This week was a big community management discussion thanks to the third annual Community Manager Appreciation Day on January 23. But we celebrate community management every day given its impact and important role in our enterprise social media strategy.

As with past weeks, we’re highlighting the people who are engaging in social media, creating a human connection with our community (or creating helpful content for them), and embodying a key element of our “Radian6-ness.”

This week we highlight two more Community Managers.

Genevieve Coates, Community Manager

If you’ve met Genevieve, then you know her theme song should be: “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.” Gen tends to always be smiling, laughing or chuckling at something even when no one else has told a joke. She does have a serious side when it comes to the things she’s most passionate about, mainly her work at Radian6. Starting out on the Professional Services team for Radian6, Gen’s passion for reports, analytics and product development grew. Now as part of the Community Management team, she enjoys helping her colleagues and sharing a few smiles along the way.

In her spare time, Gen spends time in her new house reading, watching sci-fi and singing at the top of her lungs to every Broadway tune in existence. Most recently, she’s been spending her time writing down all of her own observations about life on her personal blog.

Rhiannon Cassin, Marketing & Community, UK

Rhiannon is one of the original and longest standing employees of Radian6 in the UK. She initially joined 6Consulting Ltd (the UK Radian6 partner) in September 2009. Throughout her time with the business, she has performed a variety of roles within the marketing and customer support teams.

Following the Radian6 acquisition of 6Consulting Ltd in March 2011, Rhiannon took responsibility for engaging with the Radian6 UK community and can be found most days responding to tweets and posts on behalf of @Radian6_UK.

Her experience in different teams and with the platform enables Rhiannon to offer expert help to the extended Radian6 community through the Engagement Console. With a background in media, Rhiannon has helped to develop and maintain the Radian6 community in the UK.

Rhiannon is passionate about listening to UK customer platform experiences and responding to their needs, as well as maintaining a good relationship between the platform users in the UK and the Account Executives through social media community management.

What’s your tip for successfully working with a social media community?

Gen: Social is no different than how we work together in every day life. If you really want to succeed in social, it’s to your best advantage to not look at your engagements as a means to an end but as a unique opportunity to get to know your customers and community in a way never possible before. Just spending some time talking and sharing ideas with the people that know your brand the best can give you endless amounts of ideas and information that you can use to improve not only your brand but your products and services.

Rhiannon: Being open, transparent and professional in the social media community has helped develop trust and respect for Radian6 in the UK. Radian6 users know they can tweet and post about the platform and get a quick and honest, but not rushed and panicked, response. Always being thankful to those who have taken the time to engage in the community and share blog posts and positive conversation is a great way to generate lasting connections with other social media users.

You can reach our team at community@radian6.com, or click on Rhiannon’s or Gen’s name for their Twitter handles. To learn more about Community Manager Appreciation Day, read our blog posts here.

As with past weeks, we’re highlighting the people who are engaging in social media, creating a human connection with our community (or creating helpful content for them), and embodying a key element of our “Radian6-ness.”

This week, we put two Community Engagement Specialists in the spotlight.

Zoe Geddes-Soltess, Community Engagement Specialist; Retail, CPG

Zoe joined Radian6 in February of 2011 as a Community Engagement Specialist and hasn’t looked back. With a background in communications, graduating from the University of Calgary with a BA in Communications Studies, Zoe is passionate about writing and finding new ways to connect with people. She previously worked in investor relations and communications at a property management company in Calgary, Alberta until moving to Fredericton, New Brunswick. She has since relocated back out West to be closer to her roots, but is happy to remain an active member of the Radian6 family. You can find Zoe engaging in the social space on topics around social media as it relates to Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail. She also contributes to the Radian6 blogs and collaborates on other Radian6 content, including the recently released ebook, Social Media Strategy for the Retail Industry. Zoe loves to share and converse on a variety of topics, including social media, food, arts and culture, and anything else that she finds interesting or amusing.

Jason Boies, Community Engagement Specialist; Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

Jason was born and raised in Radian6’s hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick. A former commercial sales and services rep for a major Direct-To-Home Satellite television company, Jason made the transition into substitute teaching and restaurant serving/bartending after graduating from our own University of New Brunswick, where he completed the Bachelor of Arts Program with a major in Psychology as well as the Bachelor of Education Program with a focus on elementary level education and social studies. Finding the life of a supply teacher a bit too inconsistent, Jason made the transition to the Community Team here at Radian6 this past summer.

