• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • ⭐ FREE Web3 Course
  • 🗓️ Our Events
    • Social Media Marketing World (Mar 13-15)
    • Other Industry Events
  • 💡 Society
  • ⚙️ Tools
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Web3 Business Podcast
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🎯 Partner With Us
    • Podcast Sponsorship
    • Email Sponsorship
      • Email Newsletter
      • Dedicated Email Blast
    • Event Sponsorship
      • Social Media Marketing World
    • Tools Sponsorship
  • 👋 About Us
    • Our Story
    • Articles
      • Web3
      • Instagram Marketing
      • Facebook Marketing
      • YouTube Marketing
      • LinkedIn Marketing
      • TikTok Marketing
      • Expert Interviews
  • Search
  • Social Media Marketing World10th annual. Biggest industry event. Sale ends soon!IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING

    How Community Managers Can Build Lasting Relationships With Fans

    by Danny Iny / June 12, 2014

    social media how toDo your fans feel like they know you?

    Do you show genuine interest in your audience?

    People connect with others when there's an emotional tie.

    In this article you'll discover how to use four traits to win audience engagement and help your business thrive.

    Why Commit to Your Fans

    Being a good virtual citizen requires basic housekeeping like thanking people for engaging with you and promoting excellent content.

    But if that's the only effort you're putting out there, it's likely you have low engagement because your audience doesn't have a true connection with you. They can tell you're just going through the motions.

    kickstarter facebook cover image
    Kickstarter's genuine engagement has amassed over 900k followers on Facebook.

    To have true, consistent engagement, your audience needs to feel like you're investing in them—not just doing your job.

    Four ways you can show you're committed to them (and encourage them to commit to you) are to be vulnerable, generous, interactive and personable. If you can do that, you can take your online relationships from merely friendly to intimate, and eventually, profitable.

    Below I discuss each of the four traits of successful community managers and how you can develop them yourself.

    #1: Express Vulnerability to Connect

    People like to help and support each other, so giving someone an opportunity to feel valuable and useful is a good way to strengthen a relationship. When you admit you're wrong, don't know something or need ideas, others respond to that vulnerability. They want to help.

    Apologizing can be intimidating, especially on social media where everything is public and easily shared.

    When you offer a sincere apology, you have a better chance of a positive reaction. Admit what you did wrong and explain why it was wrong. Follow up with your plan to change your behavior then stick to that promise.

    nivea apology facebook update
    Acknowledge your mistakes sincerely.

    Uncertainty also translates into vulnerability and makes for a good opportunity to connect with your online audience. For example, there may be times when you know you need to move forward, but you're not sure how. Try asking your customers and fans for input.

    The Conference You've Been Waiting For

    As a small business marketer, you can probably only pick one or two events to attend each year. Get back into the game with an unbeatable conference experience and expert training at Social Media Marketing World in sunny San Diego, California—from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

    🔥🔥 As a valued reader, you can save $350 if you act now! Sale Ends Wednesday!

    CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

    Asking for help and ideas can be tricky. There's a line to be aware of here: You want to ask for input and ideas, but you don't want to look like you have no idea what you're talking about.

    Because this is a more nebulous type of engagement, approach your audience with specific requests. Pose questions that have clear, strong calls to action and invite responses. Use “I” statements whenever possible.

    When you approach your audience for ideas, identify your problem briefly and clearly and explain what solutions you've considered. Make it easy for fans to contribute by being specific about the outcome you want.

    #2: Offer Generous Promotion and Sharing

    Give, give, give. Give information. Give laughs. Give support. Give your time.

    The way to the hearts of your fans and followers is to give generously—your attention and your expertise—with no expectation of reciprocation. Make it clear that you have no intention other than being useful and building stronger relationships.

    You can leverage generosity by sharing your knowledge and content, sharing good content created by others and showing appreciation for fans and followers (whether as a group or by acknowledging an individual).

    Your audience comes to you for your expertise, so it makes sense to share your knowledge when asked. As you do, address your fans' questions directly and explain why your answer is helpful. Provide a shortened link to your content so they can click right through and share it if they agree it works for them!

    Tools Resource Guide

    Looking for something to make your life easier?

    Discover the tools we recommend to drive engagement, save you time, and boost sales across your entire marketing funnel or business.

