By Adesina Abdulhameed
Ever wondered why multiple Web3 projects crop up every other day, but few make it into the limelight? The fastest way to get a Web3-themed project wrong is to apply the general rules of business without understanding the uniqueness of Web3 itself. If your business is to survive, you must know that Web3 is an evolution of how we communicate and work online with peculiarities that should be adequately accounted for.
Web3 projects thrive on their acceptability by the audience, and maintaining such relationships is crucial to staying relevant in the blockchain industry. Running a successful crypto or NFT project goes beyond creating an attractive website and a concept that works. You can have the best idea in the world and still flatline without making a name for yourself if you don’t understand the importance of community in Web3.
Unlike a conventional business where you can easily build your brand from scratch and depend solely on the quality of your product to speak for you, Web3 adds fluctuating variables to audience reception. Your project can be doing great, for instance, and something as minor as misinformation or fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) can suddenly bring your business crashing down. No matter how great your product or service is, keeping a tight rein on your business-audience relationship is the most crucial strategy to keep your business alive and running.
What Is a Community Manager?
In Web3 jargon, a community manager is responsible for creating and maintaining relationships in an online community of stakeholders (customers). The tasks of a community manager include handling customer service, moderating community content, developing new ways to improve and grow the community, providing timely information to community members, and so on. Great community management ultimately increases user engagement and entrenches customer loyalty.
One of the gravest mistakes any Web3 business can make is hiring an incompetent community manager. It is almost expected that you create a presence on a dedicated social media platform—like Discord, Twitter or Medium—to serve as a hub for end users of your product or services. In these dedicated spaces, your communities can interact directly with your team and other customers/digital asset owners. Many businesses get this wrong by assuming this is another job for a moderator or a job someone without the appropriate skill can handle.
Community management is not a position that just anybody can fill. Being a graduate of related courses does not automatically make you a good fit for community management. So, how do you find a qualified community manager?
Tips for Hiring the Right Community Manager
Selecting the right person to build and manage your community requires you to know the skills the potential manager must possess. Trends, characterized by peculiar slang, highly influence Web3. It is common to see terms like HODL, FOMO, FUD, WAGMI (check out our free Web3 glossary to learn these terms and more!), etc. These are the types of words your community manager is expected to use in a Web3 environment, so the hire should know what they mean and when to use them.
The safest way to get the right person to manage your community is to choose experience over any other form of qualification. Someone with passion and expertise in the blockchain or NFT space will understand your project and communicate more effectively with the community.
Web3 is a new world with several niches—like NFTs, DAOs and DeFi—and there is a different approach to managing each niche. A meme project, for example, needs a lively personality, which should be reflected in the community by engaging users to participate in games and other exciting activities.
Most importantly, before assigning anyone the role of managing your community, you must be sure they understand the depth and personality of your project. Is it a luxury experience? A charity requiring a compassionate and motivational leader? Or is it a childlike meme project built for fun and (potential) moneymaking? There is a huge difference among projects like The Royals NFT, The HUG NFT and the game Crabada, for example. A community manager with adequate information can easily answer questions posed by users. Although your community manager is not your public relations department, they should know enough about the project to perform customer service roles independently.
Conclusion
A business’s relevance is maintained by its continued ability to provide a valuable product or service to an audience or customer. In Web3, a community manager is a vital piece of the puzzle to make this possible. Hiring the right person can mean the difference between flourishing and floundering, so take the time to assess candidates’ personalities, skill sets and experience before hiring them. To learn more about how you can communicate and thrive in Web3, please subscribe to our blog or contact us today!
