Communication is a gateway to ease. Ease of mind. Ease of resolution. Ease of advancement.
Wikipedia has a startling definition of communication:
“Communication (from Latin: communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is "an apparent answer to the painful divisions between self and others..."“
"painful division" jumps out there, doesn't it?
Kinda sounds like problems emerge, and communication is required to resolve the issue. Many problems undoubtedly emerge because of poor communication. Lead with effective communication, and you may not need to explain yourself later.
Years ago at a company-wide meeting, I witnessed a CEO state that before long we’d have a link on our website and all customers would just create their own accounts. No need to have a sales team at all. I was seated by a regional head of sales and literally watched the coloration leave his face. Sales reps were to be ghosted.
It didn’t quite work that way, and while the sales team shrunk, it continued to exist and thrive. They had to exist as TradFi is built around relationships and face-to-face meetings. Know Your Customer (KYC) was very literal then. You wined and dined them. Took them to ballgames. Lots of interpersonal interactions. You really got to know them and shared in-person relationships
Enter crypto and, in particular, the DeFi and anti-KYC crowd. We’ve evolved into a world where we don’t know our customers, and they’re fighting to keep it that way. They’re hidden behind pseudonyms and ape icons to keep their identities concealed. Just getting an email address can be like pulling a tooth.
As the Rolodex and business cards gave way to LinkedIn, email has faded vs. text messages, Telegram and WhatsApp, in-person meetings are falling to Discord groups, Slack and Twitter Spaces. Sales and account management has become an online game. This is the day of the Community Manager.
Communication comes in many forms and traditional marketing communication channels have been bypassed in emerging markets and technology. When you look at hot growth areas like crypto and DeFi, TradFi and traditional MarCom practices miss the mark. Marketing communication has become much more of a two-way street and demands community development. Central to this community approach is marketing reps must immerse themselves in the community. In the new FinTech playing field, marketing has more than merged with sales as marketing and community managers have become the marketing, sales, customer success, and support teams of old
Community managers are juggling multiple channels of communication with prospects and customers and it requires all of the Soft Skills that you generally don’t learn in school. Community managers must be armed with not just communication skills but are required to master critical thinking, leadership, and teamwork and carry that all with positive attitudes and the willingness to work long, often odd, hours.
Let’s not forget the SME component. Subject Matter Experts with low-level knowledge on par with product managers.
It’s a demanding role that has evolved from the college intern or first-year associate who managed social media. The Community Manager has grown into the lifeblood of our newest wave in FinTech and as crypto eats the world, community managers will feed the crypto beast.
Patrick,
How are you?
The political process affects all within that system, there are many indications and the byproduct may leave people feeliñg like they have no control over their privacy, vulnerable.
This statement is related to the fifth paragraph.
My statement and question.
The role of community manager will increasingly become more difficult as time decays, due to the socio-cultural and socio-economic i.pacg of current political policies.
I would like to know your opinion regarding socio-cultural factors, (as stated above) have impacted whether positive or negative.
Thank you in advance,
Gregory Alexandr