5 Questions to Ask When Hiring A Facebook Community Manager

1. How would you describe your personality?

There really is no right or wrong answer to this question, however, as a Facebook group owner will be drawn to some people and not to others. It’s important that you choose someone who’s personality jives well with your own as this person will be one of the management voices of your group. How they run the group will reflect upon you and your business. It’s essential you feel that this person has excellent communication skills. They’ll need to be professional but also a good listener. They need to enjoy people and have the ability to guide group communication positively.

2. How do you think you could connect with my community?

It’ll be important that your community manager feels connected with your mission and knows your audience. It is my opinion that when building relationships, people can spot fake enthusiasm a mile away! A community manager will be responsible for building rapport with your community and doing so will be much easier if they feel compelled by your mission and the community you serve.

3. What is your experience with social media?

It’s important that your community manager is savvy with social media. The target market utilizing Facebook groups is often hip to trends and changes in social media and it will be important that your CM knows these changes as quickly in those in the group. The person you hire should understand online marketing, social networking and the ability to understand how social media aligns with business goals.

4. What is your experience with Facebook Communities?

A person looking to manage Facebook communities should have had extensive experience as a member of various Facebook groups. I can’t express enough how helpful it is for them to have seen various management styles. I have gathered so many new techniques from seeing what has worked and not worked in the groups I have been in. I don’t think there is any other way to gain these skills than to immerse yourself in them.

5. Why drew you to want to be a Facebook Community Manager?

If I was hiring a Facebook Community Manager, it would be VERY important to me that the person I work with be aware of the amazing opportunity Facebook groups have to change people’s lives. I would hope that they had experienced a change in their own lives by which a Facebook group was the catalyst. In my own experience, while pregnant I became frustrated with standard western medical care and asked my Facebook friends if they knew of any resources for me on Midwives or Doulas. A friend I hadn’t spoken to in years introduced me to someone in my community who was aware of resources. In our connection, she shared with me a local Facebook holistic community I swear changed the whole course of my pregnancy, birth, and parenting since then. I am forever thankful for the connections I made because of that group. I eventually became a community manager of the group and still manage it to this day!

If you are contemplating creating a Facebook Group for your brand, you are ahead of the game. You realize that traditional marketing efforts alone will not reach your target market as effectively as they used to, especially if you are targeting millennials. Hubspot says It takes an average of 18 calls to actually connect with a buyer. They also say that the average person deletes 48% of the emails they receive every day. Traditional marketing is just not as effective as it used to be. People expect more, and with Facebook groups, you can deliver!

In case I need to convince you, here are 3 reasons you should have a Facebook group for your brand.

Build Credibility-

A Facebook group gives you the unique opportunity to give people an option to get to know, like and trust you without very little effort on their part. They can observe if they so choose and they can come and go as they wish but it is my opinion that because of this they are likely to stay in your circle for longer then if they feel obliged to buy or sign up right away. This also allows you to do market research and validate your ideas before you invest too much money in them.

Build Relationships & A Loyal Following-

Facebook is meant to be social and while business pages have their place, they can’t ever fully cross into a genuine relationship as much as a Facebook group allows. In a Facebook group, your followers become followers of one another. They identify with your group. They grow with your group. They attribute their success to your group and all that it has offered them. In return, they feel a sense of loyalty to you and your brand. Of course, this is if you run your groups well, mostly by contributing time and value.

Play the Facebook Algorithm Game-

If it seems like the Facebook algorithm is ALWAYS changing, it is. Facebook is actually running several different algorithms at the same time to test them. This can make marketing on Facebook a challenge but in the latest algorithm change, Facebook Groups win. Immensely. Facebook has said they will focus largely on content that encourages meaningful interactions between people. Now my Facebook feed is nearly 90% groups posts!

If you run your groups well, contribute your time and value, you too can reap the benefits a Facebook group can provide. If you think you might be interested in starting a group but may need help, please feel free to contact me about my Community Management services at Jackie@JackieSocialMedia.com

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re a Property Manager or Leasing Agent you are ALWAYS aware of your occupancy rate. I know this because I worked in property management for several years and most of what my duties came down to was filling those upcoming vacancies as fast as I could and keeping them filled as long as I could. During my time in the Apartment Management industry, there was one untapped resource, and that was social media! We used it but at the time it was usually just a task added on to whoever had a personal Facebook page and knew enough about the platform to post our vacancies. Oh my how things have changed! Now, I’ve made a career of managing social media for businesses. Moreover, many management companies are entrusting the experts to partner with them to be the voice of their communities. By now I hope everyone is aware that when utilized to its potential, Social Media can drive your occupancy rate up! Below I’ll share with you tips to make it happen!

