If you were running a business in the 1980s and wanted to sell or maket a service or product, the vast majority of your (below the line) budget was spent on print. From overpriced double page spreads in your local newspaper to outragously expensive Yellow Pages ads, print was the advertising medium of choice.

I say ‘medium of choice’, when of course what I really mean is: ‘medium of NO choice’. Because back then print was the only option available for anyone looking to do a concerted below the line advertising campaign. Oh, sure, you could do letterbox drops, and send out brochures, and give away fridge magnets, and a dozen other low-key scattergun approaches to market your product or service. But they all pailed into insignificance next to the enormous reach and power of the printed word.

Fast forward thirty years and we discover that the ways a company connects with their customers (and would-be customers) has radically changed. Because, in the post internet / post Google world, print is about as relevant to a business as a woolly coat was to a mammoth after the last ice age came to an end. Sure the coats were tactile and made their eyes glaze over with memories of a simpler time. But deep down you’d have to figure that even the thickest skinned Mammuthus Primigenius knew that the world had changed forever, and that the coats were now only weighing them down and hampering their chances of survival.

That said, I am not going to tell you (as many of my SEO colleagues will) that ‘Print is Dead!’. Given I’m the Doyen of All Things Digital, you’d probably excuse me if I did jump on that particular bandwagon. But I won’t. Because - separate to my 10 years of SEO / web experience - I’ve also worked in print as a National Advertising Manager (Government News) and National Classified Manager (BT Weekly). So I know full well that if it’s done correctly (and used judiciously), print can – and should - still form a (small) part of a company’s overall marketing strategy.

However I’m also smart enough to appreciate that in an age where 98% of all people SEARCH FOR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES ONLINE (rather than in newspapers or magazines), working out where a company’s marketing budget needs to go if they’re looking to connect with the masses, isn’t rocket science. Because, unlike print, there are no tyre-kickers where a well optimised web strategy is concerned, as everybody that finds you online has searched for WHAT YOU DO and WHERE YOU DO IT…and they’ve SEARCHED NOW.

And leads / customers don’t come much hotter or more relevant than that.

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While still a ‘Job Description’ in its infancy, the requirement for a ‘On-Line Community Manager’ (who handles a company’s ‘On-Line Community Engagement’) no longer causes businesses to ask “What does an On-Line Community Manager do, and should I get one?” but rather “What makes a great On-Line Community Manager, and where can I find one?”.

However, as the role of ‘On-Line Community Manager’ has only existed in its present form in the last couple of years, the job description varies greatly from one organization to another. Below is a rough list of things you'll need to keep in mind to help ensure you hire the right person to successfully manage your on-line community engagement needs.

1. Your community must have a purpose, and this purpose can’t just be ‘so we make more money’. Rather it must exist to fill a need in the community you’re attempting to reach.
2. Use whichever tool or platform your members are most familiar with and most likely to use daily. In other words, don’t use something archaic like MySpace, just because you have fond memories of it. And by the same token, don’t use the latest shinny new web 2.0 platform, just because you want to feel ‘relevant’. As always, GO WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE.
3. Communities are about the people who populate them. So create lots and lots and LOTS of NEW, ORIGINAL CONTENT for them (and encourage them to comment on it, discuss it and share it with their friends). There is no other way to do it.
4. Build personal relationships with your community, and especially with your top web 2.0 contributors. Getting lots of ‘likes’ (etc) is driven by the quality and relevance of your content, and impacts greatly on their ability (and interest) in interacting with that content.
5. Encourage debate and do not be afraid to push the envelope with the content you post. Challenging / edgy topics get the most comments and likes and re-tweets, etc. So don’t become a prisoner to the PC brigade. Have an opinion.
6. Building an on-line community is a never ending process. So build it slowly and steadily and don’t expect to be the most popular kid on the block in only a few months. Anything on the web takes 6-12 months at least to gauge and chart growth. And community engagement (like trust) takes years.
7. Stop selling! There's nothing that'll stop people reading your blog or Twitter feed or Facebook page quicker than trying to sell them things EVERY TIME YOU POST. If you must push a product or service, try to keep it to 30% sales and 70% giving away or linking to information that is relevant to your audience. Keeping in mind that the information you post doesn't always have to be yours (though it's better if it is) because some of the best blog posts are ones that reference something somebody else has written elsewhere on the web, with you adding your 2 cents into the debate (based on your experience and expertise). But remember internet etiquette 101: if you use or reference someone else's content: always, always, ALWAYS link back to the source (thus sharing the Google love with those who deserve it). 
8. Give away free (relevant) information and content to your community at every opportunity to give them a reason to keep coming back. In the Small Business and SME space, People 'Like' /  'Share'  / Link To individual pieces of content, far more than they 'Like' / 'Share' or Link To a company or a brand. The more you give to your community (without asking for anything in return) the more inclined your community will be to come back or share what you've posted with their friends. 
9. Encourage members to recruit friends. The best way to grow an on-line community is by referrals. So create a referral strategy which rewards members who invite their friends and link to your content.
10. The web is a visual medium. And if, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Then rest assured that, 'A video is worth a thousand pictures'. So populate your website and web 2.0 platforms with lots of video content as well as relevant, SEO optimized written content. Ideally every page should have a video, as this helps engage your audience. These videos should be short (1-3 minutes tops) and stick to a single subject or topic. The people in your community are busy, so spoon-feed them bite sized chunks of content.

To quote Spiderman, ‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility’. So never use your admin powers unless absolutely necessary.  Nothing is guaranteed to make people check out  quicker than an overpowering web 2.0 Administrator who deletes content that he doesn’t agree with.

Want to master SEO? Then book in yourself or your staff for some SEO Training Sydney today! Sydney's #1 SEO Trainer Brian M Logan shows you everything you need to get your company website on the first page of Google. SEO Training can be in-house (we come to you) or classroom based (you come to us).


Or you can always call us on 0425 204 887 if you want to leave your SEO Sydney requirements to the experts. Your website's 1st Page of Google results are guaranteed in writing in the contract.

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