An avid film fanatic and pop culture geek always on the lookout for the irony and humor in life, Jason can be found on Twitter where he tweets not only about the healthcare and pharmaceuticals industries, but social media in general as well as film and TV news. He also general interesting articles with a focus often on the funnier side of life.

What’s your tip for successfully working with a social media community?

Zoe: Let your personality shine through and make a genuine effort to get to know other people on a personal level. I share lots of content about social media but sometimes I’ll share links or photos that are just silly or quirky or reflect my personal interests. I also love to chat with people on Twitter about topics of all kinds, whether it’s bantering with my awesome coworkers or discussing a recipe that someone is trying out for the first time. Being true to who you are and taking the time to learn more about your community will help deepen your social media connections and make them more rewarding.

Jason: Keep in mind that you are entering a medium that moves at a ridiculously-fast speed and you need to keep extremely responsive. So while most of the popular platforms are free, it still requires resources and an investment of your time and effort. In the end, it’s worth the investment. Also keep in mind that your organization already likely employs very capable salespeople, so as a Community Manager, try to keep the hard sell of your site/product to a minimum.

You can reach our team at community@radian6.com, or click on Zoe or Jason’s name for their Twitter handles.

As mentioned in last week’s post, community management is an essential element of a successful social media strategy.

This week, we continue to highlight the people who are engaging online and creating a human connection with our community, or creating helpful content for them, and embodying a key element of our “Radian6-ness.”

Amanda Nelson, Community Content Manager

Amanda works to build, grow and engage with the Radian6 social media community, as well as curate and create content for the brand. She is also the main editor of this blog.

Amanda has been in advertising for over eight years for full service and interactive advertising agencies in New York and Connecticut. She has worked on a number of national brands and has awards from advertising clubs, New England associations and financial services organizations.

In addition to blogging and writing, Amanda loves working with nonprofits, and playing with her border collie. She recently worked with her town to raise funds to build a dog park. She is also passionate about the outdoors, her Prius, tap dancing and, most importantly, her upcoming role as a mother (she has a son arriving in April 2012).

Mike Girard, Community Engagement Specialist, Communications and Media

Mike started with Radian6 in March 2011. In addition to engaging with that community, Mike writes about Social TV.

Mike comes to Radian6 from the New Brunswick Liberal Party where he helped develop the party’s social media election strategy and handled internal party communications. Before that Mike was an advisor to two of New Brunswick’s Attorney Generals and the Province’s Minister of Social Development. Mike also spent a number of years working with youth-at-risk at the non-profit organization Moncton Youth Residences, in Moncton, New Brunswick.

How do you work successfully with a social media community?

Amanda: Creating unique and helpful content opens doors for gaining and deepening relationships with your community. By sharing this content, you’re giving your community a resource that will help them in their lives as well as keep them coming back. Content is a form of engaging and the more you listen to your community and adapt your content accordingly, the more valuable it will be.

Mike: Be mindful of what your community is passionate about and always strive to feed that fire. Let your community’s enthusiasm for the topic inspire you and match their energy. Strive to be the person people look to for compelling content and always be open to a conversation. In a communities as big and diverse as the ones within the Communications and Media vertical it can be challenging to find your voice amongst the crowd and that’s ok. Listen to what is important to your community and contribute to the conversations with your own writing and thoughts. Most importantly be patient and grow your community organically, one follower at a time. It’s a marathon not a sprint.

You can reach our team at community@radian6.com, or click on Amanda or Mike’s name for their Twitter handles.

A few weeks ago, I came across a blog post by Fast Company that caught my interest. It was an excerpt from The Method Method, a book by the cofounders of Method, Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry. Method, a popular brand of household and personal care products, has a large social media presence and a loyal fan following, with over 52,000 Facebook fans and over 11,000 Twitter followers at last count. The Fast Company post talked about the ways Eric, Adam and their team have built Method into a successful belief brand by generating a story and philosophy around their company that relates to their customers. Their success story counters the assumption that consumers don’t want to engage in social media with brands selling products considered to be low-interest (such as laundry detergent and toilet bowl cleaner) and proves that any company can build a strong social media community around their brand, provided they go about it the right way.

