look at the below infographic and tell me what you see from an overall perspective. Do women spend more time leading the social media world than men do?:

Could it be that women love their smartphones and social platforms more than men? The answer is YES. According to research compiled by FinanceOnline, which was taken from PEW, Nielsen, and Burst Media, women run the show when it comes to social media.

The big concern now, is desktop usage is migrating to mobile use. Will men adopt to this change? Well, only time will tell. My solution, as social marketers we should be focused on how we can get men more excited about social. We need to see more studies on what captures their attention and then evolve.