Community Management Demands an Integrated Channel Strategy
Andreia Abud explains why audience engagement must connect to owned narratives, PR, and live experiences.
Andreia Abud analyzes brand engagement in communities and the need to build integrated touchpoints across a wider ecosystem. Speaking on Marketing - The Podcast, she outlines the corporate maturity required to dialogue with audiences and avoid siloed initiatives.
Andreia Abud, CMDO at Felina and board member at CONAR, discussed brand engagement within communities and the importance of an integrated channel vision in a conversation with Bruno Gimenes on Marketing - The Podcast. The dialogue was part of a broader discussion on advertising and consumer behavior, focusing on the need for corporate maturity when navigating open and decentralized channels.
In the video above, Abud points out that opening up space for direct audience interaction means operating in environments where companies have less control over messaging. Being prepared for ongoing dialogue is essential: "Brands need to be prepared for that, for that conversation, right? You have to be mature when you open up that channel, because it's a channel you control less, right?"
Attention architecture and layers of contact
Instead of focusing on isolated formats or media channels, the strategy requires thinking across the brand's entire activation ecosystem. This structure spans owned digital channels—such as websites and social media profiles—coordinated alongside other exposure and engagement touchpoints.
Abud describes this planning through distinct stages of audience relationship building: "We talk about a channel attention architecture that starts from a narrative layer, from what is owned. Then it moves to what provides legitimacy, where we have PR, for instance, and after that we have an experiential part with events, so everything is connected, right?"
Active listening and breaking down silos
Engaging with established communities offers amplification power, but it demands the infrastructure to take feedback, absorb criticism, and make course corrections. For Abud, brand building cannot be confined solely to social media or isolated niches: "It's not just about the community; it's about looking at the ecosystem as a whole."
Collaboration between clients and agencies is also highlighted as a key factor in avoiding fragmented initiatives. "And I think it's really detrimental when we treat things in silos," Abud emphasizes, noting that specialist efforts in influencer marketing and community groups must converge with the broader communications plan, anchored by relevance and "authenticity, right? Especially when we're talking about communities."