Community Manager
HOW TO BECOME A COMMUNITY MANAGER
A key role for every organization nowadays, community managers are experts in social media communication. It is a relatively recent and booming career.
What is community management?
With the rise of social networks, new professions have been created. Companies have invested in media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and their presence on social networks is now essential. They have therefore had to find professionals capable of using these new media to communicate, enhance their brand image and make themselves known.
A relatively recent profession, it’s only since the early 2010s that Community Managers have managed to carve out a place for themselves within companies. Since then, their numbers have grown steadily, and their role has become indispensable.
In 2019, the profession remained very feminine and young. 69% of community managers surveyed by the Blog du Modérateur were women, and 65% were between 21 and 30 years old. What better than a digital native to address a young audience, often from the same generation?
What are the duties of a community manager?
Community managers, also known as social media managers, are literally in charge of managing communities. These specialists in digital communication are in fact the managers of a brand’s, company’s, or non-profit’s accounts on several social media such as Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. CMs must regularly post relevant content to promote their company, moderate and federate a community, and engage the people who follow these accounts.
The aim is to use social media to communicate differently, namely on the organization’s news, values and operations to build trust with prospective customers. Nurturing a privileged link with prospects can subsequently lead to them to make a purchase. They can also work with influencers in their field of business.
Social media can also be used to promote a business. In addition to facilitating existing communities, community managers are tasked with expanding it and attracting new users to the accounts and pages they manage.
As true all-rounders, they may be required to post content, answer comments, moderate opinions, monitor their employer’s e-reputation on social media, follow and analyze their posts to assess their engagement rate, click-through rate, number of likes, in other words, their impact. CMs typically demonstrate good writing skills and impeccable spelling, and they know how to create entertaining video and image content tailored to social media from scratch. Because their mission also involves attracting attention, they are expected to demonstrate originality, while remaining consistent with their company’s values.
In the sports industry, they may be employed by sports equipment manufacturers, specialist media, federations, clubs or athletes. In the latter case, their role will be to relay live information on social media during sports events. The keyword of a CM’s work routine is responsiveness. CMs can leverage events linked to their company to promote it, while avoiding any bad buzz that could damage the brand image they must nurture.
Key qualities and skills required of a community manager
Candidates to a community manager position should be aware that the role entails many and varied tasks. In other words, they should be familiar with a variety of disciplines in order to best fulfill their role. To stand out from the crowd and develop the community that follows their company, they should cultivate originality, diplomatic skills and a touch of humor. In short, a good community manager should demonstrate:
- Creative skills: nowadays, every brand is active on social media and competition is tough. Some brands step up their efforts to offer their communities the most unique content possible, to build loyalty and expand their customer base. A CM must therefore outperform the competition and offer original editorial content that will appeal to web users. And this is where creative skills step in. Competitive intelligence can also be useful to stay abreast of what their fellow community managers are doing elsewhere.
- Responsiveness: Web users are very often online, and a page that isn’t updated or populated with new content regularly will not be compelling or attract loyalty. What’s more, potential customers often visit social networks to keep up to date, ask questions, get help or give their opinion. For this reason, CMs must be quick on the uptake to cater to requests or answer comments. For instance, responsiveness becomes an essential quality during events such as sports events to interact with viewers.
- Good analytical skills: Community Managers should not be afraid of crunching numbers. Not only do CMs implement communication strategies but they are also in charge of community development, i.e., through advertising. In this sense, they must also measure the impact of implemented actions, such as the engagement rate of posts or the evolution of the number of followers. Figures and the analysis thereof are part of their work routine: they monitor indicators to evaluate efficiency and change strategies where necessary.
Salary range and career prospects
Community Managers earn on average €30K gross per annum, or €2,500 per month. However, this amount may vary depending on their employer, the extent of their responsibilities, and also over time through experience. Considering this, a CM’s annual salary can go up to €50K net.
Once they’ve won their spurs, CMs or social media managers can aim for higher positions with larger companies. They may be tasked with all of a brand’s communication or become web project managers. They may also wish to set up their own freelance business and offer their services as experts in social media management and e-reputation.
What qualifications are required to become a community manager?
To practise this profession, it is essential to acquire the basics of communications and digital marketing. Students can choose to specialize in the sports sector through their training, but also through internships, which enable them to put into practice the concepts they have learned in class.
The level required varies from company to company. However, it is advisable to have at least a bac+3 level diploma, such as a bachelor’s degree in communications and webmarketing, to be able to work as a community manager for a company in the sports sector.
