For the new generation of consumers, a brand that keeps its distance on social media is not a memorable one. Quite the opposite. Audiences today have come to expect a degree of relatability—and above all, a real understanding of their interests and necessities. It’s not about keeping up with the top 10 TikTok trends; rather, about thinking and creating like consumers. 

Marketers who have a solid grasp of this are expanding their businesses and promoting their brand just as with word of mouth. But they are not doing it alone. Community managers are one of the main players in the game of hooking consumers—even if their role is often simplified and associated with junior professionals who are just starting their careers. As consumer behavior continues to evolve, we need a new approach to community management that understands its importance and allows us to harness its true power. Here’s what that looks like.

AI and automation meet an increased focus on being human.

As previously mentioned, consumers are more likely to engage with brands that demonstrate some sense of humanity. And if they are not afraid to show an actual human behind the screen, all the merrier. Community managers today are spending less time solving problems and more time sharing their own opinions, experiences and emotions—acting more as entertainers and relatable friends than customer service agents.

If we think about the spaces where consumers connect with brands, these are mostly global digital platforms with a demand for always-on interaction. One of the ways that world-class brands deal with this expectation is by hiring community managers in a bunch of different time zones so that they are manually working round the clock to serve them. However, by incorporating automation tools—such as social bots or other applications of AI—you can also offer on-demand attention and instant solutions so that the users feel supported 24/7 while CMs focus on being creative.

In other words, these tools manage all the liking, retweeting and answering of repetitive queries so that community managers can better direct their energy toward inspiring real connections with people.

On top of that, you can have fun with it. Working with the television series Atlanta, for example, we created their own custom AI bot to take over the show’s official Twitter account for a week. In a joint effort between Jam3, Cashmere and Media.Monks’ teams, we trained it on every tweet from the Atlanta handle. Then, we used Twitter’s new edit function to tease out a takeover that had communities on Reddit and Discord following along.

Web3 fosters a spirit of participation.

Many factors have pushed community managers to expand their roles, and as long as new platforms keep emerging, they’ll continue to adapt and evolve. With its values of collaboration, decentralization and power-to-the-user, Web3 is already changing the way we engage with communities, switching the focus from “talking to” to “participating with.” In that landscape, community managers will need to be quick on their feet and feel prepared to appropriately engage with consumers—whether that means communicating through a virtual avatar or even hosting an auction of NFT artwork. 

What’s more, commerce is going live—prompting brands to blend communities and real-time connection to offer entertaining interactive experiences. While influencers or digital creators are typically the stars of these events, community managers play a fundamental role in moderating and executing these activities. 

Community managers are becoming more involved in creative processes.

As virtual worlds evolve and virtualization emphasizes the spirit of collaboration, brands have an opportunity to give more thought to the role that community managers play within their team. Instead of simply asking ourselves what new platforms to join, we need to follow it up with, “What should be the purpose of the CM in each one?”

Not all brands need to have the same approach, but one thing is certain: when community managers are invited to creative rounds, campaign briefs and content calendar meetings, they are better equipped to create the kind of brand experience that social media managers and creatives are working so hard on. What’s more, they can provide unique insights they’ve gathered from interacting directly with consumers.

In a world where brands need to be active listeners and co-create culture alongside their audience, community managers are key liaisons between the two. As their role evolves, we need to get rid of the simplistic view of posting, responding and reacting—understanding that they have the power to create brand love and a direct impact on the brand experience. Let’s move away from the concept of community managers as an exclusively intern-level position and recognize the importance of elevating the role of those communicating directly with consumers.

A consumer journey study is research conducted through direct interaction with or observations of your target consumers by way of interviews, field studies, focus groups and other methods that can help you better understand your customer’s path to purchase. Beginning with initial purchase inspiration to the final stages of product purchase and post-purchase product usage, a well-crafted study will illuminate purchase trigger behavior and influential touchpoints, and help guide the marketing team with actionable insights that can better influence those touchpoints along that path. 

The study can also help identify gaps in the consumer purchase funnel to help marketing turn product considerers into product buyers. For example, you might ask participants in your study why they decided to purchase a competitor’s product instead of your own to identify the main purchase barriers for your product and uncover potential solutions to overcoming these barriers.

Ready to initiate a consumer journey study? Here are some things to consider.

The Dos (and Don’ts) of Conducting a Study

The questions that you and your team decide to ask in a consumer journey study should help you better understand how to connect with your target consumer and pave the way for an ongoing relationship. Many common questions focus on purchase triggers (i.e. the reasons behind deciding to purchase a new item), different shopping channels (i.e. in-store and online channels), and satisfaction with the newly-purchased product. Oftentimes, it will also be important to gather demographic data about your key shopping segment (such as age, gender, parental status and household income) to better understand who is actually purchasing your products.



Let’s look at some best practices for launching and executing a consumer purchase journey study. These best practices are based on our own experience working with our clients and are designed to help you navigate the complex consumer journey landscape.



Focus on primary decision makers. In many households, it’s common for one or two people to be in charge of purchase decisions, such as a parent on behalf of his or her children. In this scenario, the parent would be considered the primary decision maker, not the children. In your consumer purchase journey study, it’s important to ask survey respondents about their role in the purchase decision-making process because you want to understand the purchase triggers and most influential shopping touchpoints of those who will ultimately decide whether or not to purchase your product. 

Consider long-term versus short-term purchase behaviors. The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly reshaped the retail landscape and transformed many consumers' typical purchase behaviors. For example, according to eMarketer, “click and collect” sales (i.e. sales of products purchased online and picked up in-store) increased 106.9% in 2020. However, not all of these COVID-driven changes are likely to stick, and it’s important to determine what behaviors are likely long-term versus short-term. For example, you can ask survey respondents in your study how they anticipate purchasing a product or service a year from now and compare that to how they have recently purchased a product or service. 

Understand the attributes and behaviors of those who considered, but did not purchase, your product. In your research, you will likely identify a few consumers who considered your product but ultimately did not purchase it. What happened? Why did the shopper decide to buy a competitor’s product? By understanding the attributes and behaviors of those who considered but ultimately did not purchase your product, you can identify potential product features or capabilities that might convert some of these considerers into purchasers. 

Conduct your consumer purchase journey study on a recurring basis. As the retail landscape continues to evolve, there will always be new channels and influential shopping touchpoints that emerge, such as livestream video shopping channels on Amazon and the recent emergence of in-app shopping on TikTok. Depending on your team’s resources and capabilities, consider running a consumer purchase journey study on an annual or semi-annual basis in order to capture the ongoing changes in your target consumer’s purchase journey. 

Partner with retailers and manufacturers to implement consumer journey findings at the retail level. Given that global eCommerce retail sales grew 27.6% while overall retail sales declined 3.0% in 2020, it’s no surprise that the websites of retailers and manufacturers are some of the most important and influential shopping touchpoints. Consumers turn to these channels to learn about products, read customer reviews and compare items. Once you have completed your consumer purchase journey study, consider sharing these insights with your key retail partners in order to implement these best practices at the retail point of sale.

By implementing these best practices in your next consumer journey study, you’ll strengthen your brand or product’s relationship with your target shopper and identify new ways to connect with your key consumers. Instead of being on a “road to nowhere,” you’ll have a clear roadmap of your intended consumer’s path to purchase.

Considering a consumer journey study? Our team of experts can help.