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The community manager is responsible for managing the community of followers of the brand on the Internet.
The community is usually understood as the users who follow the company on social networks, but we must not forget that the community of followers also includes the people who actively participate by leaving their comments on the corporate blog.
This is an integrated role within the online marketing department and more specifically within the Social Media team.
The demand for community managers has experienced a remarkable growth in recent years, as a result of the increased activity of brands in social networks. However, many experts have expressed concern about what they have termed “the community manager bubble”. The demand for social media professionals has increased at a rate that supply has sometimes been unable to meet. Many people have called themselves community managers from completely different educational backgrounds, which can range from years of experience and an MBA to a short course of a few hours. As with all new professions emerging from Web 2.0, the lines that define them are blurred, and it is complex to determine a person’s ability to be a good community manager based solely on a degree.
In addition, sometimes, when the company only has one person to manage the social networks, the term community manager is often used, although this person also performs strategic functions, which in larger teams would be carried out by the Social Media Manager.
Functions of the Community Manager
Let’s take a closer look at the main functions and tasks that a community manager performs for a company or brand.
- Create and optimize the brand’s pages in the different social networks defined in the Social Media Plan.
- Optimize texts and corporate information adapting it to each social network.
- Create the headers and logos adapted for each social network.
- Search for branded content (such as blog posts) and third-party sites that align with brand values and community tastes.
- Create content specifically for the different social networks, such as photographs, infographics, videos and texts.
- Schedule publications in the different social networks based on the calendar defined in the Social Media Plan.
Social media activity management
- Listen to the community of followers to detect opportunities and shortcomings of the company.
- Respond to followers’ comments on the blog and social networks.
- Resolve users’ doubts and queries, and, if necessary, refer them to the person who can help them with each particular issue.
- Encourage conversation on social networks and improve engagement.
- Grow the community of followers.
Monitoring and analysis
- Data extraction and review of the metrics defined in the Social Media Plan, both of the brand itself and of competitors.
- Analysis of the data, proposal of improvements and preparation of reports for the company’s managers.
References about Community Manager
Digital professions: employment 2.0 – Maria Santonja in the Human Level blog
There is a bubble: it’s called “community manager – Manuel Ángel Méndez and Adrián Segovia in El País
