Once you have defined your goals, you now need motivated people to manage the community! What department has these skills? Everything will depend on the organization's structure and goals. It may differ from company to company.
As a social media manager, you will be in the department most related to your goals.
If your main target is sales, you could be attached to the marketing and sales department.
If you work primarily on image, you will depend on marketing or communication departments.
Do you primarily deal with the after-sales service? You will be attached to the customer service department.
Do you monitor and influence? You could depend on press relations (PR).
If social media is essential to your company, you could be attached directly to general management. You would also most likely work transversely with the communication, marketing, commercial, quality, after-sales, or PR departments.
Make sure you have enough allies in your organization who understand your approach and align with your goals.
For example:
Let the sales department know that building a community is a long-term process and that it's necessary to wait for the right opportunities to send a sales message.
Ensure the quality control department understands that your service/product's reputation evolves quickly, especially when there is a problem. Certain situations are urgent and require prioritizing social media complaints.
For example, TURO Skin posted an article about one of their products as recommended on a beauty page in Sheer Magazine, as shown below. The page shows a TURO product surrounded by competing ones. The social media managers were undoubtedly trying to satisfy their PR department by posting the article! It’s rewarding for the brand internally, and it’s important for magazine readers, but not interesting for the TURO community, which is only interested in TURO products.
Ask yourself the right questions. Who will be in charge of engaging the communities and managing daily conversations?
There are several options:
You can recruit a person or a team in charge of community management.
You can also delegate this to an agency or a freelancer.
You can give this task to one or more people in the company, such as an executive assistant, communications director, or product manager. Again, it depends on the goals and the size of your organization.
Determine Your Budget
What is your budget? Everything depends on your goals.
If you rely on a particular department, you'll benefit from a budget earmarked to your tasks. In return, that department will expect feedback, which can be measured:
By the number of people reached, in terms of the rate of engagement (communications department).
By acquisition costs (marketing or traffic department).
By sales volume, average cart, return on investment (marketing or sales department).
By equivalent purchase of space (press relations department).
By positive/negative conversation ratio (quality control department, customer service).
Let's Recap!
Take the time to fully understand the your brand and its values. Then communicate them sincerely.
Organize your activitiesby developing a team in line with the organizations goals.
Define your budget and use resources appropriately. Your budget should have a high return on investment.
Now that you have developed a team and defined a budget, let's formalize your social media strategy!
