Community engagement is a non-negotiable in social media marketing. It’s the cornerstone of presenting your brand with the best foot forward and really connecting with people. But oftentimes, companies’ community engagement tactics are reactive instead of proactive and only address the portion of the digital population already talking to or about the brand. There’s a huge opportunity in proactive outreach to members of your target audience.

Community Is More Than Fans/Followers

First thing’s first, the definition of “community” expands beyond people who are already your fans on social media. Way beyond. A community includes any digital users who share common interests, goals or concerns. (Hint: your target audience.)

A very simplified illustration is if a community member finds themselves at a cocktail party full of your customers, they’ll have no problem fitting in or joining conversations and they’ll want an invitation to the next one.

There’s Always Room for More

The more the merrier! It’s true with friends and it’s true with fans. Community members, because they align with your company’s mission, make great customers and fans. If you clue them in to your cocktail party, make it easy for them to get in and be a good host. Engaged community members are low-hanging fruit for your bottom line. And building your fanbase also helps your community by expanding their network of like-minded individuals. It’s a win-win!

Steps to Successful Community Outreach

If you want to expand your fanbase, you don’t want to spend all your time talking to the community already following you. Nurturing them is one thing, but expanding the network is another. Proactive outreach means finding and providing value to members of your community. It may seem time consuming and hard to do in bulk, but it creates strong relationships. Saving time and doing it well boils down to two steps:

Step 1: Utilize Non-Branded Social Listening

Most digital marketers monitor social media for branded keywords and hashtags. That’s awesome! But take it one step further by monitoring related keywords, too. Pick phrases that would identify someone as a community member. What do your fans talk about? What problems are they trying to solve? Are there any events they would attend?

Twitter is a particularly great platform for this because it’s so conversational in nature and most tweets are public. In Hootsuite or other social media management tools, you can set up a search stream to see real-time posts and even narrow it down by location, like so:

On Instagram or Twitter, if you don’t have your account set up in Hootsuite, native searches are fairly hassle-free. Facebook is a bit trickier, but tools like Tagboard can help you find conversations happening for any hashtag through public Facebook posts, Instagram, Twitter, Vine, G+ and even Flickr!

Step 2: Engage!

When you see a message that identifies someone as a community member (current or potential), it’s time to get your creative conversational skills cracking.

• Take a look at the context of their post or give their profile a quick run-through so you can create a more meaningful dialogue that’s customized to them.
• Hit “reply” and add a thoughtful comment so they welcome you into their conversation.
• Use Mana’s foolproof “state, validate, ask” strategy to make the user feel understood and increase their chances of responding.
• Usually, this is not the place to hawk your product; only include a link to your website if it’s actually useful content.

Tip: Don’t forget to vet them before engaging. You probably don’t want your brand aligned with someone whose profile is full of racist jokes, NSFW photos or even constant contest entries.

Examples (It Doesn’t Have to Cost You Money)

Example 1: Variable Cost

People love gifts and free stuff, so send some when you can! Popular choices include swag, product samples or gifts relevant to the conversation (like a gift card). Once you engage, ask them to privately message you their address so you can send them a little something. The cost is up to you (or your manager).

A recent example of this tactic:

Discovery

While monitoring a related keyphrase on Twitter, I discovered a sad story about a family who fit our community demographics. They had visited Chicago earlier this year and their child had purchased a souvenir. After showing it off at school, he dropped it and it broke! His mother posted a photo of him crying along with the story and I couldn’t ignore it!

Plan

I quickly vetted the mother’s account and saw how well they fit our community (and saw she wasn’t following us) and noted their location. Then I estimated a budget for purchase and shipping and sent the idea over to the client for approval.

Execution

Once approved, I asked the mother for their address and told them I’d keep an eye out for the souvenir over the weekend (though I had already worked a detour to a store into my schedule for Saturday). She happily and graciously gave me their information.

Souvenir in hand, I added some of the client’s edible product and a customized, handwritten note to a package and sent it on its way (addressed to the child).

Results

Not only did this small gesture make a child’s day, they made 2 (yes, two!) videos to document the story that the mother shared with her thousand+ followers on multiple social media platforms. One video showed the child’s reaction to receiving and opening the gift, the other showed his reaction to trying the client’s product (a brand new experience for him). For a small cost we gained 2 engaged fans, reached a new set of audience members and strengthened the brand image. But, just as importantly, we made someone smile!

Example 2: No Cost

Invite them to be an active member of your community by giving them access to it or even introducing them! This simple gesture proves the benefit of being a fan and puts your brand in a good light.

A recent example of this tactic:

Discovery

While monitoring a related hashtag on Twitter, I found a non-fan expressing frustration about being unable to find a suitable recipe for her family’s needs.

Plan

This user would benefit from being connected to my client’s community, I just needed to find an appropriate way to make that introduction and request.

Execution

I utilized Twitter’s embedded retweet function to ask our followers for recipe suggestions that fit the user’s needs.

Results

A handful of followers replied, expressing similar experiences and links to recipes. The original user found one that looked promising and kept the conversation going with gratitude. The client also received a specific new follower almost immediately (any guesses?).

Example 3: No Cost

Use the opportunity to put your brand’s image into practice! This really just means to have a meaningful conversation that aligns with your branding.

A recent example of this tactic:

Discovery

While searching for recent posts using a related hashtag on Instagram, I discovered a relevant user who could use uplifting validation. She had lost out on a job opportunity because of a specific need and was stress-eating (my client’s strategic partners’ product, in fact) to deal with it.

Plan

Staying on-brand meant crafting an encouraging message that avoided negativity and polarizing stances.

Execution

I simply replied with a “treat yourself, you deserve it!” type reply that included an emoji to lighten the mood and make the brand seem personable.

Results

The user was grateful for the encouragement and ended up following us.

Example 4: What Not to Do

I don’t want to call anyone out here (even though I have plenty of screenshots), so I’ll summarize mistakes regularly seen in my feeds.

Don’t:

• Only interact with people using the brand’s name
• Exclude other participants in the conversation
• Link to product information or owned content without authentic context
• Join conversations where it’s inappropriate (gauge this by picturing yourself chiming in after overhearing a statement at a party)
• Join the party too late
• Join in if you have nothing valuable to add

 

There are plenty of ways to engage your community, and outreach is just one of them. Try it yourself by employing non-branded social listening and reaching out. Having trouble? Don’t be shy, the Lightbugs will gladly give you pointers!