We get it: no one likes putting labels on things. (Nevertheless is girlfriend?) But it is very important to define the important role of the community manager in your marketing team.
Community managers are the stars responsible for encouraging participation, building relationships, and maintaining the integrity of online communities.
In the minute-by-minute social media world, they serve as an important bridge between brands and audiences.
Community management may not always be correct. easiest It’s an impactful role that adds value to both brands and the people who love them.
So it’s time to clearly define, explore, and yes, celebrate the humble community manager tag. Today, we break down exactly what a community manager does (and how they differ from social media managers) and what the future holds for this ever-exciting position.
What is a community manager?
A community manager is the “digital guardian” in charge of a brand’s online presence.
Community managers are responsible for organizing and nurturing communities around a brand, product or cause. They host the most parties, strategically there to make sure everyone has a good time.
If you’re on this social media strategy blog, you’re probably most interested in community management for platforms (like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter/X), but online communities can also live in forums or blogs.
No matter where your fan community hangs out online, a skilled community manager understands the interests and needs of that community, engages members, and ensures the community remains a positive and productive space. In other words, community managers are the guardians of the environment.
What does a community manager do?
A community manager is responsible for responding to comments and DMs on social media. They will answer questions and offer customer support.
They might as well proactive It’s about fostering a sense of community on a social media platform: creating content that encourages responses or conversations, coordinating contests, or producing other interactive content.
Overall, the goal is to build both engagement rate and customer loyalty. (No pressure.)
The less fun part of the job is managing and dealing with any issues or troublemaking trolls in a polite and professional manner that upholds your brand’s values, of course.
Community manager and social media manager
Community managers and social media managers work shoulder to shoulder to make a brand’s social media presence as good as possible. But their focus is quite different.
A community manager’s focus build relationships within online communities. They create, curate and manage content specifically designed to engage followers.
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Community managers answer questions, review comments and DMs, and resolve issues to keep the community alive (and ideally harmonious).
On the other hand, a social media manager, overall content plan. This means preparing and planning posts, ads, and analytics metrics to increase brand awareness on social platforms.
Essential skills for community managers
A successful community manager will have a variety of skills such as:
excellent communication
Are you sensitive and skilled at expressing the right tone? Are you known for your top-notch communication skills? This could be just the job for you.
You will write one storm It’s absolutely crucial that you can clearly express yourself (and the brand’s voice and values) in this role.
But communication isn’t just an important skill needed to connect with the community. You must also be able to communicate clearly with the internal team about exactly what is happening online at any given moment.
Problem solving
A community manager doesn’t spend all day just sharing memes and running contests. Sometimes they have to deal with problems and conflicts (uggggh).
Having the ability to problem solve effectively and efficiently is very important. You will need to handle any surprising situation with grace and professionalism and be adept at finding solutions that satisfy community members And Be in alignment with the brand’s values.
Empathy
A good community manager is patient and kind. After all, it’s really about being a good friend and making your followers feel both welcome and listened to. Understanding the needs, concerns, and feelings of community members is crucial to building trust and harmony.
Moderation
As important as it is to be a shoulder to cry on, sometimes a community manager needs to lay down the law.
Without moderation, a comments section can quickly turn into a section that is toxic to everyone. Strong community management requires some enforcement; Administrators must adhere to any community guidelines and policies to help ensure these online spaces are welcoming and safe for all fans.
Analysis
Some of these “skills” are definitely on the softer side, but having an analytical brain is also important for successful community management. What works? What’s not? How can success be measured? Community managers should be able to carefully analyze engagement metrics through tools like Moyens I/O Analytics to refine their strategies and measure their impact.
Community manager job description
Obviously, the job description of a community manager can vary greatly depending on industry and company size. However, the role of a community manager often includes responsibilities such as:
- Developing and implementing community engagement strategies
- Managing discussions and content
- Respond to community questions and feedback
- Collaborate with marketing and support teams
- Analyzing data to assess community engagement
If you’re creating a community manager job description for a job posting, you may want to look for a candidate with training in online marketing or marketing communications, but a degree isn’t absolutely necessary for success in this role. It is more important to find someone who can demonstrate skills such as communication, problem solving and analytical thinking.
community manager salary
Like any position, a community manager’s salary varies by location, work experience, and industry. In the United States, entry-level community managers can earn between $41,000 and $65,000 per year, according to Glassdoor.
Of course, professionals with more experience or those working in large companies can earn even more; Some online community managers on Glassdoor report annual salaries of $115,000.
For more details on salaries in the social media marketing industry, including salaries for community management roles, download our 2023 Social Media Careers Report.
Community manager performance metrics
To evaluate a community manager’s performance, consider the following metrics:
- Engagement rate (likes, comments, shares)
- Growth in community size
- Response time to community questions
- Net promoter score (NPS) from community members
- sales contracts
Ultimately, a community manager should be evaluated on metrics that align with your brand’s overall social media goals. If growing the size of your community isn’t important to your business goals, it doesn’t really make sense to focus your time and attention on increasing followings, right?
Community manager role over time
Like everything else in the social media landscape (RIP, Nexopia), the role of the community manager has evolved significantly over the past decade.
Originally, the role of a digital community manager was to respond to comments, monitor social channels for negative sentiment, and moderate content. Nowadays, a community manager is also expected to practice strategic planning, customer service, and data analysis. It’s about going beyond existing reagent and be proactivedeliberately encouraging participation and building loyalty along the way.
We are in an interesting time in Internet History with this new influx of accessible AI technology. The future of community management will likely be shaped by this type of automation. Chatbot technology is likely to take a big leap forward in the next few years to provide richer, multiplatform customer support that goes beyond answering FAQs.
But while AI can certainly help in data analysis, frequently asked questions, and routine tasks, we are sure that a human touch will remain indispensable for quality community management. No matter how convincing AI is, there will always be a need for a real person to make real connections and solve complex problems for your (human!) community.
The role is likely to evolve in the future and we will see community managers engaging with bigger picture ideas. They can use AI to assist with more mundane or repetitive community management tasks and spend their time on more strategic decision-making and deeper integration with overall business goals.
But as technology advances, whether they’re working hard or dreaming big, community managers will always continue to find new ways to connect, engage, and create meaningful experiences for their communities. Excuse me, are the community admins both hosts of the party? And heroes? Facts don’t lie.
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