Community Management is Key to Fostering Loyalty

This is probably something most brand marketers don't want to hear, but it needs to be said. A "Like" on Facebook or a "Follow" on Twitter is not "mission accomplished." It is just the beginning of the mission itself. It is essentially "I want to get to know you better," nothing more. Or, if it is a case, for instance, where a Facebook Like was achieved in exchange for a discount or entry into a contest or sweepstakes, all you have done is bought her a drink. The tough part is getting her to go home with you, and then, fall in love with you!

So why don't brand marketers want to hear this? Because so much goes into earning that Like or Follow - promotional dollars, interactive content, a well executed sweepstakes or contest, development of an engagement strategy - all in an attempt to exchange content or monetary value for that elusive Like/Follow. Accumulating a critical mass of Likes on your Facebook page and/or Follows on your brand Twitter account is hard work. It would be great to be able to say at this point that these Like and Follows are your loyalists, that they all hold a strong affinity for your brand. But unfortunately, that's just not true.

There are great number of Facebook pages that have a strong Like base, but when the metrics are viewed and analyzed, the picture isn't pretty. Engagement and interaction levels are low, and heaven forbid the CFO requests an ROI report!! While continued engagement strategies are essential to success in this post-Like/Follow phase, the cost of this continuing interactivity can sometimes be too much for the CFO to bear.

"It becomes a chicken and egg thing," says the Director of Marketing of one of my Blend360 clients who preferred to not be named. "You have to show bottom line numbers to get financial support for ongoing interactive content, but you also need ongoing interactive content to show those bottom line numbers. But connecting the content directly to bottom line results is the greatest challenge." 

Then there is this recent study where more than 40% of social network users told ROI Research that brands should broadly communicate with fans only once or twice a month, and another 26% thought weekly communication was sufficient.  So now add to the mix that many customers may want less communication from companies and what is a marketer to do with all those new Likes and Follows to convert them into loyalists who will eventually become repeat customers?

But there is a difference between broadly communicating with your Likes and Follows and directly communicating with them. Answering questions and engaging in direct conversations is far different than posting countless tweets and status updates and forming numerous discussion topics. And it is here where we find the low hanging fruit.  Investing in a less costly communication management strategy will serve to convert more Likes and Follows to a loyal customers with a strong affinity for the brand better than mostly anything else you can do. I have always said that the honesty of a conversation happening between a customer and the brand is so much more powerful than anything else on a Facebook page, Twitter stream or user forum of any kind.  Empowering discussion topics are great if done in moderation and  promotions and incentives to purchase are all well and good as a loyalty reward, but the relationship that is formed with these methods are often shallow and unfulfilling.

Take a recent InboxQ study (May, 2011) around Twitter practices and customer loyalty. That study showed that 80% of Twitter users said they believed answers to questions posted by businesses were at least as trustworthy as those for regular people, and 60% said they wanted businesses to respond to them on Twitter.

And it gets better. 60% of respondents said they would be more likely to follow a brand that answered them. So a strong community management program will actually help get you Follows, and I would imagine Likes too. Once you have them, that same community management program will be sure to turn these Likes and Follows into loyal customers - the same study showed 64% of respondents would be more likely to purchase from that brand that answered their questions.

This same survey showed that just 21% of Twitter users with under 100 followers and 41% of Twitter users with over 100 followers actually received a response from a business on Twitter.

So, unfortunately, we see way too little emphasis being placed on community management. Perhaps it's because marketers are being wooed by the coolness factor of providing super-creative, interactive content. That's easy and even somewhat effective for big budget brands. But for the smaller business to achieve the same results from interactive engaging content is impossible because the budgets are just not there, and as already stated, drawing that connection to the bottom line is extremely challenging. If you want a relationship with someone, you better be attentive to the other person's needs and be a good communicator. This is also true in business, whether you are a Fortune 500 company or a mom & pop shop down the street. Consumers want brands to pay attention to them, not be taken for granted. That is true empowerment right there.

Community management is key and really should be the foundation of any social media marketing strategy. It remains the most efficient and power way to foster loyal relationships and produce a large customer base that holds a strong affinity for your brand.

Comments

[40deuce]

I couldn't have said it any better myself, Jon. Videos and blog posts are interesting and fun, but beyond that all they are tactics to draw a little bit of attention your way. By really talking and communicating with people you're actually creating a connection with a person and your brand. It's things like that that make a company come to the front of someone's mind when a decision needs to be made.
Personally, I'll remember good campaigns and commercials etc (although sometimes not the brands that even go along with them), but when I've had real interaction with a company I really think about them when purchases need to be made. It's because I've establish a real connection with them not just an "oh ya, I remember that video" type of connection.
I may be biased because I'm a community manager myself, but I fully agree that having a community manager or someone that will truly interact with your audience is almost imperative these days.

Cheers,
Sheldon, community manager for Sysomos

[Loyalty Marketing Consultant - Ant Hodges]

Great post Jon. Content is one thing, engagement is king today.

If people can start to see that engaging with their followers and likes will build relationships with people, then they will start to understand that these relationships will get stronger with constant engagement and in turn will develop sting loyalty bonds.

I hate people that spend all their time spitting out content and not engaging.