Some job postings use the labels Social Media Manager and Community Manager interchangeably, so we’re here to set the record straight: these roles are not the same thing! Yes, they deal with social media, but they have their own set of responsibilities that are equally important to the growth of the brand online. Here’s what makes them different.
What do Social Media Managers do?
Social Media Managers are responsible for the content of the brand’s account. They collaborate with the marketing team and are in charge of making strategies that are designed to hit the brand’s KPIs. While they may go from coordinating the content to occasionally doing graphic design for posts, they do not have to manage the social activity that goes on in the posts they make (though some job roles include this responsibility if it’s for a small-medium brand.)
A social managers’ daily tasks look like:
- Creating and implementing social media marketing strategies
- Creating or overseeing the creation of engaging multimedia content across multiple platforms
- Working with the marketing team to develop social media marketing campaigns
- Researching social media trends
- Setting KPIs and tracking campaign/post performance
What do Community Managers do?
Community Managers do exactly what their role says – they manage communities. But what does that actually mean?
Community managers are in charge of the online interactions that happen between the brand’s account and their customers. Their role is part customer service, part listening to the internet and part being active in discussions that relate to the brand. By doing this, they’re able to build and nurture online communities that are loyal to the brand.
A community managers’ daily tasks look like:
- Providing support for your audience when they need it by responding to comments
- Building deeper relationships with customers by responding to their messages
- Obtaining feedback and gathering ideas from your audience through real interactions
- Learning about what the audience wants and expects from your brand or products through social listening
- Keeping the brand’s audience engaged daily by posting on Stories
- Increasing brand visibility by interacting with other brands online
- Moderating risks like spam and fake accounts to keep the account running smoothly
3 reasons why your brand needs a dedicated Community Manager
1. It’s too much work to handle for one person
If you handle a big brand, your social media manager might not be able to perform community management effectively, given their workload. It also keeps the social media manager from focusing on their main responsibilities since they also have to do frequent community management checks.
2. Community Managers require a different skill set than Social Media Managers
Though both require being digitally savvy, the roles have different demands.
Our community managers come from different backgrounds but share some universal traits, such as:
- Having the ability to lead your community growth and development
- Being highly customer-centric and detailed
- Knowing when and how to show empathy
- Having an authentic personality
- Understanding your brand and representing it with the right image and voice
- Being confident to address your audience and their issues
- Occasionally step outside of the digital space and become ‘real world’ representatives of the brand during events
While social media managers are skewed towards more strategic and creative work, community managers are more inclined with their interpersonal and troubleshooting skills.
3. Community Management is an art and a science
Community management isn’t as easy as it might sound, and it’s not just about replying to customers.
In community management, success can be measured by the number of mentions, positive audience sentiment, and customer retention. It’s also measured in intangible ways such as how connected or engaged your audience feels to your brand or how relevant your brand is to the social media landscape.
The goal of every community manager is to build brand loyalty within their community which in turn increases conversations and ultimately, sales. If they want to affect their bottom line by leveraging social media’s interactive features, brands need to invest in experienced community managers who know how to speak their audience’s language and connect with them on a deeper level.
Ready to invest in a dedicated community manager?
Our dedicated community managers have the experience and skills you need to grow your brand’s online community. Chat with us about your brand’s community management needs.