Basic functions and responsibilities of a community manager.

You probably know what a community manager is, but do you know what it isn’t? They’re not an administrative assistant, not a customer service agent, not a graphic designer, not a web developer… If you like social media and have ever wondered what the real functions of a community manager are, don’t worry — we’re here to define them and put an end to the false belief that a community manager is the “jack of all trades.” Moreover, by defining their tasks, we’re sure professionals in the field will do their jobs much better and achieve greater results.

Do you want to learn more about community management and digital communication? Keep reading!

What is a Community Manager in its strictest definition?

Translated into Spanish, community manager means “community manager,” and this involves community engagement, building lasting relationships between companies and users, and keeping them active.

As a professional in social media — which is a broad field within digital marketing that requires various types of tasks — the role of the community manager has often been misunderstood, attributing to them many responsibilities unrelated to profile management.

But don’t get confused! The community manager’s only mission should be to keep followers active, engaged with the brand, and help the community grow.

Discover the 7 fundamental functions of a Community Manager

• Community management: replying to comments, accepting friend requests, detecting trolls or haters, handling criticism or negative opinions, monitoring hashtags, following up on conversations where the company is mentioned, and answering user inquiries related to the business. In short, everything related to user interaction.

• Strategy design to improve proposed KPIs: the main social media KPIs are usually quality follower growth, increased reach, higher video content views, greater account interactivity, improved engagement rate, and better online reputation. For all this to happen, it’s important to define a social media strategy based on prior analysis. Furthermore, every implemented strategy should be measured, and results adjusted or reinforced as necessary.

• Project evaluation and management: the social media strategy may be part of a broader project or campaign, so the community manager must be able to design a consistent strategy and provide the most relevant data in relation to the main objective. For example, if a campaign is raising awareness about keeping beaches clean, the main social media KPI cannot be follower growth.

• Crisis management: one of the most important functions of a community manager is managing reputation crises, which typically occur in online communication channels where anyone can express opinions and interact with others, such as on social media or forums. Crises usually arise unexpectedly from mistakes or misunderstandings, so it’s essential that the community manager creates a prevention and crisis management plan to know how to respond. The most urgent goal is to prevent rumors and fake news from spreading — reacting quickly, giving explanations, apologizing when necessary, and publicly offering solutions are essential actions.

• Content planning: although the community manager may have some design knowledge, they’re not a graphic designer or video editor, but rather an effective content planner. Therefore, even if they don’t create the designs, they must clearly and concisely establish in a plan what graphic and audiovisual pieces are needed to achieve the set goals — how many per month, what text they’ll include, and what formats are required. The community manager must coordinate with the creative team and provide all necessary details.

• Creative copywriting: a community manager must have strong writing skills to communicate as effectively as possible with their community. They need to know creative writing and advertising copy techniques — in short, the best way to convey messages adapted to the target audience. Of course, flawless spelling and mastery of grammar in the writing language are essential.

• Use of social media tools: there comes a time in every community manager’s life when the number of profiles managed increases, communities grow, pending posts pile up, and planning continues — even on weekends! What to do then? Easy: rely on social media management tools. Hootsuite to schedule posts and take time off, Metricool to collect data automatically, Mention to monitor mentions, Audiense to identify and connect with your audience… and there are many more!

How to become a Community Manager?

If you love social media, are creative, proactive, and tech-savvy, being a community manager could be your ideal job. To do so, you should train with a specialized course in social profile management or, even better, pursue a master’s degree in digital marketing to gain in-depth knowledge of all areas within this branch of marketing.

Once you understand how digital communication works, you’ll just need to unleash your communication skills and stay tuned to the Educa.Pro blog to learn about all the latest trends. We’ll be waiting for you!