Who is the Community Manager?

We held the second program of the community management webinar series, which we organized as 5 programs, on Thursday, April 14, 2022. In the second program, Kağan Kanbur from our team hosted İlker Akansel, the community management and strategy consultant. We had a pleasant conversation about the definition, duties and future of the community manager.

Who is the community manager?

Community manager, although there are many different definitions, can be defined as the person who thinks, constructs, activates, enlarges and increases interactions in line with the value that the organization wants to reveal. Communities need a community manager to create sustainable value. The community manager is one of the indispensable parts of a community in this context.

What is the difference between a community manager and a social media manager?

Although community management and social media management are confused with each other, they are different disciplines. Social media is an area of ​​expertise that is designed more as a marketing channel and it is based on managing a product or service more effectively and focuses more on reputation and crisis management. The definition of thecommunity, on the other hand, contains that the members have a relationship with each other and have a sense of belonging. In this respect, most of the social media channels are not a community. In the field of community management, there are concepts such as community relations, interaction and belonging. On the social media management side, it is generally aimed to explain a product or service to its customers in the best way and to provide a good experience or support.

What are the key features a community manager should have?

They need to be self-sufficient and self-starter people who have strong communication skills, know how to keep their distance from people, keep themselves in the background, love to deal with people, love business follow-up, project/program/event management and work discipline, tryto focus instead of giving up under stress. It is possible for the community managers to develop these features with the trainings they will receive.

What are the positive characteristics of a good community manager?

Although there are different features required by each community and role, they can be generally listed as follows: Managing a community in his spare time, being a voluntary member of this community, having experienced different cultures in the past or lived in different countries, taking initiative in his previous jobs or experiences. For example, the fact that he gathered other employees around a new project or formation may be a feature that distinguishes him from other candidates.

How does the community management career field progress? What are the entry routes and the levels of management that can be reached?

If there is a community management unit in your organization, you can start by joining there as a professional or volunteer. If your organization does not have such a community, you caninitiate its establishment and take the first step as a volunteer or professional. In this way, you can build the community management awareness in the organization together with the managers.

There are different layers in community management. The number of these layers increases as the concept and organization of community management changes and evolves. Although the career steps in community management vary according to the structure of each organization, they generally progress as follows: Community Coordinator, Community Manager, Senior Community Manager, Community Director, Chief Community Officer / Assistant General Manager for Community.

Where and how to find job opportunities related to community management? Which departments of the companies provide a job role related to community management?

In general, there are community manager postings on job search sites and career-oriented sites such as LinkedIn and Indeed. In addition, organizations such as The Community Roundtable, CMX and Community Club offer job postings for community manager. Community management unit is usually located under departments such as marketing, public relations, customer relations in organizations. In recent years, employees in the companies are also considered as a community, and community management duties are carried out through units such as employee experience and internal communication under the human resources department.

What three pieces of advice would you give to people who are interested in community management and want to pursue a career in this field?

First, I recommend that they see community management as a separate branch. Although community management is a very unknown field, it is a different discipline. Second, get community management experience at universities or NGOs if possible. With the experience you will gain from these places, you can reach to better places professionally. Finally, never stop improving yourself. Always get training, give training and improve yourself.

You can watch the entire program via this link and learn the recommended resources for community managers. Our webinar series will continue with its third program on the subject of "What is a community management platform?" on May 12, 2022 at 20:00. Click here to register for the third program.

See you on May 12 👋🏻