In my experience managing social media communities for brands, I've noticed an almost parental bond that develops within a social media community manager.

Social Media Community Managers:  Your social media community is your baby: care for it, nurture it, love it, and watch it grow. 

Here's how:

• Name your baby & Get it dressed. 
  Do not leave your baby naked with no profile image or description. Naming your social media profiles and making sure they are consistent with the brand is very important for first impressions when it's time for your baby to make friends. Think, first day of school: the profile description, images, and colors you choose all say something about your brand's community. Make sure the "look, feel, and voice" are consistent with print materials, web and email graphics and copy, videos, and all brand elements. Always be aware of what impression you are making with your brand in social media.
   
• Nurture your baby- feed it good stuff, not crap. 
  Create interesting, relevant content that your social media community wants. Don't feel compelled to post social media updates just to meet a quota. Think, quality over quantity. If you feed your baby a lot of crap, you will get a lot of poop, so be selective and strategic in what content you put into your social media community.
   
• Never leave your baby unattended. 
  You will want to be there to soothe your baby, should there be an uproar and your social media community is screaming. The worst thing a social media community manager could do is not monitor and respond to its community. That's how PR nightmares happen and your brand will have to be in therapy for a long time to get over a disaster like that. Check in on your community throughout the day and give it the attention it deserves. You created it, now you have to tend to it.
   
• Spoil your baby! 
  Show your social media community some affection by releasing Facebook exclusive offers, link to discount codes on Twitter, and let them be the first to hear what your brand is up to. People LOVE seeing behind-the-scenes exclusives for events! Give your social media community shout-outs to thank them for their support. Feature their stories, tweets, photos, and videos on your social networks. Reward them for sharing your content and being brand ambassadors.
   
• Watch your baby grow! 
  Measure your social media community reach and influence both monthly and yearly to really see the growth spurts stand out. There are a ton of social media measurement tools out there, or just keep track in an Excel sheet if that works best for you. Just as any proud parent would do, stand back and admire how your social media community is growing. Analytics tools are the notches on the doorway to your baby's growth and mark your social media marketing success.