Let Your Customers Know Who You Are

Be open and honest when it comes to who you are and what you stand for as a brand. Method shares the story behind their brand and their mission statement on their website and front and center on their Facebook and Twitter pages. They also have a blog dedicated to topics around social responsibility, sustainability, green living, tips and ideas, Method products, and events, as well as the lighter side of life at Method. Being upfront about their identity and beliefs provides common ground for their customers to relate to the Method brand and creates a connection on a deeper level.

Provide Your Customers with Engaging Content

Once you’ve captured the interest of your customers by sharing your story, you need to provide quality content to keep them engaged. Method has a community devoted to People Against Dirty, where people can sign up to proclaim their love of clean and connect with like-minded individuals. Members are also rewarded with extra perks, such as discounts and product previews. The unique and brilliant aspect is, the community isn’t only about Method products and you don’t have to be a Method customer to join. This approach is a great way for brands to engage with current customers while connecting with others who might become customers down the road.

Method also does a fantastic job of posting content on their Facebook page and responding to questions and comments. They leave their wall open for anyone to post or tag them in mentions instead of locking it down, and as a result, their Facebook stream is filled with posts from Method fans, which makes it even more interesting to read and engage with.

Think Outside the Box

Method’s story shows us that brand engagement is about more than selling products – it is about establishing connections and building a passionate community that connects you with your consumers on a personal level. Having an excellent product that your customers are interested in is an important first step, but you need to think outside the proverbial box when it comes to brand engagement.

First, tell your story. What inspires you as a company? Who are the people behind your brand? What are your goals and aspirations? Then listen to your customers and get to know them. What are they interested in? What are their values and priorities? And how can you use that insight to provide your community with content that they will engage with?

If you’re looking for inspiration, here are some other notable examples of belief brands who have built up successful online communities:

• Honest Tea
• Life is Good
• Three Avocados
• TOMS

Now we’d love to hear from you. Do you currently engage with any brands that are traditionally considered low-interest? Why or why not?

Zoë Geddes-Soltess is a Community Engagement Specialist at Radian6, with a focus on Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail. You can follow her on Twitter at @zodot.

It’s my favorite day of the week again! It’s #traveltuesday. The day where I get to partake in yummy travel conversations, and daydream of my next destination.

Regarding destinations, I’ve been traveling so much as of late that I’m barely at my desk or in the office. My most recent trip was for pleasure, and I put a lot of miles on my car as I trekked from New Brunswick to Ontario and then to Nova Scotia (with a stop in Montreal for smoked meat and poutine, of course!).

Traveling is fun, but so is returning home. That wonderful feeling of returning ‘home’ of course had me considering how travel brands create a home away from home that entice us to return to them time and time again.

For some of you, returning to the remarkable memory of divine pillows is just like going home. (I’m sure Shashank Nigam of Simpliflying would agree based on his latest entry about Citizen M Hotel in Amsterdam.)

But just how does one come to consider ‘home’ to that little island or that fancy boutique hotel? Consider the ‘chicken and egg’ theory of liking a travel brand on Facebook. Some may argue that you already ‘liked’ that hotel or airline before ever clicking on the magic button. Others believe that the lure to show a little love to a brand will just encourage you to be a customer in the future. Regardless of which comes first for you, there are usually several factors involved in your decision making.

Travelers are looking for advice from their friends, family and the travel-happy community at large. And increasingly, travel-seekers are booking online. Despite the urge to book online,  Mark Simpson of Maxymiser shared at #eftAmerica that one in five people booking travel online will fail and give up. There is plenty of opportunity for travel brands to zero in and be more strategic in the placement of their social media efforts.

If most travelers are anything at all like me, they look at an offer and ask ‘what’s in it for me?’ At the end of the day, isn’t it all about ME, after all? Clever travel brands with a strategic social media plan are gaining the trust and love of their customers and influencers by first listening to traveler conversations. Listening leads to better understanding of just how to WOW your target and present a pretty picture of what’s in it for them.

Because we have fun with conversations, I want to know your thoughts surrounding how you determine if a destination has your attention. A few questions to get the party started:

Just what is it exactly that causes you to listen when a cruiseline, airline, hotel or other travel industry brand is reaching out to you via social media? What gets your attention? And better still, what KEEPS your attention? Is there a time when you were captivated by a travel brand’s social media campaign and jumped on board, so to speak?

Jenn Seeley dreams of waterslides on cruise ships followed by yummy food and warm beaches. She can be found engaging in #traveltuesdays on Twitter as @jenn_seeley.