The person or team managing and leading a community is essential to community engagement, growth, and health. If you’ve ever wondered about the role community managers play and the value they can add, we’ve covered that and more below!
Community managers act as a bridge between a brand and its community. They are brand ambassadors and representatives. The role involves connecting with current members, reaching potential followers, and advocating and promoting the brand.
Community managers are passionate about working with customers and the brand they represent. They are who members usually communicate with as brand representatives so communications skills are essential. Their actions have direct impact on member retention and loyalty and will require empathy and smart decision-making.
They are usually confused with social media managers. The main difference is social media managers act as the brand. They post under the brand account and are the brand on social media channels. Community managers act under their own user account to represent the brand. Here are some ways they add value to a community.
Community managers participate in two-way conversations and discussions. They find ways to engage members and reach potential members. They understand the community’s needs, motivations, and what the group values. Likewise, they know what negatively impacts the group to avoid these frictions nd maintain a pleasant community environment.
They monitor activity, enforce moderation strategies, oversee and perform day-to-day tasks such as answering questions or welcoming new members. From onboarding and engagement to moderation and management, they continuously discover ways to delight the community and build loyalty, trust, and retention.
Brands can make mistakes and it’s easy to go viral for negative press. Community managers will probably be the first to hear of and respond to community in these situations. When done well, they are able to acknowledge negative feedback and complaints, get the community past the situation, and turn it into opportunity for brand improvement and trust-building.
They track metrics, feedback and analytics to gather and report community insights. These findings can also help in other ways such as gaining ideas for product development, marketing campaigns, and customer experiences.
