Community Managers are not just Social Media marketing Managers !!

Engagements on various mediums is the call of the hour. Engagement is when , like a surreal song , audience starts sing along , they start sharing it , they start referring and defending it, its when your voice becomes theirs. Promoting tonnes of content on various platforms doesn't gives you a following, it happens when there are connections, when there is communication (the two way types), it happens when there is a community.

Having said that Community Manager (Champion) or CM,  is like a member of a huge joint family under one house (the brand), who knows exactly what to say, whom to say and how to say it. He\she knows exactly to pull what string to result in a particular buzz or for that matter grievance. Its a game of People (Humans) management. When humans are evolved , stakes are on all the senses; from emotions to tones, from words to appearance. [wish we could play on taste and smell as well].

A Community Manager can do wonders to build a brand , driving content and engagements , he/she is the nervous system of a product/service on both on & offline mediums.

Here are some facts about Community Managers :-

Myths :

• Community Managers are Social Media Managers: A very common confusion around the exact profile of CMs is that they are assumed to be only social media managers. Its not 100% correct. Social Media platform is one of the prominent tool used by CMs for engagements as its defiantly a power to be exploited. 
• Community Manager is a minion's post : A very astonishing and false estimation of this role. They are no minions , in fact they are the decision makers, who can decide on various aspects of engagement types and flows and can also turn the entire marketing campaign around. 
• Community Managers are Geeks : No. CMs are not geeks , they are the most smart , most extrovert, most jovial people ever. They do have life beyond their work.
• Community Managers are masked entities: Not necessarily. On the flip side , they are the brand ambassadors drive the force to identity management.
• Community Managers are less analytical : Contrary to the belief, CMs are very analytical in-terms of  mapping the effectiveness and return of any campaign, as that's how they strategies their next step.
• Community Managers are less paid : with the amount of awareness and engagements CMs can drive for a brand, it is one of the best paying job in the market today.

Some Fun qualities of Community Manager, one should look for:

• Best Listeners and Interpreters.
• Great communication !! An extrovert.
• Highly Empathetic values.
• People person.
• Most naughty and funny characters.
• Highly charged up batteries.
• Social media and relationship enthusiasts.
• Good at Strategy Games.

Why become a Community Manager:

• Its pays to be a social person.
• Want to get paid good ?
• Location independence.
• Chance to go to lot of events.
• Social media and Pr is your passion.
• You like working on campaigns.
• You want to build a brand.
• You don't crib. 

Why Indian brands need to emphasis on Community Managers:

• 
• Its a blue ocean.
• We are a social community.
• We love to talk and get addressed.
• We like to take as many suggestions and references on any purchase or association we make.
• We are smart enough to understand a small seasonal campaign from a long term engagement campaign.
• We are busy and we don't like to do lot of research.
• We are always on a lookout for a single point of contact .
• We are going to be a huge Internet savvy population very soon.
• We are very interested in what's trending.
• We do get lost in emotions.

So if brands want to play on these realities of our community (lets face it branding is not all clean and clear, we do play with emotions) , a Community Manager can defiantly be of great help.

Chic, Ultra Modern yet Humanitarian - Marketing Trends in 2014.

Marketing as ever evolving and revolutionary it is , is now transforming into a whole new persona. As the whole world is becoming more and more mechanical and robotic in nature , marketing however has still hold on to its humanity. 2014 is going to see a perfect amalgamation if this humanitarian yet ultra modern and chic  look of marketing where 'PEST' is up for fresh innings.

[PEST : Political, Economical , Social, Technological]

Few steps to watch out for :

1. Politically and Socially correct : last year has seen lot of agitation on politically and socially sensitive matters which were used, published or merely shared on any media. social media for sure is going to be very agile when it comes to such matters and hunts to feed on it. Marketers need to be more wise while using any sensitive matter.
2. Content is Crucial : Content is the key word. Content placement and creation is very crucial when it comes to branding. Content is the fuel for any search engine. Good and crisp content provided better navigation. Attention span of consumer is becoming shorter and shorter , challenge is to grab it even in the 'blink of an eye'. 
3. Customised Targeting: Its no more just about targeting, it about tapping the core needed of customers as specifically as possible. connect with customer at grass root level and receive a long haul relationship. customer wants 'more' , one should be read to supply much 'more'. 
4. Focus on Brands : Brand building has taken a vigorous shape last year, its going to continue in 2014 as well. Marketers have to be care full in attaching right sentiments with their brands in order to stimulate the reception and purchase and post purchase behaviors among the audience.
5. Branding is also services : like any other services branding is now all about retaining customers. All the 'services escapes' are equally applicable i.e. from color, to text, to size, to aesthetics of content, to layout etc.
6. The inverse tree: The direct marketing of association from one customer to many has also been used in inverse manner. Now to woo some important customers , many customers testifies and validates the brand value. Testimonials , referrals , feedback and endorsements are the branches that validates a brand. 
7. Small Videos says it all : Gone are the times of 4 to 5 minutes of videos, crisp, attractive focused videos are taking over ads and long scripted messages. 
8. Info-graphics the new language: long texts and boring passages are being replaced by creative info graphics. Add some color and systematic shapes to your presentations, white papers, e-mailers resumes and even blogs.
9. Due diligence with digital: It doesn't matter if you are present at a particular digital media, it is assumed your there. Its not about one's outreach or the number of followers you have. Its going to be about the kind of buzz you create, the kind of sentiments being raised. It going to be a content war. 
10. Mobile - get moving: forget winning if you are not mobile. Mobile marketing is another powerful tool not yet been used efficiently. With the reach of more number of people to smart phones, Mobile marketing is a blue ocean for marketers to engage audience. Don't just bank on mobile sms , its a war of apps.
11. Geography : GPS enabled devices have erased all the boundaries, now we are targeting to a global audience. Using this technology is another pick for 2014. from real estate to automobiles , from network provides to tourism, GPS and other location based services are going to see a new market.
12. Disintegrate to Integrate: To integrate more life into your efforts , its required to disintegrate that one big effort. Disintegrate a big message to many smaller ones, small ads then big boring ones, many teasers are better then one monotonous ad.
13. The Emotional Quotient : blog are flooded with new mother experiences to a house wife turned chef. Emotion sharing has been a back bone of social media. Marketers are going to intrude more of our personal and closeted emotions to peruse , audience experiencing similar moments. your "secret single behaviour" is not going to be secret any more.
14. I'm Engaged : Like a proposal is followed by an engagement (OK , lets assume for a while!!), similarly consumer engagement with the brand is an outcome of prolonged association , trust , affinity and attraction that a brand creates with its customer. There will be some tears, some smiles and dissatisfaction, but when a brand overcomes all these hurdles and still manages to keep the customer intact, you have a long life association. Harley Davidson has many engaged customers is an example. And they live happily here after.
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