    Whether you need help planning content, organizing social posts, or developing your strategy, you’ll find something for every situation.

    FIND YOUR NEXT FAVORITE TOOL
    wordpress plugin share image on pinterest
    This pin promotes awesome, highly relevant services in an easy-to-use way.

    Promoting your content is necessary (and expected), but it's even better if you can bring attention to other people by promoting their work. Generously bringing attention to others builds a relationship with that person and reinforces your role as a resource for information with your audience.

    When directing people to someone else's content, follow the same guide as sharing your own content: state why it's relevant and provide a shortened link. Be sure to mention the creator of the resource by name or handle to let them know you're directing people to them.

    We tend to think of our online audience as a big, homogenous group, but it's not! It's a group of individual people who have taken steps to get to know you. Singling people out for appreciation demonstrates you're aware of what's going on around you.

    When you do highlight fans or followers, mention them by name (or handle or username) and tell everyone why you're happy they're around. You may even want to give them a little extra traffic by sharing a link to their content.

    #3: Build Trust with Consistent Interaction

    Being interactive means being part of your own community. Talk to people. Respond to them. Greet followers and contacts, thank someone for contributing to the conversation and respond to tags and mentions. (Generosity and interactivity go hand-in-hand.)

    Humans are very good at detecting phonies. You can usually tell when someone actually cares about you versus when they're just trying to get rid of you so they can get back to the day, right?

    Your followers are no different. They can sniff out your lack of interest like a pig sniffs out truffles. Auto-replies won't fit the bill here—they look fake because they are fake.

    If you want to build a strong social media family, take the time to interact personally. It may mean your audience is smaller, but it's also stronger.

    authentic twitter mention reply
    Mayor of Calgary Naheed Nenshi uses both generosity and interactivity to engage.

    Say hello to fans by name if you know them, or username if you don't. You can make your greeting even more personal by mentioning something about their work or their relationship with you.

    If someone shares your content, especially without having been asked, it's good form to express your appreciation.

    Whether your thank-you is public or private depends on the forum you're in. Either way, thank them by name, mention what they did and why you appreciate it. If appropriate, follow up with a piece of content or a resource that continues the conversation.

    #4: Make Personality Part of the Package

    For the most part, community managers and social media marketers who work for big corporations have little to no choice in how they present themselves or the information they share.

    If you have the chance to integrate a little personality with your updates, take advantage of it! Showing the real you makes a big difference in how your followers or contacts perceive you. People like doing things for and with people they like.

    personalized reply from wendys on twitter
    Add a personal touch to create warm feelings about your company.

    Pick one or two of your main interests you can share occasionally (don't over-share!), but keep the majority of your posts focused on your area of expertise and issues related to your company and your audience.

    The key is to find a balance of personal and professional tone.

    As you're finding your balance, define the lines you will not cross. For example, unless you're in a very specific kind of business (e.g., news journalism or gender studies), you probably want to avoid polarizing topics.

    Debate is good, but it's preferable to have the discussion focused on your niche and industry instead of random flame wars (which are commonly brought on when companies share or comment on controversial issues).

    Conclusion

    At the end of the day, being authentic and connecting with your audience as a person and not just a business gets the job done.

    Being aware of the way you present yourself to your fans means you can guide the interaction so it benefits everyone and ensures your online relationships don't become stagnant.

    What do you think? Do you use any of these emotional triggers to enhance engagement? How has your audience responded? Leave your comments and questions below.

    Get Your FREE Course: Web3 for Beginners

    Web 3 for Beginners

    Curious about Web3, but don't know where to start or who to trust?

    Introducing Web3 for Beginners, a course taught by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner.

    Learn the basics of Web3 and apply it to your business with this FREE comprehensive course.


    CLICK HERE TO GET FREE ACCESS

    About the authorDanny Iny

    Danny Iny, founder of Mirasee, host of the Business Reimagined podcast, and best-selling author, is an online educator committed to helping visionary businesses achieve income through impact.
    Other posts by Danny Iny »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (39 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Web3

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Find out how thousands of marketers plan to change their social marketing activities in our 14th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. This 39-page report reveals what marketers have planned for their organic social activities, video marketing, social ads, and more. Get this free report now and never miss another great article from Social Media Examiner.

    Enter your email to get
    our free report:


    Footer

    Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
    Copyright © 2023 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS
    • Accessibility