Provide A Great First Impression

According to Digital Marketing Magazine, 3 out of 4 consumers consult social media before buying a product. How many people do you think to look at your social media before even making an appointment for a showing? There are loads of ways you can achieve this goal! Be professional! Use quality branded photos, maintain a friendly disposition in comments and be appropriate in the handling of negative reviews.

Build And Maintain A Relationship With Current Residents

One of the best ways to drive your occupancy rate up is to keep a connection with current residents. You can do this by providing them value. Post about events in your community, highlight why your neighborhood is a great place to live, post reminders of when the pool will be open or how to pay rent online. Another fun one is to post photos of events your community has hosted!

Engage With Prospective Residents

This is a fun one! Remember when I suggested posting photos of events your community has hosted. If there are photos of residents, it’s likely they’ll share those with their friends. This is almost better than them actually recommending your community to their friends, instead, they are showing them what a good time they have while living there. Another way to connect with prospective residents is by liking their tweets or direct tweeting to them on Twitter! Using this avenue you don’t even have to wait for prospective residents to come to you, you can go find them!

If you would like to connect with me to see how I can further help you please feel free to email me directly at Jackie@JackieSocialMedia.com

 

Let’s talk hashtags! When to use them, when not to, what ones to use and on what platform.

First, What is a hashtag? Hashtags are synonymous with the # sign but when utilized in the right fashion they can be amazing tools because they are used to categorize messages on specific topics. For example, on Twitter, you can search “#HappyEaster” and you will bring up all tweets that have used this specific hashtag. Those who have used this hashtag are likely talking about the recent holiday. Searching common topics such as this or hashtags specific to your business will allow you to start conversations with potential clients and/or professionals in your field. It’s time to use hashtags! Each platform has a bit of a different way of utilizing them so check out these quick tips to get you started.

On Twitter

It is suggested that you use only one or two hashtags because the use of more can drop engagement but 17%.

Users are more likely to retweet if at least one hashtag is used.

40% of tweets with hashtags get retweeted.

On Facebook

Use hashtags but in moderation!

It is great to use hashtags specific to your particular industry.

On Instagram

Hashtags are heavily expected on Instagram, use them and a lot of them!

Quicksprout states that the magic numbers are 11, 11 hashtags are most effective.

On Pinterest

You can use hashtags but searching for them in Pinterest is unreliable and often pulls up irrelevant information.

Having too many in your descriptions may negatively impact your ranking.

In closing, hashtags can be an amazing tool if you take the time to get acquainted with them and they will add to your social media presence in a positive way if done well!

Happy Hashtagging!

#HappyHashtagging
JackieSocialMedia.com

1. You’re passionate about other aspects of your business. They are passionate about social media! Outsource the aspects of your business you are not drawn to because often you are not the best person for the task. A Social Media Virtual Assistant lives and breathes social media. They have chosen this one specific area of business building as their niche for likely the same reason you chose the field you are in.                                                                                                                      
2. They can be an extension of yourself. They want to learn as much about your business as possible because they are the voice of your business.                                                                                       
3. You know you should be doing more with your social media but you’re either too busy with other more pressing to-do’s or you don’t know where to start. Handing the social media off is like you checking it off your to do list.                                                                                                         
4. The online conversation about your business is already happening, you have to decide if you will be part of it and a social media virtual assistant can help cultivate a positive conversation. Also if the conversation isn’t positive, sometimes it’s helpful to have someone who has experience with online customer service respond vs. an employee who may not have had to handle this situation before. Also, your VA (virtual assistant) is not as emotionally attached to your business and may be better able to respond professionally more efficiently. Most social media virtual assistants would talk to you about this strategy in advance but having a person speaking for the company would prevent rash responses and responses that come from a place of hurt.                                                                                                                                                   
5. A virtual assistant is usually cheaper than hiring an employee. They don’t acquire vacation or benefits and they don’t even require office space!

 

If you are considering hiring a Social Media VA, head on over to my Contact Me page and let’s start a conversation!