My personal view on the "community management"

Even the most ultraconservative businessman mind already knows what it is all "this" social networking and what has been called "community management". So my intention today is to reiterate its many benefits (which, no doubt, have), but rather its shortcomings and flaws.

That the current economic crisis is forcing many companies to seek solutions is not new. The point is that many have believed that social networks, converted into a "Stone", save your business from bankruptcy. Nothing is further from the truth.

It is wrong to say the creation of an entire business philosophy around "community management". Even dangerous, if you ask me. Note that the concept existed, as blogs and forums have been with us for many years, although obviously their technological sophistication was much lower.

Encouraged, perhaps, why we have called "Revolution 2.0" today we can find many professionals who call themselves "community managers" or social networking experts. Given that the "boom" in Spain occurred two years ago, it seems surprising that so many professionals have come out of nowhere.

I was not going to upset the aforementioned experts, it is not my intention to question your professionalism. I just want to see that many are so new, and has long been practiced among the professionals of marketing and communication.

Being a "community manager" is able to handle much more than Facebook or Twitter correctly (either willingly can learn in a few days). Even if we add to our wisdom most advanced social networks like Linkedin, Xing or Youtube. The difficult thing is to create an attractive image of our business.

If your company has a bad corporate image, any social networks will make us look better than they are. We're still the same company, with the difference that our negative impact is reaching far more people than before. And this is worrying.

We therefore conclude, that social networks are tools, insist very powerful, to facilitate the diffusion of a business brand. If this brand is attractive and offers added value, the results are good. Otherwise, social networks may not help much.

Keep in mind that most companies in social networks tend to behave alike. If you receive a message, but does not answer ... What image is given? Do all your messages are exactly the same? I understand you have to optimize the time, but no generic messages are a long way.

Social networks make a lot if you try to be spontaneous and creative. Make experiments. You may be wrong but, at least, I assure you will be known and remembered. Find few things more irritating than seeing 50 messages on my Facebook that, in essence, come to say the same.

Provide value to your contacts and choose well to your target audience. 5000 is no use having friends if then, really, most do not even know who we are. Any excuse is good: birthdays, Christmas, congratulations on an article that we have enjoyed ... everything we do be a little closer with our contacts.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, do not forget the human touch. It really helps to not look like "one more" and make a positive difference. Social networks are great for meeting people, but the personal touch remains and will remain vital to building lasting relationships.

Despite all the hype that he wanted to give this new "concept" probably end up becoming obsolete, and many who now work professionally to it, will be in the position of "renew or die."

I would like to quote a phrase, as a final thought, I read some time ago in an opinion piece, "would be willing to hire a marketing expert who did not know of community management, but never hire a community manager who was not a marketing expert ". No doubt, summarizes the main idea of ​​this article.

Jorge Mata Ignacio Arribas - Manager of JMA Consultants - www.jma-asesores.com