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Posts Tagged ‘community managers’

Hats Off to Community Managers

Today is Community Manager Appreciation Day, although I suspect few community managers will be given a holiday.

Truth be told, they should get a holiday given community managers are the workhorses of social media. While Facebook Pages, Twitter and Old Spice ads get all the attention, community managers are toiling away behind the scenes to make sure that tactical execution happens on a day in, day out basis.

It’s a job that isn’t that glamorous because it involves a lot of work, energy and focus. At the same time, social media is a 7/24 activity, which means community managers – or their teams – are on the clock all the time.

In many respects, community managers are like centers in a football game. While the quarterback, running backs and wide receivers get all the attention, the center controls the game. It’s the center that has to recognize different defensive strategies and then make sure his teammates are prepared. If an offense does well, center doesn’t receive any accolades, even though their efforts are crucial in the scheme of things.

Despite the hard work and not enough glory, being a community manager can be a fascinating gig. The most attractive part is community managers have multiple roles that involve content creation, customer service, business development, marketing and sales.

For many companies, community managers stand on the front lines, and can often become a face of the company. They’re the ones people start to associate with a brand. Maybe the best example is Frank Eliason, who provided Comcast with a public identity (no small task for a cable company) when he headed up social media engagement.

The biggest risk facing community manager is how engrossing the job can be. Social media never stops so the demands can be significant. As a result, burn-out is a real danger, particularly for people who are one-person operations or part of a small team.

It means companies need to be realistic about their social media activities and goals to be sure they are aligned with the resources put against them. Community managers are important but they’re not Superman or Wonder Woman.

So here’s to community managers (including Sysomos’ Sheldon Levine), and the important role they play within the social media ecosystem.

By Mark Evans - January 24th, 2011 - 4 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

Community Managers: Social Media’s Blockers and Tacklers

The sizzle within social media is the tools – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, WordPress, Ning, etc. But sizzle only gets you so far without substance.

Substance leverages the tools, creates strategic plans and tactically implements social media programs that are well integrated into a company’s communications, marketing and sales efforts.

For a company’s social media efforts to work well, someone has to lead the charge. The person best suited to do this job is the community manager – someone who has solid experience and multiple skills to handle a variety of tasks – everything from business development, customer service, marketing, public/media relations and sales.

Community managers are also evangelists and active within the community to provide a company with a steady presence. And they’re managers, overseeing other people who tactically implement social media programs.

While more companies are hiring community managers, their value has yet to be fully appreciated. This is likely because social media is still in its nascent stages so many companies are still working on creating management structure that incorporate their social media efforts.

It explains why many companies have launched social media programs without having a community manager in place, or they have someone who is social media-savvy but not terribly experienced.

The reality is community managers are the “blockers and tacklers” within the social media game.

While not glamorous – unless you’re someone such as Comcast’s Frank Eliason – community managers do a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes. When a company’s social media programs are successful, it’s not often that you see the community manager celebrated as the hero of the day.

At the end of the day, community managers can make or a break a company’s social media efforts – even those that feature an excellent strategic plan. Without someone at the helm who can effectively oversee day-to-day operations, social media can be a losing and frustrating proposition.

For more thoughts on the importance of community managers, check out this blog post on The Intangibles.

By Mark Evans - March 16th, 2010 - 6 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

2010: The Year of the Community Manager

Within the social media ecosystem, the unheralded stars are the community managers who toil away behind the scenes.

These are the people who spend countless hours on the Web (seemingly 24/7), engaging with customers, writing blog posts and leaving comments, tweeting, updating Facebook, uploading videos, and answering questions from the media/bloggers, customers, partners and investors.

While the “A-List” social media bloggers capture the spotlight, community managers are walking the walk as opposed to just talking the talk. They’re the ones in the trenches doing the blocking and tackling while others are getting the glory for scoring touchdowns.

That said, I think 2010 is going to be the year of the community manager.

As more companies start to embrace social media as a key part of their communications, marketing and sales strategies, they are going to realize that community managers play a crucial role. It’s a job that combines Web expertise with the ability to filter and generate lots of content, customer service, marketing, business development and media/public relations.

It’s a job that will require people with enthusiasm, expertise and experience. As a result, community managers are going to migrate from being  junior employee who are knowledgeable about social media to someone who has a broad set of skills and experience. For companies, this means it will be more of a challenge to find good people, and the need to pay them accordingly.

Within the corporate hierarchy, community managers will start to occupy more seats at the strategic table because they’ll have as good a handle on what’s happening within the business landscape as anyone within the organization.

This will give them a combination of strategic insight and a tactical role, highlighting their growing importance.

By Mark Evans - December 28th, 2009 - 26 Comments »
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Posted in Social Media

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