Should Brands Disclose the Identity of their Community Managers?

by Manon Leroux

Most consumer brands are accustomed to the idea of having a community manager to represent their brand. If they don’t already have one managing their online reputation and social content, they are certainly aware that they may have to employ one at some time.

But having an individual represent a brand raises some curious questions and many people wonder whether their identity should ever be revealed at all. It can be problematic for both the brand and the individual when they are too closely tied or don’t have a clearly identified role with specific objectives.

Proper precautions must be taken to avoid some of the potential downfalls of having an individual represent a brand online.
For example, you wouldn’t want to hire a summer intern to be your community brand manager because just as soon as they build the relationships with the community they will be gone, or worse, they will not have time to really dive into your business and internal culture to be able to accurately represent the voice of your organization professionally online.

You also don’t want to hire a community manager and give them free reign, because then you run the risk of someone using your brand as a personal platform to promote themselves, instead of your brand.

While there are many challenges associated with having an individual represent a brand online, so long as proper precautions are taken – it is a better idea than having a faceless brand out their trying to make human connections.

The role must be taken seriously, and the community manager must be deeply knowledgeable about the company, its customer service practices and its marketing campaigns. Additionally, the creation and adoption of a social policy is an absolute must for any organization with hired social media representatives, especially a community manager. The more organized you are, the more successful your community management efforts will be.

As a general guideline, be sure to consider the following important points when hiring a community manager to represent your brand:

• Create a social media policy for all employees + outsourced service providers who have the responsibility of representing your brand online.
• Clearly identify the objectives of your social media strategy. What is your goal? Where will you focus? How will you reach people? What are your milestones?
• Create a content schedule and decide what type of content you wish to post each month. Include blog posts, Facebook posts, media type, and Tweets. Leave room for organic fluidity.
• Set goals and milestones and measure the effectiveness of your social media activities so that you know what is working and what isn’t. Review this regularly with your community manager.

I hope you found this useful and would love to hear your thoughts on the topic, please feel free to leave a comment below.