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Guide to Outbound Community Management

What is Outbound Community Management?

At it's core, outbound community management is finding relevant conversations that other brands/people are engaging in and inserting yourself into the conversation.

It's finding out who is influencing your ideal audience and showing up in the feed with them. Over time those interactions and consistent visibility signal authority and familiarity.

Why do Outbound Community Management?

I get it... everyone is short on time and money, but outbound community management is not the place to skimp.

For most accounts and social networks, there's a direct correlation between how well you do outbound community management and how fast your following grows.

Some platforms are even rewarding the reply guy more than they reward profound creators.

Not to mention, when you're starting an account from scratch this is the best bang for your buck, hands down.

Core Principles

1. Algorithm Training

First things first... let's train our algorithm.

Feed Optimization Process

Dedicate a few hours to consume content logged in on your brand's account. Think like your ideal customer. Engage with content your target audience would find valuable.

Start with key accounts in your niche and expand to the similar or suggested accounts.

While you're doing this, save high-performing posts for future original content inspiration.

2. Developing Your Brand Voice

Create a clear brand personality.

Kate Myers Emery shared this exercise and I've found it to be extremely valuable.

Answer the question, "If our brand was a TV or movie character, what would they be.

Example: “We want to be approachable, but knowledgable...” This is ambiguous, vague, and generally unhelpful for the team.

This is much more valuable:

“If Mike Ross from Suits wouldn’t say it, we won’t post it.

• We have encyclopedic data at our disposal.

• We are precise and quick-witted.

• We think well on our feet and move swiftly and decisively.

• We care deeply about our community and are loyal to a fault.

• We’re a fun hang - never lacking a good story or a new joke."

Of course, create "would/wouldn't say" guidelines. Develop response templates for common situations and document your brand's humor boundaries and taboo topics

3. Systematic Execution

Idk who needs to here this, but... put. it. on. you. calendar.

Block dedicated daily engagement windows and set specific engagement targets (e.g., 20 meaningful comments per hour).

Track engagement results and adjust strategy accordingly. It's particularly useful to compare number of outbound comments against number of new followers to see what the correlation looks like.

4. Community Engagement Framework

When you're scrolling the feed, this framework might be helpful:

1. Quick Assessment

Quickly ask yourself:

• Is this content relevant to your audience?

• Does it align with your brand values?

• Is there room for meaningful contribution?

2. Craft a response

Add value through insight, humor, or inspiration.

3. Move On Rule

If a quality response doesn't come naturally within 30 seconds, skip and move forward. (It's better to have fewer high-quality engagements than many mediocre ones)

For the record, I realize this won't work for brands that have an 8 step approval process or a compliance review required for every piece of content. The ideas are the same, but for brands like that, the exact process will look different.

Response Types That Drive Growth:

• Insightful additions to the original point

• Thoughtful questions that expand the discussion

• Supportive acknowledgments with added value

• Resource sharing when appropriate

• When in doubt... front-load responses with value

4. Review Process

Every week, analyze top-performing engagements. Identify any patterns in high visibility comments and scale based on content formats and specific users.

5. Avoid these things like the plague

• Generic responses that add no value

• Forcing brand voice at the expense of authenticity

• Over-promotion in community interactions

• Inconsistent engagement patterns

In summary:

I've said it before and will say it again... community management is a superpower.

But with great power... comes great responsibility. 🕷️ 

As always, if I can help in any way, reply and let me know!

I read every email and try to respond with free advice as much as time allows.