So many of us had travel plans canceledor at least postponed because of COVID-19 but can you imagine being a community manager for an airline in the middle of a pandemic?
We had the chance to chat with wonderful Jayde Powell, who was previously a Community Manager at Delta Air Lines. In her own words, the crux of Jayde’s role was to“drive brand love” for Delta’s social community. Who doesn’t love travel? … when it’s safe.
Jayde gave us a lot of insight as to how one of the most impacted industries handled marketing and messaging during a pandemic. Delta not only took extra cleaning precautions – much like other businesses – but they also pivotedtheir message to customers altogether.
“Whenyou’re ready to travel again,we’ll be here.”
While Jayde no longer works for Delta, she still makes community-building the focus of her efforts as a social strategist.Currently, she is the Head of Social & Community at Sunwink, a wellness brand offering sparkling herbal wellness tonics, made from herbs and natural ingredients.
You may be thinking, what does a community manager do? Among many tasks, the main objective of a community manager is to give brands a personal voice.
“Having a human voice on social is incredibly important especially for brands” said Jayde.
So many businesses have competition similar to them; it can be hard to distinguish between the two. One way to distinguish yourself is to focus on the voice of your brand. We all have brands that we support because we like what they stand for, or we like their story. Their story is created by a community manager – they give big brands a human face to associate with, a personal experience to relate to, a relationship that isn’t always all business.
So how do you create that voice? Jayde suggests reading yourresponses or copyout loud before publishing to ensureit sounds natural. Depending on your brand, it may look different; for some companies, a very casual voice works – almost identical to your everyday speaking voice. Other companies may require a more formal voice, but still a voice you would use in person – such as in the office.
At Wholesome, our voice is defined by our relationship as a married couple. We have balance in our strengths and weaknesses as a couple when it comes to both social media and everyday life. Our brand is definitely personal and ultimately shaped by our experiences.
“Focusing on our own lived experiences and finding ways to incorporate them into our everyday lives, that’s what matters to me,” said Jayde.
Take what you know, where you’ve been,and use it to define your voice. Your voice can show through in all aspects of life – make social media one of them.
