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How To Maintain Your Online Presence When Your Community Manager Takes Vacation

Deborah says, "This is a helpful article, by Joshua, for those small businesses (and large businesses) that employ or contract a community manager. (Includes affiliate link.)"

Now, on to the article...

By now your company has probably added a community manager to your company in order to maintain and monitor your social platforms and online review sites. And by now, you’ve realized what an asset this individual is to your program. Not only do they help spread the word about your company online and engage with your customers, but they also take the responsibility off your plate or the plates of your employees.

In fact, when you have a community manager on your team, it’s likely that you don’t even think about your company’s social presence. They do such a good job that you have nothing to do with it anymore.

But since your community manager is human, it’s likely they will want to take some vacation days. So what are you supposed to do in your community manager’s absence?

Have them set up some automated posts.

If your company is extremely active on social media or online review sites, going completely quiet and off the grid while your community manager is away can be detrimental. Your fans and followers will wonder where you are, and it will just look poorly on your company.

Instead of simply forgetting about your social platforms until they return, have your community set up some automated posts using tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social. This way, your company will not completely lose or alter its online identity.

 

Put more than one person in charge.

You may have one dedicated community manager, but it may be a good idea to train someone else on your team as a “backup” just in case your community manager isn’t in. While this may add to the person’s responsibilities, it’s still a great way to ensure that your online presence is not forgotten. This backup may not have to be so involved as your normal community manager, but it still allows someone to keep an eye on the accounts and tackle any issues that may arise.

Before the community manager leaves, you should also make sure that the back up is set up to receive notifications and alerts. Make sure their email is set up so that they are made aware anytime a new post, comment or review is listed about your company, or make sure they have access to the email account where these notifications go. This way, they can simply be notified about changes and issues instead of scouring them out themselves.

Create a management guide.

One of the first things you should have your community manager do is create a management guide that contains any and all information the company needs to know. Make sure they list which sites they’re using as well as usernames and passwords. Make sure they list any tools they are using as well as usernames and passwords.

This management guide should also contain strategy tips, such as how often posts are generated and on what schedule. It should also list what type of tone and content is generated through these channels. It should also list protocol as to what to do in case of a social media/online review site nightmare. These guides should be given to all employees so that they can read up on how to handle the community manager’s responsibilities in their absence.

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