How to build an online audience through Community Management
Think about some of the popular brands, restaurants, or even sports teams. What do they all have in common? They have a dedicated following who go out of their way, even traveling from state to state, to engage with them just because their loyalty runs that deep.
Now, think of this same idea in an online social media setting. In the AOL era, online chat rooms were where like-minded users gathered to discuss common interests. Fast forward to today, it’s slightly different: those AOL users are now on other platforms, engaging in similar conversations in Reddit forums, TikTok comments, and Facebook groups.
As a company looking to find its audience online, you need to identify their interests and meet them on their virtual street corner, where they hang out. Here are a few key considerations when building an online community through Community Management.
Social listening and learning
One key aspect of building an online community is staying attuned at all times. When trying to find or create your own audience, you need to understand that you can’t pigeonhole your audience into who you think they should be.
A great example of this is Slim Jim, once known for its “snap into a Slim Jim!” slogan with wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage commercials, has evolved into an online brand that purposely crafts and caters content to their loyal “long boi gang” followers, an audience who have adapted to the online meme culture, and communicates like Gen Z’ers through slang and humor. Slim Jim's adaptability in tailoring its messaging and meeting its audience where they hang out is why its audience has fallen in love with it: the brand understands what its audience wants to engage with, rather than telling them how they should feel.
Helpful social media listening tools range from on-page tools like Meta Business Manager, which will give you a tidy and clean way to answer messages and comments and track insights, conversations, and metrics like post interaction and follower growth, to more advanced tools like Sprout Social, which give you the ability to juggle multiple brand pages in one snapshot and more in-depth advanced metrics.
Create a two-way conversation
As noted above, in social listening, it’s important to ensure your online audience feels valued. The number one way to do this is to make sure that their feelings and opinions, even if they are negative one-star reviews, are still responded to and answered with a brand comment or reply.
If the return-on-investment (ROI) metric we track from page followers is time spent and engagement, then they deserve ROI for their time, which includes a reply, a “like,” or an acknowledgment that they are not just heard but also seen.
What to do
- Quickly respond to comments and reviews, even when the feedback is negative
- Acknowledge the user’s experience and offer an explanation or solution
- Use a conversational tone that sounds like a person, not a policy
- Thank users for taking the time to share feedback, good or bad
- Invite the conversation to continue when it makes sense
What not to do
- Ignore negative comments or hope they disappear
- Copy and paste the same response across multiple posts or reviews
- Get defensive or argue publicly with your audience
- Overcorrect with corporate language or scripted replies
Let your personality take center stage
Creating an online brand presence and persona helps you stand out in your industry. This process should start early, when you’re building out the look and feel of your brand, and is also when your brand begins to feel grounded.
The way you write, the visuals you post, and the topics you focus on should support the same story. When those pillars line up, people start to recognize you in their feeds. They get a feel for your brand voice and know what kind of content you deliver, leading to more clicks and more time spent on engaging content. That sense of familiarity builds trust over time and helps your brand feel intentional instead of scattered or easy to forget.
Sound human and less scripted
“What drives social media engagement?”
More often than not, it’s personality and authenticity. When your brand feels approachable, your community feels more comfortable jumping into the conversation. When you’re interacting with your audience on social media, there’s no need to sound overly polished. Skip the jargon and write the way you’d talk to someone you work with or a friend. That kind of casual, approachable tone makes people more likely to respond, keeps conversations moving, and makes community management feel less forced and more genuine.
Also, creating a response matrix is one way to ensure you’re replying appropriately and using the correct branded wording or information. It’s not a word-for-word script or something you have to read off of. Think of it more like a cheat sheet. It gives your team the right info and tone, while still leaving room to sound like a human when replying.
Ready to grow your online community?
Building an engaged online audience doesn’t happen without the proper planning and preparation. It takes listening, learning, and adapting.
If you’re ready to strengthen your social presence and turn online conversations into new connections, the By the Pixel team is here to help guide you in the right direction.
