Thought Leadership: "Avengers, Assemble!"

Dubbed as “the highest-grossing movie of the year”, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ recently crossed the $1 billion mark internationally. It also occupies second place on the worldwide box-office charts for 2015 with $1.14 billion in ticket sales globally. But what has Avengers got to do with us?

Over the weekend, we came across an article written by Beki Winchel, which we find rather amusing. Everyone dreams of becoming an Avenger, but what we don’t know is we are already an Avenger. After reading her article, we kinda have to agree with her on that. As the wise Hawkeye once said in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, “If you step out of that door you have to fight, you'll be an avenger.” No, we’re not telling you to go and fight people. We find his significant speech to Scarlet Witch right before he joined the fight very heroic and moving. So, which Avenger are you?

5 ‘Avengers’-style social media managers 

By Beki Winchel | Posted: May 12, 2015

The list of tasks and demands on social media managers each and every day can be enough to make the job seem superhero-worthy.

Though they don’t require a magical hammer, a flying suit of armor or an indestructible shield, community managers are often armed with tools of their own, such as scheduling and analytic apps, a knowledge of content creation and lots of caffeine.

Just as members of The Avengers have personalities to go along with their superpowers, those who work on social media management can emulate certain traits as well. Here are five types of Avenger-like community managers:

1. Iron Man: The risk taker.

Social media is all about what’s new, whether it’s a current trend, breaking news or a brand new social app everyone’s talking about.

The risk taker not only embraces new technology and social platforms, he or she pushes the envelope, sending out edgy tweets that get noticed and pulling PR stunts online which get people talking.

Taking risks is great, until one of them threatens to destroy the brand (or an entire city, as Tony Stark found out). Have a clear set of boundaries when managing a company’s social media, check any hashtags you want to use to jump into the conversation and keep the brand’s voice in mind whenever you create content.

At the very least, doing so will keep you from losing your job like Houston Rockets’ former social media manager.

2. The Hulk: The over-reactor. 

Even the smallest of missteps is magnified on social media, and social media professionals are sometimes subject to the online community’s scorn with every branded tweet, Facebook post, Instagram photo and comment section.

The over-reactor, though passionate and often brilliant, replies to each snark-filled negative comment or bad review in like manner, often making an interchange on a company’s social media profile even worse.

But even Bruce Banner learned how to remain calm.

Instead of going on the defense (or angry rant) when customers complain, figure out if the concern is valid and needs to be answered, or if it’s just a troll. If it’s the former, listen to the person’s complaints and let them know you’ve heard them. Offer a solution or explanation if you can as well.

3. Black Widow: The interrogator.

Social media is all about engagement, and many community managers ask their followers questions in order to keep the conversation going.

That’s where the interrogator comes into play. Not everyone wants to be asked, “What’s your story?” With the amount of noise online – especially from brands – this social media manager is clever in how he or she gets people to talk.

Black Widow interrogates people without them knowing (often, they think she was the one being questioned), and receives a wealth of information in the process. By using alternatives to tired questions, this type of community manager still finds great content, but doesn’t annoy his or her audience.

4. Captain America: The old loyalist.

It’s scary to try new things, and the comments section under virtually any blog post can be enough to make any communications pro rethink his or her career.

The old loyalist is the opposite of the risk-taking community manager, and carefully plans social media content to not cause a controversy. Often found in large companies, the old loyalist puts into place systems that catches mistakes before they happen–but that means each tweet must get approval by one or more leaders it’s posted.

It’s great to bring tried-and-true PR tactics to social media efforts, but if they start to hamper a community manager’s effectiveness, throw them away and empower your social media manager (or team) with knowledge and the ability to respond in real-time.

5. Loki: The attention-seeker.

Everyone loves a good story, and entertaining brands can enter the Internet’s spotlight for sassy tweets, hilarious memes or sensational campaigns.

The attention seeker gets drunk off attention’s power, constantly searching for different ways to get journalists and social media users talking about his or her brand. Though the attention seeker can be entertaining, the constant pleas to look, read, retweet and like content can get exhausting, pushing some consumers to break off the relationship.

Social media isn’t just about you or your brand. Constantly calling for attention by any means possible may get views, but it won’t foster a consumer’s trust or loyalty. Unless you want your brand to be like Kenneth Cole, American Apparel or Uber, play nice and share the virtual stage with others every now and then.

Remember: It’s great to garner attention from doing great things (like Thor), but when you trade in your integrity for it (like Loki), consequences will follow. There’s a reason one is an Avenger, while the other faces the team’s wrath.