We’re constantly at work improving our product. We take all of the feedback and requests we get to heart. (In case you ever want to get in touch, there’s always the in-app support and contact button in the lower right corner of the screen.) We thought it would be an interesting idea to publish some of the thoughts and views of our clients regarding their work, their pages and their approach to social media.
The honorable task of starting this irregular series goes to Nadja Albrecht. Nadja is the social media lead and community manager for Visit Graz, the official page of the Graz Tourism center. She has led this page from the early setup and has grown it to a healthy community of over 54k fans on Facebook, their most important platform. She also handles their other networks, as well as the special customer service page for the official tourism information and advises the other city tourism efforts in social media to shape a cohesive vision for the presence of the city online.
How long have you been working in social media?
About four years.
What attracted you to social media initially?
The rise of social media was a big change in communication amongst people and in marketing communication. Social media makes promoting more interesting: it gives brands the opportunity to get immediate feedback on their campaign/ad/brand. On the other hand it also challenges brands to be more flexible and quicker in reacting when it comes to trends, feedback, …
What advice would you give someone just starting their page?
Don’t expect social media to be the “easy” way of promoting. There’s no way your page could become successful by posting random and incoherent content spontaneously.
Make your page recognizable! Users should be able to recognize your postings without seeing the name of the page. Content, writing style, graphic appearance and the topics you publish should represent not only your brand, but your page.
What do you see as your market?
My company’s market consists of tourists and local consumers.
You would think my biggest target group consists of tourists in the first place but I see locals as equally important (to “spread” the word :)
What kinds of skills/qualities do you think you need to possess to be a community manager?
Don’t take negative feedback personally, don’t even take it too seriously. Accept that there are feedbacks you can neglect without reacting. Never forget that social media is always about communicating! That means your job is not only to “shoot out” info and wait for users to respond. You have to focus on interaction, never forget to answer questions and positive feedbacks. Give users the feeling that you share something with them. They like your page because they like your brand – so show them that you share this love! I like this idea of creating a feeling, a vibe, that everyone who likes a page, shares.
What’s your biggest challenge when managing your community?
Staying interesting, getting people involved and particularly create a certain spirit amongst fans. My brand is a city, my community, at best, loves this city. My challenge is to create a spirit out of this and make people share it.
How do you usually come up with content?
It’s pretty easy to come up with content when you actually like the brand you’re representing.
And: I spy on other pages :)
Is social media helpful in your customer service?
Sometimes, but I wish it would be used more often. It’s still not clear enough for clients that there is also a way of getting customer service on our Facebook page.
What has inspired you lately on social media and why?
I feel inspired by any kind of campaign that not only happens online, but involves people’s action.
What are your competitors doing on social media?
Pretty much the same, the try to create a spirit by using pictures, blogs, event promotion, “best of” lists, …
Do you see your brand/industry as challenging?
Of course. I see a big challenge in getting young visitors to my city too.
We already got this huge vivid scene of creative locals, there’s been a lot of change in how young locals see their own city, how they identify with it and make an effort to improve/change it. They are getting more and more involved in creating this typical – let’s call it – “Graz vibe” – That’s gonna help attracting young travelers to come to Graz too.
How much time do you spend per week on your social media work?
A couple of hours, it depends on how much time I have along my other duties within the company.
Is there an important lesson you had to learn?
Never expect something that has worked out well today to work out well even tomorrow :)
Is there something you wish you could do with your page?
Sometimes I’d like it to be a little more cheeky.
What websites and tools would you recommend?
Can I say Pagelanes? Cause I really want to say Pagelanes. It gives me the structure that I need to work on Facebook. I wouldn’t have the time or patience to work without it anymore. [Note: Mrs. Albrecht was not held at gunpoint or forced to state this answer]
That’s our first interview. As stated in the beginning, this will not be a regular feature, but one one that will pop up as possible by clients and their duties. Expect updates whenever, is what I guess what we should say. As always, thank you for reading. Be sure to check out Nadja’s efforts online for Visit Graz as their page is also bilingual. If you want to get in touch with her regarding any inquiries or further learnings from her page, you can do so via mail.
All the best until the next time,
the Pagelanes team
