Anneleen Vaes

Category: Community management

  • Bye influencer trips, hi community trips

    Bye influencer trips, hi community trips

    Gone are the days that brands took influencers out on lavish brand trips, that generated more drama than brand love. Nowadays brands are taking the people who really matter on those trips: their community.

    The good old blogging days

    Yes, influencers used to be just like you and me. Well, we called them bloggers back then. They were just passionate about a certain topic and wrote about their experience on that topic. That led to honest reviews about for example the newest eyeshadow palette. But once brands started to catch on, sponsored posts became a thing and influencers started making serious money, honesty and relatability went out of the door.

    Now, having been a blogger myself, I can confirm that brands play it dirty. I had several brands ask me to not disclose that I was paid for a post. Or to take out the word sponsor after the fact. Which I refused to do. Just to say, it’s not all on the creator.

    Moving to a community-first approach

    That being said, I am a fan of this evolution where loyal customers are being invited on these trips and exclusive events. Because ultimately, they are your real brand ambassadors.

    L’Oréal for example recently took six of their loyal customers on a ski trip in promotion of a bunch of their products (full disclosure: the brand did also invite influencers and press on this trip). The trip included the launch of the new hydrogel face mask during their flight to the ski area. They also slid down the mountain in a toboggan, designed like the newest version of their iconic Telescopic mascara. And topped it off with a pop-up hair salon for après-ski proof hair with the Elvive Collagen Lifter range.

    So why exactly am I such a fan of this community-first approach?

    • You’re shifting brand perception: taking real customers on the trip shows your brand values the people that actually buy your products, not the ones with the biggest following.
    • You’re building authentic advocacy: when those six lucky customers post about their experience, it’s coming from genuine enthusiasm, not because they are contractually obligated.
    • You’re tackling multiple stages of the funnel: while the customers take care of trust in the conversion phase, the influencers on the trip deliver reach in the awareness phase.
    • You’re turning FOMO into motivation: unlike having a massive following, joining a brand community is something any customer can do. That FOMO actually drives engagement rather than resentment.

    Belgian brands honing in on community-first

    But community-first doesn’t stop at exclusive trips. Belgian brands are proving you can build genuine connection without a ski resort budget. Radio station Studio Brussel taps into their listeners during festival season with a dedicated WhatsApp group. Why? Because festivals are all about experience and atmosphere. And the best way to capture that is through the people actually living it. In the group, StuBru asks listeners to share their festival pics, tips and moments. They use this input as content for their socials, essentially turning their listeners into co-creators.

    Another brand taking a community-first approach is Dagelijkse Kost. The TV show has its own Facebook group, where viewers can share their own spin on a recipe, transforming passive viewership into a two-way culinary conversation. Home cooks inspire each other and become ambassadors for the show in the process.

    Want to read the benefits of a community-first approach for your own brand? The good news is you don’t need a ski trip. Check out my spin on these 6 Pinterest Predicts trends, one of which is perfect for a community-first campaign.

  • Hootsuite’s collaboration with ICE is not a good look

    Hootsuite’s collaboration with ICE is not a good look

    So yesterday I opened my LinkedIn to find out that social media management platform Hootsuite is collaborating with ICE. Yes, that ICE. You know, the one using brutal force to detain and deport immigrants in the US. This collaboration definitely is … a choice.

    Back in the day, when there was still such a thing as a free tier on social media management platforms and I was working at Graspop, I was an avid user of Hootsuite. But the platform has become more costly each year, so I haven’t used it in a while. I’m still a consumer of their content and blog though.

    So I must say, this move leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Especially for a brand that uses the claim: “Transform social for good”. I do get, from a purely financial point of view, a contract with ICE is interesting for Hootsuite. I mean, landing a multi-year public tender? That’s a major win. Well, disregarding the fact that ICE is a vile instance.

