Get to know the ExpertVoice Community Manager
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Dig into profiles
Every expert on the ExpertVoice Advocacy Platform has a profile — a detailed look at their expertise. That means every expert who applies to your community has a unique profile that you can easily explore to better understand who they are.
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Take personal notes on applicants
The notes field is a multi-purpose tool available on the applications and members tabs of the Communities. Use notes to keep track of manual fulfillment, leave an insight for your community management team or as reminders to follow up with a particular member.
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Filter and Customize Your Application View
A robust set of filters and customizable columns makes reviewing, rating and approving or rejecting applicants quick and easy.
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Post a post
With the Community Post feature, engaging your audience and keeping them up to date is easy. Go to the posts tab of the Communities to update, ask a question or generate a poll to engage your community.
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Email and export
Need to communicate with your audience on your terms or access details about your community in spreadsheet format? The CSV export feature and Email All button give you the flexibility you need to manage your program however you see fit.
Tip: Identify the superstars of your community early on. These are members who are highly engaged and regularly provide quality content. Hold them as an example for the rest of the group. Publicly recognizing your best performers will raise the level of engagement for other community members.
Define your communication strategy
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Create communication guidelines
Outline what you expect of your community — and what they can expect from you. If you plan to ask your members to post on social media, now is the time to discuss compliance issues. Per FTC regulations, anyone posting on behalf of a brand must identify themselves as such. A good solution is to create a hashtag so members’ posts identify them as part of your community.
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Host a kickoff meeting
Gather all your members and internal stakeholders together to kick off your community. Use it as a chance for members to introduce themselves as you go over your community plan, expectations and benefits. Record the meeting so anyone who can’t make it can view it later.
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Connect outside of the community
Chances are your members won’t only be active in the Communities. Connect with them on as many platforms as possible to allow more contact with them. But be wary of their privacy and ask them how they prefer you communicate with them. Within the Communities, facilitate and encourage group interactions so members get to know each other better.
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Welcome swag
Providing new members with free gear right away jumpstarts their brand promotion. If part of your strategy is for members to review a specific product, provide it to them as soon as they join. Make it easy for them to start engaging. While they’ll be excited to start reviewing, remind them that you’re looking for honest feedback.
Tip: As with any group, your community members each engage with various communication methods differently. Be prepared to send campaign messaging to members in a variety of ways to ensure maximum engagement.
Engage your members
This is the fun part. Watch as your brand and community members form an authentic bond over a shared passion for your products and services.
Build campaigns to engage members
Task your members with campaign-based initiatives to solicit feedback and gather critical insights from them. Member engagements should align with your business process and tasks should be easy to complete.
There are many different campaign types you can leverage to accomplish your goals:
- Activity campaign: solicit your members to perform an activity (off-platform behavior) and allow them to upload an image and fill out a survey as proof of completion. With this type of campaign, you can ask members to:
- Host or attend events
- Share a brand message on social networks
- Gather product reviews
- Upload user-generated content such as blogs, videos or product reviews
- Answer community questions on social networks or via direct messaging
- Write editorial commentary that can be used on your blog or product description pages
- Content to provide sneak peeks, deeper dives into products, or other exclusive information about your brand
- Videos that provide a behind the scenes tour, Q&A, or staff intros
- Surveys to gather product feedback, customer questions, marketing input, or just to get to know your members better.
- Give feedback on marketing messaging for product launch
- Give ideas for new product design
Recognize and reward your members
The sky’s the limit in how you engage with your community but the most important thing to remember is to provide rewards and recognition to members. Give free or discounted products. Offer a sneak peek at upcoming product launches. Consider shouting them out on social media or designing a badge of some sort they can display on their profile. Refer to Section 2 for more detailed reward and recognition examples.
It’s important to mix both recognition and rewards into your community incentive plan. Doing so nurtures an emotional connection between your brand and your community.
Additionally, you have the option of using a community-specific ExpertVoice store to seed gratis products or provide members with an even deeper discount. You can also provide members with access to your brand’s decision-makers, sponsored athletes, or other people who are meaningful to your brand.
Say Thank You
Beyond giving your members rewards and recognition for their contributions, be sure to also thank them. Exclusive pricing and swag go a long way but a simple thank you further reinforces your partnership with them and makes their efforts feel more appreciated.
Measure impact
As your community matures, use the dashboard tab to keep an eye on engagement metrics for each member:
- Community visits
- Social activity
- Campaign engagement
Be sure to also keep an eye on orders placed, UGC uploaded, and reviews written. When a new season approaches, re-open your application to give your existing community some fresh perspectives. Or, start an entirely new one with a different focus.