Just recently I was hoping to pitch for a small project consulting a company on their social media and online experiences as I had had dealings with them in the past on other initiatives. I was surprised to find that they were ahead of the game and had just hired an online community manager.

To my second surprise the skillsets of that individual seem to be lacking on the social media and community management side of things, but extremely well versed in the content matter of the community they are to manage. That lead me to wonder, who makes the better online community manager – the person experienced in building communities and leveraging social media, or the person who knows the community’s main point of topic inside out?

I believe that even with all the knowledge in the world, a content expert has little to no hope of making the most of social media if they are not inclined to find out more about how to use the tools at their disposal. I’ve seen it happen, where the knowledge expert creates the Twitter profile and starts up a Facebook Fan Page, but then what? And were those really the best avenues for them to use? The creativity, targeted solutions and ability to analyze and tweak campaigns is where the experience designer or social media expert comes into play.

On the other hand, I have seen content experts who have applied themselves and really engaged with their fan base, created awesome campaigns to grow their community and created added value experiences. But, be forewarned, its not everyone that can do this. Like any other part of your business, consider getting in expert help to create your strategy and help you implement it. You wouldn’t drudge along as your company accountant it if you knew you didn’t have the skills, it would negatively affect your business and take away from all the other good things that you can do in your business, would you? Same applies here. As long as the person responsible for your Social Media plan is committed to understanding and taking part in your company culture – this has the makings of a win-win relationship. You get to focus on the aspects of the business you are good at, and an expert gets to drive you business forward in an area they are good at.

Either way, as long as the experience is transparent and the audience knows who they are dealing with their can be wins if done correctly. Interested to hear your opinion – do you believe that a consultant can be your brand’s social media expert, or do you feel it is more logical to give a content expert the job even though they may not know how to use the tools?

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In order to create a successful online community, you have to give people what they want, and what they DON’T want is a hard sell. For this post, when I talk about an online community, I am referring to Blog followers/regular readers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers and set community groups such as those built on platforms like Ning.

People join a community to be part of something, not to be just another number in line, a code in a database or a bum on a seat. I have spent several years building up communities for our own online games and for other brands. The common thread in successful communities is the experience that is built into the community. An online community that is successful for both the business at the helm of it and the fans that are part of it, is a community that is engaging and offers above and beyond what the fans expect.

Here are a few examples of how you can create an experience that will make your fans even bigger fans, create new fans, and keep you top of mind in the marketplace.

• invite client feedback about products: make sure you have a community manager that can respond swiftly to negative comments. Even the most negative comment if dealt with correctly can put you in good stead with your fans.
• Don’t enforce too many rules on your community: Be ready to govern, but let nature take its course as well as you will no doubt have a few standout fans that will make the place even more interesting
• Make your fans part of your company culture, show them what you live: share photos from after work drinks, share special events dear to your staff i.e birth of the VPs first child (of course you’ll want to keep photos respectful, only those that invoke good vibes and won’t slander the company)
• Host online (and offline is a good idea too) events that compliment your business: webinars, twitter parties, anything that lets your community connect to each other

Remember, its about creating an experience that reminds your fans as to why they love you and enticing those on the outside into wanting to be on the inside to something great. What are you doing to make your online community a great experience?

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