In the world of advertising, community management is currently a trendy issue. However, most companies, especially those with a medium or big customer base, have trouble automating routine tasks at scale and, more crucially, keeping their communities expanding.

The goal of good social media community management is to encourage repeat business and word-of-mouth marketing among your existing clientele. To approach social business in this way calls for a different mindset than social media marketing. In this article, we will go over the basics of community administration and how to automate its expansion.

Are the efforts required for good community management worth it?

The following are some of the advantages enjoyed by companies that have succeeded in creating active and enthusiastic brand communities:

• Save money on providing assistance to customers
• Gain support from a cohesive community of users/clients.
• Increased interest in your brand
• Superior Quality of Service

Customer loyalty results in free advertising through word of mouth and personal referrals, as well as constructive criticism of your business’s facilities, products, and services. Managing a community is the best way to build a loyal customer base for your business.

Even while increasing brand loyalty might boost sales, the return on investment (ROI) for this channel is negative for 90% of companies. Cooperating with preexisting groups might be more cost-effective in some cases. You can save a lot of money as a result of not having to compete for business from a certain demographic.

You shouldn’t start a community just because it seems to be the thing to do at the moment or because some of your social media rivals have already done it. Get your motivations for starting a group straight.

The development of a community occurs in four distinct phases.

1. The Beginning, or Inception

Beginning engagement with a target demographic marks the beginning of the genesis stage, which concludes when the community has grown to a critical mass.

The positive signs of the four pre-launch phases:

• Members spread the word about the community to their friends and family both online and off.
• Community conversations are typically started by individual members.
• Members participate in threads without being prompted by community moderators.
• Community visits become routine for those who join.
• Daily administration of the community is essential in the first stages. Managers of online communities are tasked with sparking conversation, encouraging user engagement, and fostering a sense of community.

Imagine if people in your community don’t reach out to others or start things unless you actively encourage them to do so. If this is the case, you are either not employing the right strategies to build your community or your community concept is flawed (the community isn’t about topics its members are interested in). Possible causes include using the wrong strategy or failing to try out alternative approaches.

Originating

During the early stages of a community’s existence, administrators focus less on individual users and more on the community as a whole. Growth-promoting and community-building pursuits fall under this category.

It’s important to remember that growth management tasks shift throughout the establishing phase:

• Share your thoughts on the local scene.
• Schedule frequent gatherings and outings.
• Obtain help from volunteers and teach them what to do
• Data collection and analysis Conflict and argument resolution
• Establish referral systems
• Strategize effective community-based approaches

Leave growth to chance at your peril; instead, actively encourage it. The major focus at the moment is on expanding current operations. Recruit early-stage volunteers, build the platforms, and equip the team with community management tools to help with the growing process.

Having grown up

When 90% of a community’s growth and development is driven by its members, that community has entered its mature phase.

There is less of a need for community managers at this time. Managing the expansion of the community does not include starting new threads or doing other little duties. The focus of community managers should now be on developing long-term plans and producing lasting results.

It is important to note that the community has reached a growth plateau at this time. The community has reached its full capacity, and this is the inevitable result. Not all that worried about a plateau. It’s the next logical step for a flourishing online group. If you just cared when things were going down, especially if they were going down for a while, that would be helpful.

Management and expansion efforts for an established community:

• Improve the community’s social density.
• Guide the populace in the path of progress.
• Make sure the neighbourhood has clout in its field.
• Take charge of the group of extra workers or volunteers.
• Community technology (software) management and optimisation.
• Set the community’s long-term objectives and vision.

Counterintuitively, the goal now is to achieve the plateau, the moment at which the community has already realised its full potential. It’s safe to assume that everyone in your field is familiar with your organisation since its members are so engaged and its members have a strong sense of community.

Mitosis

At this point, the community begins to fragment into increasingly specialised subgroups. This level of development is not reached by all communities.

Managers of online communities seek out communities formed around specific subjects or hobbies that show promise for future expansion. You might also look for such communities by looking for groups of people that have similar demographic, behavioural, and psychological characteristics.

Conclusion

Shifts in activities are required to sustain the intended growth when developing and administering a community throughout its lifespan. While most companies fall short of their KPIs, there are several ways in which effective use of the marketing channel may boost earnings.

We’ve discussed the many phases of a community’s lifecycle and how community managers may increase key performance indicators by tailoring their strategies to each phase.