The challenges of community management in 2021 and 2022
This article is directly translated from Les enjeux du community management en 2021 et 2022 by Laurent Bour.
The challenge in community management has always been a question of visibility through social networks, and companies can take many different paths to meet this challenge.
More and more companies are taking community management seriously. They quickly realize that they have to be present on social networks and the Internet in a big way.
One reason is to gain visibility, but also to work on their brand image to ensure long term sustainability of their business. Everything goes through the Internet today and being digital is mandatory. For companies who are late to the game, it is even a question of starting their digital transformation.
“The pandemic has considerably accelerated the awareness of the importance of an online presence, and the value of using community management to acquire it.”
The challenges of community management from now until 2022
If the stakes remain mainly centered on online presence, and therefore acquire visibility, tools and techniques to achieve it are different. The year 2021 has clearly contributed to boosting the awareness of these companies.
As for the year 2022, we will undoubtedly see many companies taking the necessary measures and resorting to various tools & techniques. Among those tools are the community management solutions, and Google natural referencing to increase visibility of company/community content. We can highlight all the major roles that are positioned in the digital space, such as digital marketing, inbound marketing and everything that contributes to boost the business online.
Methods and solutions that will allow them to work more serenely, and thus optimize their presence on the Internet, should be quickly put in place.
2021 Trends: Focus on social networks and customer relations
In 2021, social networks are an integral part of the daily life of a greater number of companies, as well as for a majority of online users. For companies, social networks are mostly used for branding, especially through social traffic among the various sources of web traffic.
“72% of connected consumers worldwide use social networks at least once a day.”
Source : Guide #Datamind Tendances 2021 de Digimind « Les chiffres essentiels pour comprendre les réseaux sociaux »
The source mentioned above also tells us that in some countries, people can spend up to 3 hours and 50 minutes a day on social networks. During these last few months of the pandemic, companies have understood it very well. The crisis has allowed us to become aware of the importance of being on the web, particularly on social networks.
Taking community management seriously
By 2022, companies will undoubtedly take community management more seriously, and will activate plans and solutions that allow them to boost their online presence. Believe it or not, there are still a lot of companies today, especially SMEs, that have not yet fully understood the importance of being present on social networks.
The final result can end up in the loss of structure in the long run, since the majority of consumers use the Internet. Without visibility on the web, a company can quickly be doomed to disappear. The pandemic revealed to us the weakness of companies that did not have an online presence.
The customer relationship
The customer relationship is also increasingly built through social networks. We can also see a rise in the use of messengers such as WhatsApp, as community management via messaging becomes the means to communicating with customers. The customer relationship remains one of the few tools that can make a big difference for companies.
Despite this, many companies prefer to use automation tools or solutions, such as chatbots. A choice that in some cases aims to reduce the payroll, and unfortunately the human as well!
Community management 2021/22: the visibility of companies online
If community management is a way to work on the visibility of companies on social networks, it is still far from being enough to achieve it in a sustainable way. Companies must understand the importance of setting up a digital ecosystem, and of all the means to gain visibility.
It is therefore necessary to think about all the sources of web traffic, and the methods that allow them to work effectively. Among those sources, is organic traffic, which requires an SEO and content strategy to be better positioned on search engines. Being at the top of the Google search results is always the ultimate quest of companies present on the Internet.
Referral traffic, linked to backlinks, is one of the most important ways to gain popularity and obtain a better referencing of your editorial content. Along with organic traffic, these are the 2 sources of traffic that directly impact natural referencing.
Social networks can also indirectly improve the SEO of companies, therefore generating traffic to their site. The impact is indirect because social networks will not improve the positioning of content on search engines.
Gaining visibility with social networks
However, there are conditions that need to be met for social networks to improve the visibility of a company. It is necessary to apply good community management and implement several strategies to improve brand image, promote products/services offerings and company events on the networks. It is necessary to establish a real dialogue with customers and prospects on social networks.
With an effective community management strategy, the company will promote social engagement and a sense of belonging among Internet users. By becoming easily reachable and responding quickly to their requests and comments, they will get closer to their users. The company will therefore be able to work on its e-reputation, improve its image, and better develop its sales.
With state of the art community management, a real climate of trust can be created between the company and its customers. An active and consistent presence on social networks is necessary to stand out and emerge.
The main challenges of community management
There are multiple challenges as changes in social networks and community management tools are occurring at a rapid pace. Visibility is always at the center, but once it's acquired, the challenges can be specific to emerging practices or tools that will make the difference.
Increase its visibility;
Work on customer relationships by emphasizing the human aspect;
Build a community of committed Internet users;
Generate more traffic to your site;
Improve and preserve your image;
Acquiring and retaining online customers etc...
Community Management in 2022: Issues that are even more important
As previously mentioned, messaging systems will be in the spotlight in 2022, as they are increasingly used to manage customer relations in companies. They allow us to create proximity with customers and to deal more efficiently with problems.
WhatsApp is one of the most used applications to manage this work. Note that the customer relationship contributes greatly to improve your image and can be coupled with the use of social networks.
“According to the Digital Report 2021 study, 4.2 billion people use social networks today. 2.74 billion people use Facebook compared to 2.291 billion for YouTube.”
This study also reveals that 2 billion people are on WhatsApp, which happens to belong to Facebook. This demonstrates the rise of messaging. All this to say that social networks or social platforms in all their forms, are no longer a fad.
From now on, they must be considered as real means of communication. They must also be seen as powerful marketing tools that can bring real added value to companies. In 2022, it is very likely that social commerce will start to become commonplace. We can expect it to become a sales channel like any other.
Also, in 2022, the most innovative companies will integrate community management in a more cross-functional way to their projects, in terms of communication and marketing. Those who have learned the best lessons from the health crisis will refocus on the relationship and proximity with their customers.
New challenges in community management are already emerging at the dawn of 2022:
Getting closer to their customers (customer relations);
Responding better to the ever-growing and sometimes complex needs of consumers;
Introducing AI to try to gain efficiency (chatbots, writing etc...);
Ability to react and adapt quickly to a crisis;
Evolve by following the trends of the moment while remaining competitive and dynamic in an increasingly connected world.
In conclusion
Community management is becoming more and more difficult, but it also demonstrates that it is a really essential tool to acquire a relevant online presence. To be effective, it is necessary to be constantly on the lookout and to follow trends. Social media is constantly evolving and you have to actively participate to achieve results and be efficient.