    But while it might be interesting financially, in terms of optics, it’s not. My LinkedIn feed for example is filled with posts from thought leaders in the social media space that are outraged by this move and are urging decision makers and B2B influencers to reconsider using the tool. A move that can hurt Hootsuite … yeah, you guessed that right, financially.

    It’s a good thing the company has a social listening tool at their disposal to immediately tackle this crisis though. But the question is, how exactly are they going to tackle this crisis? Cause the truth is, Hootsuite has been in the same boat before. You see, back in 2020, they already landed the ICE contract. But they decided to back out of that contract because of employee backlash. And that’s what makes this an extra weird choice. It’s not like ICE’s perception has gotten any better since then.

    Brand scandals

    But there’s a bigger discussion here. We all know Hootsuite isn’t the only company making questionable business choices. With public discourse, activism and brand reputation so deeply intertwined, this begs the question why companies aren’t being more strategic in their decisions. Because consumers are pretty vocal about the brands they do and don’t support and why. And it’s often the marketing team that has to deal with the backlash of those types of decisions. Decisions that were probably made above their heads (and pay grade). So no, it’s not just about the money. Because bad optics can hurt you more than missing out on a contract.

    Want more on brands in crises? How about KLM messing up their community management during the recent snowfall chaos?

  • Snow, cancelled flights and deleted comments: 3 words that describe KLM’s week

    Snow, cancelled flights and deleted comments: 3 words that describe KLM’s week

    In case you missed it, last week, it finally started snowing in the Benelux. Reaching its climax this Wednesday, we were blessed with a solid 15 cm of white powder (no, not the snorting kind). The thing is, the Benelux and snow don’t mix well. In Belgium that usually means tons of traffic jams, with the occasional accident, issues with public transport and all in all, a good excuse to work from home. 😉 But in the Netherlands, this time around, it meant cancelled flights and that’s something that airline carrier KLM won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

    No, you can’t control the weather. But what you can control is the way you communicate about the impact that weather has on your business. And when it comes to a crisis, social media is one thing you shouldn’t lose track of.

    And this is where KLM should have done better. As of Monday, the airline carrier had to cancel more than 1600 flights. Granted, they did communicate through their website and the press, and I’m pretty sure they did keep their customers up to date through mail as well. Plus, my guess is their customer service will be working overtime ATM.

    Reactions KLM crisis

    But on their public social profiles, it was pretty much radio silence except for a few stories. The result? Customers going off in their latest post (ironically, a New Year’s post, probably not the start they had in mind), complaining about the difficulties of getting through to customer service. But also voicing their complaints about their comments being deleted. And on top of that, customers who do get a reply (in this case, on Instagram), get a standardised message that lacks any sense of empathy.

    Here’s the thing, social media isn’t just for shits and giggles. You can’t cherry-pick when you show up, posting feel-good content when it suits you, only to basically ghost your audience the moment a crisis strikes. So here’s how I would have handled this crisis specifically on social media:

    How to tackle community management in times of a crisis

    1. Monitor the crisis through social listening

    Before anything, you need to know what people are saying and obviously social listening is essential in this process. Don’t just check your own profiles for comments and replies, check your private and public messages AND check for your name and hashtag. You can do this through social listening platforms like Sprinklr, Sprout or Brandwatch.

    2. Draft up a statement and share it on social

    Take the insights you gathered in the first step to build your statement on. Draft the statement together with PR and customer service so it encompasses all those areas. And then put out the statement, yes, also through social media. That’s where it goes wrong most of the time. A lot of brands don’t want to bring those types of messages to social media. But the rule of thumb should be: if you’re on a platform (and using it actively), you should also use it for crisis communication. In fact, it’s what your target audience expects of you.

    3. Adjust your reply template

    First, let’s have a look at KLM’s standard reply: “Regrettably, we do not offer support services via Instagram. Since personal information is required to assist you further, we kindly request that you contact us via WhatsApp, Facebook, or Messenger.”