As this profession requires a wide range of skills, students often push on to Master’s level, which will always be a plus when it comes to landing a job. In 2019, 54% of them had a Bac +5 in the sector, and 87% had at least a Bac +3, according to the BDM. Community management doesn’t come without a degree, and it’s hard to get into without a solid background.
With the rise of social networks, new professions have been created. Companies have invested in media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and their presence on social networks is now essential. They have therefore had to find professionals capable of using these new media to communicate, enhance their brand image and make themselves known.
A relatively recent profession, it’s only since the early 2010s that Community Managers have managed to carve out a place for themselves within companies. Since then, their numbers have grown steadily, and their role has become indispensable.
In 2019, the profession remained very feminine and young. 69% of community managers surveyed by the Blog du Modérateur were women, and 65% were between 21 and 30 years old. What better than a digital native to address a young audience, often from the same generation?
Community managers, also known as social media managers, are literally in charge of managing communities. These specialists in digital communication are in fact the managers of a brand’s, company’s, or non-profit’s accounts on several social media such as Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. CMs must regularly post relevant content to promote their company, moderate and federate a community, and engage the people who follow these accounts.
The aim is to use social media to communicate differently, namely on the organization’s news, values and operations to build trust with prospective customers. Nurturing a privileged link with prospects can subsequently lead to them to make a purchase. They can also work with influencers in their field of business.
Social media can also be used to promote a business. In addition to facilitating existing communities, community managers are tasked with expanding it and attracting new users to the accounts and pages they manage.
As true all-rounders, they may be required to post content, answer comments, moderate opinions, monitor their employer’s e-reputation on social media, follow and analyze their posts to assess their engagement rate, click-through rate, number of likes, in other words, their impact. CMs typically demonstrate good writing skills and impeccable spelling, and they know how to create entertaining video and image content tailored to social media from scratch. Because their mission also involves attracting attention, they are expected to demonstrate originality, while remaining consistent with their company’s values.
In the sports industry, they may be employed by sports equipment manufacturers, specialist media, federations, clubs or athletes. In the latter case, their role will be to relay live information on social media during sports events. The keyword of a CM’s work routine is responsiveness. CMs can leverage events linked to their company to promote it, while avoiding any bad buzz that could damage the brand image they must nurture.
Candidates to a community manager position should be aware that the role entails many and varied tasks. In other words, they should be familiar with a variety of disciplines in order to best fulfill their role. To stand out from the crowd and develop the community that follows their company, they should cultivate originality, diplomatic skills and a touch of humor. In short, a good community manager should demonstrate:
- Creative skills: nowadays, every brand is active on social media and competition is tough. Some brands step up their efforts to offer their communities the most unique content possible, to build loyalty and expand their customer base. A CM must therefore outperform the competition and offer original editorial content that will appeal to web users. And this is where creative skills step in. Competitive intelligence can also be useful to stay abreast of what their fellow community managers are doing elsewhere.
- Responsiveness: Web users are very often online, and a page that isn’t updated or populated with new content regularly will not be compelling or attract loyalty. What’s more, potential customers often visit social networks to keep up to date, ask questions, get help or give their opinion. For this reason, CMs must be quick on the uptake to cater to requests or answer comments. For instance, responsiveness becomes an essential quality during events such as sports events to interact with viewers.
- Good analytical skills: Community Managers should not be afraid of crunching numbers. Not only do CMs implement communication strategies but they are also in charge of community development, i.e., through advertising. In this sense, they must also measure the impact of implemented actions, such as the engagement rate of posts or the evolution of the number of followers. Figures and the analysis thereof are part of their work routine: they monitor indicators to evaluate efficiency and change strategies where necessary.
Community Managers earn on average €30K gross per annum, or €2,500 per month. However, this amount may vary depending on their employer, the extent of their responsibilities, and also over time through experience. Considering this, a CM’s annual salary can go up to €50K net.
Once they’ve won their spurs, CMs or social media managers can aim for higher positions with larger companies. They may be tasked with all of a brand’s communication or become web project managers. They may also wish to set up their own freelance business and offer their services as experts in social media management and e-reputation.
To practise this profession, it is essential to acquire the basics of communications and digital marketing. Students can choose to specialize in the sports sector through their training, but also through internships, which enable them to put into practice the concepts they have learned in class.
The level required varies from company to company. However, it is advisable to have at least a bac+3 level diploma, such as a bachelor’s degree in communications and webmarketing, to be able to work as a community manager for a company in the sports sector.
As this profession requires a wide range of skills, students often push on to Master’s level, which will always be a plus when it comes to landing a job. In 2019, 54% of them had a Bac +5 in the sector, and 87% had at least a Bac +3, according to the BDM. Community management doesn’t come without a degree, and it’s hard to get into without a solid background.
