Replying on Twitter is the number one way to engage on the platform right now. Why? Because as of right now, Twitter has a noise problem. A big one. And more than anything, this mean it is becoming a listening platform. I’m on there as much as possible, talking to my fans, responding to questions, asking questions. And it’s all me. Nobody runs my Twitter for me. I’m proud of that. Why? Because I believe in human engagement. And that is the same reason why I preach community management. No scheduled Facebook posts. No automated replies on Twitter. Human. Interaction.
Everybody you engage with, everybody you say thanks or hello to, matters. They get affected by that, so obviously, human investment matters. If brands committed more to one on one marketing that many of them don’t even believe is scalable, they would get much bigger depth. Imagine being a consumer and receiving a personalized, obviously human reply from a company. That is huge. At my own company, VaynerMedia, we have community managers on all accounts, during all business hours. Sometimes they answer questions, but mostly they are engaging in human moments with fans. And that is awesome for our clients.
So bottom line: community management sells shit.
But how far do you take it?
How often do you want someone responding? Is it worth it to have someone on there 24/7?
I’ve gotten this question before, in keynotes and my show #AskGaryVee, and here is what I think. To me, 24/7 community management is only valuable if you’re big enough. You absolutely have to be a global brand, like a Pepsi or a Toyota. Why? Because to really get the value out of 24/7, you have to have 24/7 demand, all across the world. Or else what happens is you end up paying people to sit around and not engage with anything. And nobody wants that.
Easy example using myself: I’m not crushing it on Twitter between 2am Eastern and 6am Eastern, so I don’t need anybody (which in this case is me) engaging there. If you’re big enough, I believe in it. But if you’re not, don’t bother.
Every brand should be using community management. Period. But whether you take it as far as 24/7 is whole other question. Evaluate needs. Figure out when your community is talking to you. Whenever your fans are the noisiest, that’s when you need to get in there and interact. Listen. Use your ears more than your mouth.