    The good? Yes, KLM is tackling some of the comments. And yes, in essence, their response is correct. As you need personal info, you do need to handle it through a DM.

    But what the airline company gets wrong is the complete lack of empathy in their message. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Apologize for the situation, acknowledge their inconvenience. Explain why they need to contact you through a DM and end with the advantage of that for them. Personally, this would be my reply: “We’re very sorry for the inconvenience. We understand how stressful a missing suitcase is, and this is absolutely a priority for us. Could you send us your customer info through DM so we can jump on this immediately and get your case resolved?”

    Side note from an experienced community manager: you can adapt those answer templates to fit the specific comment you’re replying to, to make the most of the automation while combining it with personalisation.

    4. Monitor and respond to ALL comments and messages

    And on top of that, you need to be servicing clients on ALL the platforms you’re active on. You can’t just tell them to contact customer service through another platform. The good news: tools like Sprinklr and Sprout make it easy to set up an efficient workflow so social media managers, community managers and customer service can work together on this. With the help of filters, AI and some minimal human intervention, you can do a first sweep, automatically flagging urgent cases, routing questions to the right team and prioritising which comments need immediate attention. The key here is that routing to customer service should be handled internally. The customer shouldn’t have to take extra steps (well, apart from the DM on that specific platform, that is). Make it seamless for them, not just convenient for you.

    Another side note from an experienced community manager: deleting comments is a big no-no. Unless they go against your social media charter (which is a must, btw), you shouldn’t be deleting comments because they get you in a sticky situation. Instead, actively show the community that you’re tackling those issues.

    The bigger picture

    Tackling community management

    Unfortunately, KLM is definitely not the only brand to underuse community management. The difference is that a crisis exposes these gaps instantly. Here’s the thing: strong community management separates the good from the great. And you don’t need to wait on a crisis to start. Active engagement isn’t just good for your reputation, it’s also essential for the algorithm. Each time a follower comments on your content, reply back, focussing on the positive of course. And trust me, in 2026, you want to get on the community management train, cause there’s lot’s of growth potential there.

    Want more of my insights? Discover how I would use these 6 trends from Pinterest Predicts as a brand.

  • Beko

    Beko

    How do you turn a home appliance brand into a love brand on social media? You start with the base: a good content strategy. When I started on Beko, there was no real content strategy set in place and that was the first thing I lobbied for.

    In collaboration with the content strategist and the creative lead, we came up with the umbrella “Common sense”, as Beko offers consumers qualitative products at a good price point, all the while being sustainable and making your life a little easier.

    Each month I created content based on that umbrella, within a certain theme. Here are a few of my favourite content pieces for the brand:

    Food hacks for students
    Beko how to cool a bottle of water
    Beko vitamin bombs

    If you think about it, you could call Beko a sponsor of the everyday life with their home appliances. And another sponsor of the everyday life I worked for is P&G, check out my work for them here.

  • Abarth

    Abarth

    A car that seamlessly combines tradition with passion. That fuels the adrenaline of every ride. That’s simply fun to drive and has a deep connection to tuning. That’s Abarth.

    Social media is obviously important in marketing the brand. That’s my responsibility for the brand: from copywriting and creating concepts for posts to community management, lead form creation and much more.

    You can find some of my work for the brand below:

     

    Fast cars your thing? Have a look here at the work I do for Alfa Romeo’s social media channels then.

  • Fiat Professional

    Fiat Professional

    Supporting professionals in their business on to go, that’s what Fiat Professional aims for. With a range fully dedicated to light commercial vehicles and over one hundred years of history Fiat Professional definitely stands out in their niche.

    Naturally social media positions the brand even more like a pro. And that’s where my work as a content manager comes in. For Fiat Professional I take care of copywriting, creating concepts for posts, community management, lead form creation and much more.

    Check out some of my work for the brand below:

     
    Wondering what I can do for a consumer car brand? Check out my social media work for Fiat.