The community manager must stay updated and informed about social media and at the same time always take into consideration the needs and requirements of his/her organization's business objectives.
Community management is vital in today's world. I believe that there is immense pressure and importance put on the community manager to successfully deliver both the needs of the online community and his/her organization.
Telus, the phone company, does a great job in community management.
1) Telus is on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube. They use these four tools quite wisely, in order to reach all possible clientele via various social tools.
Facebook: Facebook is used to discuss events Telus is involved in and show the different ways they are helping the community and their clients. They list fundraisers they are a part of, such as Stepping Up, which recognizes people that help their community. They also post about different ways they are giving back to their clients, such as joining WagJag to provide clients with various deals and offers. This is a great way to reach the specific client demographic that is on Facebook.
Twitter: Telus actually has two Twitter accounts. One is used for posting information about events and activities Telus is involved in, as well as a way to "learn, help and share" with its followers/clients. The second account is TELLUSSupport, where you can complain about all your phone and service problems and a Telus support person tries to help you out. There is always a representative from the support team signed in to help you out. I think this is a great way to get instant answers to your phone related issues, and show your clients that you are dedicated to providing them the service they deserve.
LinkedIn: The LinkedIn page discusses information about Telus and provides information about its employees (new hires and people that changed positions in the organization). This is a great way for people to have direct contact with someone at the organization if they wish to correspond with them directly.
Youtube: The Youtube channel is used to allow clients to log in and learn how to use different products Telus offers, such as the new Blackberry Torch. They also post videos on 'why to choose Telus', which is a great way to obtain new clients. If you are trying to choose a service provider and you click on the Telus Youtube channel and get all this information on how to use different devices, allowing you to get information instantaneously, you quickly become impressed with the organization and what they offer.
2) Telus also does a great job with community management within their organization. If you walk into a Telus store and you have a question or a problem with your device, the in-store representative can instantly message or call a technician or service personnel with greater knowledge if further help/information is required. Telus employees are all provided with a phone that allows them to instantly communicate with eachother, if they need help or have a question. They also have a chat forum tool on their computers that allows the employees to communicate with eachother, allowing the employees the opportunity to work together and learn from eachother.
I think Telus takes social media 'seriously' and therefore does a great job with community management.
Personally, I am a Telus customer and have been since I was 13 years old. I think they do a great job reaching out to customers and making their customers feel like the organization is really striving to meet their needs/wants and stand by the services they promise to deliver!
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize how involved Telus was in the social work. They must have a few community managers to manage all of the different platforms they use. I think they use Youtube in an interesting way with the use of how-to videos - this is very helpful for Telus users.
I noticed that you mentioned they have two Twitter accounts. Do you think this is neccesary for companies to divide their accounts? And I'm interested if you have ever seen this before? I don't think in all of my Twitter following and searching I have come across this. I'd be interested to know.
Thanks and great post!
Sarah
Great post Hannah!
ReplyDeleteIt's posts like yours that amazes me what community managers have to do in managing multiple communities like youtube, linkedin and facebook! Not only are they a "jack of all trades" but they're also "jugglers" in managing their social media programs.
Hey Sarah, you know what I havent seen another company have two Twitter accounts, but it seems to me that Telus has a good idea going on! I think its working for Telus since one Twitter account is to deal with issues people are having, whereas the other is to update customers and provide information about Telus and its events, etc. I think if they had only one account, people would get tired of just getting posts about personal phone issues people are having-sort of irrelevant to most.
ReplyDeleteI think Telus is a step ahead of other companies...ahheemmm ROGERS! ;)
You're right Cecilia, I believe that a great importance should be placed on community managers, as they really do deal with the social face of the company!
ReplyDelete