What is a Social Media Community Manager?

Here are some ideas on how to write a job description for a social media community manager job

If you are asking these questions you either haven't incorporated Social Media into your overall business strategy (public relations, marketing, customer service), or you just assume that your marketing (or capable employee) is taking care of it. But do you really know what is going on?

This is where a Community Manager comes in. Not a new position, but definitely one that is evolving as organizations realize that digital platforms are becoming ubiquitous. This is another way to communicate and build relationships with customers. It is an opportunity to listen and respond to our the people who matter the most to your business. The better we are the better results, and this can translate to an increase in your bottom line.

What exactly does a community manager do?

"A Community Manager is the face of a company, managing communications in both directions. This digital-savvy employee is responsible for all communications, PR, social media, events, and content creation, among other things. It’s a Web 2.0 communications role, incorporating online tools and in-person networking to create relationships and ultimately build the company’s brand, both online and off." @ErinBury - Social Fresh

Planning, Strategies, Content creation, Monitoring, Evaluating, Campaigns, Advising and Training on Social Media are some of their tasks.

Large Organizations

Team of Community Managers - incorporated social media into marketing strategy and/PR strategy, multiple departments, many employees, many online profiles to manage
Different levels may include a junior position(s) that writes content for a blog, and does some research.
Senior manager would oversee the strategy, developing campaigns, making sure policies and guidelines are being met, etc.

Small-Medium sized Organization

Social media 'savvy' owner, the face of the company, may be the one that communicates directly with their customers online.
Owner that may not understand how social media works, but understands it's importance, would either hire a consultant, a small agency, or hire an employee with these skills.

2013 Community and Social Media Management Trends

Social Fresh is coming out with their 2013 annual report where they surveyed community and social media managers. With 3 years of data and an increased data base, they can offer some good trending data on where this position is going.

They gave us a sneak peek...

More women than men hold this position, but that is slowly changing
Salaries are increasing
Senior management positions are increasing
Average age is increasing
Work/Life balance is still a challenge with this position demanding a great deal of time