Martijn Baten

Community management, an industry still in its infancy, came a long way in 2011. Many businesses no longer ask “What does a community manager do, and do I need one?” but rather “What makes a great community manager, and when can I hire one?”

The role is far from being standardized from organization to organization, and may never be. Yet today’s digital trends will affect community managers in a variety of businesses. Some have already begun chipping away at them.

While some aspects of the job may never change — constant multitasking, quick judgement calls, critical thinking — CMs have much on the horizon in 2012. Here are four predictions of what’s on tap for community management.

1. Perfecting Post Timing

When SMO came on the scene, the technique didn’t stray far from its big cousin, SEO. Social media editors and marketers have focused on using the best tags and keywords to make updates more findable and clickable.

In 2012, timing will play a big role. As we learn more about social networks’ traffic peaks, tools like SocialFlow and Page Lever are creating systems to help us determine when to post social updates. SocialFlow’s algorithm senses when the maximum amount of your Twitter followers are online, paired with knowledge of topics they tweet about, to push a tweet at the most optimal time. For Page Lever, it’s all about understanding how Facebook‘s EdgeRank algorithm works by sending a status update as soon as your last has left your fans’ News Feeds.

Overwhelming audiences’ social streams to the point of annoyance has always been a concern. Honing in on how to most effectively distribute more content is what will take social media strategy to the next level this year.

2. Community-Driven Content and Products

The way user-generated content typically works: 1) a site launches an initiative; 2) puts out a call to its audience for submissions; and 3) uses those submissions in the way that works best for the site. As content creation becomes increasingly simple for the average user, people are creating feature-able content on their own — without site-inspired calls-to-action. We’ll soon see more brands and organizations taking this already existing quality content and incorporating it into their products.

Instagram has already helped pave the way for this by including four new user-created photo filters in its September 2.0 release. At Mashable, we’re featuring YouTube videos created by community members in our weekly Cover Song Face-Off series. Artists are thrilled to be recognized for creations born of their own passions.

In 2012, community managers will see beyond the content they ask their audiences to create. They’ll start curating the best of the web that’s already there — and community members will love them for it.

3. Optimizing for Mobile

The year 2012 is bound to see a new type of optimization: mobile SMO. According to comScore, nearly one-third of U.S. mobile users access social media on their devices — and that number has nowhere to go but up.

Now it’s up to social media editors and marketers to understand mobile user behavior and use that knowledge to best connect with their audiences on smartphones and tablets.

Keep in mind is the variety that comes with mobile devices. Not only do screens come in many sizes, but access can come from several sources, whether it’s a mobile site, app or content aggregator. These options will only increase as we move forward in the mobile market. It presents an exciting opportunity for community managers to connect with their audiences in a new and ever-important way.

4. Mass Appeal on Niche Networks

 

 

While Twitter and Facebook are no-brainers for digital strategists, many have yet to tap into the beauty of niche social networks. These sites, including Pinterest and Stamped, popped up left and right in 2011 — and they don’t seem to be slowing down. For community managers, this means it’s time to get on the bandwagon.

Niche social networks may be a less obvious win than larger, more established networks because the overall userbases are smaller. However, niche sites provide highly-targeted environments. While your reach may not be as expansive, you have the opportunity to connect with specific demographics. Twitter and Facebook are often so congested it’s tough to pinpoint communities that share a common interest with your brand.

As social users seek places to share content around pinpointed interest areas, spaces to do so will continue to arise. In 2012, community managers will not only leverage niche networks to connect with their audiences, but will also use them to engage more effectively than on larger networks.

We can’t predict the future, but 2011 gives us reason to believe these four trends will take the cake this year. Still, community management is a budding industry and these are only some of the changes 2012 will bring. What else do you think is on the horizon for community managers? How might their roles change and where is the industry headed? Whether you manage a community or are a member of one, share your thoughts in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Flickr, Marc Wathieu, jima

De laatste dagen van het jaar zijn altijd gereserveerd voor het luisten naar de Top 2000 van Radio 2. Martijn Arts maakte een mooie infographic met een aantal boeiende statistieken uit de lijst.

Het Engels magazine Contagious heeft de trends op het vlak van branding, technologie en populaire cultuur van het afgelopen jaar op een rij gezet. Dat heeft geresulteerd in een mooi en overzichtelijk document. Zo op de laatste dagen van het jaar plezierig om te lezen!

Infographics zijn er in alle soorten en maten te vinden. Ze maken data visueel en tastbaar. Ook in het afgelopen jaar zijn er weer een boel mooie gemaakt. De website FastCoDesign heeft er 22 naast elkaar gezet.

Yesterday, Twitter announced  the launch of its highly-anticipated brand pages.  The move is being lauded as the next logical step for the social network in attempting to bring its offerings in line with competitive services for companies-- like the already-launched Google+ brand pages and the perennial favorite Facebook pages.  But how exactly will the changes help brands or change the way they interact? 

First, the the pages offer marketers more branding opportunities.  A large banner on the top of the page will let you show off your logo or other creative without worry that it'll get lost behind the Twitter stream like your custom background images may on your current pages.  

Second, you'll be able to make a tweet sticky, but pinning it to the top of your stream-- with media like photos or videos-- for as long as you choose. 

These features sound-- and are-- good news to marketers who've wanted better tools to create a destination for their audiences on Twitter.  But remember, the majority of interaction with your followers on Twitter happens in the stream, not on your brand page.  So while these new tools will let you position your Twitter presence better to capture new followers, you still have to have a clear strategy for engaging your followers once you've got them...

Which brings me to the change that I think will make the biggest difference to marketers-- and it's not on the brand pages themselves.  The brand pages were launched as part of a general redesign, which includes a feature they're calling "Discover".   Think of it as a more robust-- and smarter-- version of clicking on a hashtag.   Twitter describes it like this, "When you use Discover, you’ll see results reflecting your interests—based on your current location, what you follow and what’s happening in the world. As you use Twitter more, Discover gets even better at serving up more content just for you."  

The content a user explores in Discover will include images and video in-line, creating an experience that almost looks more like Tumblr than the Twitter you're used to.  All of this means that while the design of your brand pages will be more compelling, the content you create is where you can really have an impact.  If you're looking to take the fullest advantage of this Twitter redesign, you should be thinking about how you can make your content as compelling and relevant as possible to your audience. 

Shocking advice?  Certainly not.  It's the same principle that successful Twitter marketers have been following for years. (More on that, and other Twitter principles, in an upcoming report.)  But now you can expect that your most creative elements will be seen in the stream-- and your most relevant content will be Discovered by more users.  So the biggest change isn't what you're doing on Twitter, but rather how seriously you take your Twitter content strategy. 

So what do you think, marketers?  Are you excited about the changes?  

via blogs.forrester.com

Afgelopen zondag kon je bij de BBC de documentaire 'Inside Facebook' zien, gemaakt door Emily Maitlis. In de documentaire krijg je een uitgebreid overzicht van de ontwikkeling van Facebook voor- en achter de schermen.