The Emerging Role of the Community Manager

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More about me

www.community-roundtable.com

Jim StorerPrincipal & Co-Founder

The Community Roundtable@jimstorer@TheCR

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What about you?

www.community-roundtable.com#ASTDL20

The Community Roundtable

1. A private peer network for social media, community and social business practitioners.• Weekly roundtable calls

• Comprehensive library of best practices

• Online community

• Professional concierge services

• Discounts to conferences and events

2. Advisory Services

3. Reports

http://www.community-roundtable.com

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Community Maturity Model TM

Strategy

Leadership

Culture

Community Management

Content & Programming

Policies & Governance

Tools

Metrics & Measurement

Stage 1

HierarchyStage 2

Emergent Community

Stage 3

CommunityStage 4

Networked

Familiarize & Listen

Command & Control

Reactive

None

Formal & Structured

No Guidelines for UGC

Consumer tools used by

individuals

Anecdotal

Participate

Consensus

Contributive

Informal

Some user generated

contentRestrictive

social media policies Consumer &

self-service tools

Basic Activities

Build

Collaborative

Emergent

Defined roles & processes

Community created content

Flexible social media policies

Mix of consumer & enterprise

toolsActivities &

Content

Integrate

Distributed

Activist

Integrated roles &

processesIntegrated

formal & user generatedInclusive

‘Social’ functionality is

integratedBehaviors & Outcomes

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Community is NOT

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Community IS

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What Defines Community?

1. A common interest or context

2. A sense of shared purpose and fate

3. A common set of needs

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Why Use A Community Structure?

1. Networked structures speed information transfer

2. Shared ownership and commitment

3. Maximize investments

4. Reduce costs

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Online Communities Vary by Size

Online CommunitiesOnline Communities

Size

Density of Relationships

Groups Communities Networks

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What is Community

Management?

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Three Typical Roles

1. Community Moderator – Engages in listening and response on owned or third party sites, but is generally not involved in community strategies.

2. Community Manager – A senior position that can serve as the primary “face” of the community and may include some moderation duties. Owns the business goals.

1. Community Strategist – A senior position that is the leader of community in a company or large organization. The role focuses on establishing the vision, building the business case and championing the community across business units.

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Community Management is the Discipline of Ensuring Productive CommunitiesResponsibilities• Define scope, ideal outcomes, and boundaries• Ensure participants receive more value than they

contribute• Promote, encourage and reward productive behaviors• Discourage and limit destructive behaviors• Facilitate constructive disagreement and conflict • Advocate for the community and its members• Monitor, measure, and report• Marshal internal advocates, resources, & support• Manage tools and member experience

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A Sampling of Tasks

Visible• Managing content (publishing,

curating, tagging)– Updates– Blog posts– eBooks/whitepapers– Pictures– Videos– Podcasts

• Managing events• Welcoming new members• Participating judiciously in

conversations• Reaching out to 3rd party

influencers, partners, media• Communicating changes to

policies, tools, programming, etc

Behind the Scenes• Back-channeling with members to

encourage participation• Building relationships with key

members• Taking issues offline• Working with internal advocates to

plan mutually beneficial programming

• Planning programming/campaign calendar

• Collaborating internally • Managing technology issues• Communicating value and benefits

of community internally• Measuring and monitoring progress

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What Are the Risks of Not Having Community

Management?

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcolivera/2809988605/

Ghost Town

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedjap/74410434/

Land of 1,000 Flowers

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfordmemoriallibrary/3467799183/

Drama Central

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swirlingthoughts/162016762/

A Clique

What Makes a Good Community Manager?

Skills• Communication• Ability to match brand’s

personality• Understanding of human

behavior/motivations• Relationship building• Conflict resolution• Project management• Moderate technical

aptitude

Attributes• Love of people• Judgment• Tempered enthusiasm• Empathy• Adaptability• Self-awareness

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How Do You Build a Thriving

Community?

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/machineproject/5162106562/

Observe Your Audience

Schedule

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidiot/61484953/

Keep A Regular Schedule

Text

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cecilanne_r-s/3541646602/

Be Multi-Modal

Image

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfakheri/2815755503/

Be Valuable

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pandemia/1286794844/

Be Notable

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheila_steele/161726592/

Bring Catnip

Have Ruleshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/strandloper/1385105547/

Encourage Your Cheeseheads

Ride The Waveshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/tk_five_0/2279894817/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfchenier/2409726404/

Don’t Ignore

http://www.flickr.com/photos/islespunkfan/2746157133/

Protect the Fish

Key Take-Aways

• Identify the desired business outcome

• Understand the target audience/member

• Build thick value for all constituents (transactional and long-term returns for participation)

• Understand the role and value of community management

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2011 State of Community Management

• Market analysis

• Survey findings

• Compilation of practitioner lessons and practices

• Resources

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Community Maturity Model TM

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Key Themes

1. Social Business Becomes A Strategic Imperative

2. Interest in Community Management Has Increased

3. The Community Management Discipline is Evolving

4. A Lot of Confusion Remains

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2. LEADERSHIP

Leadership Key takeaway

Community management isn’t just a role – it’s a perspective.

Key takeaway

Recruit leaders who are willing to be pioneers.

Key takeaway

Education is the key to success.

Key takeaway

Understand when and how to ask for support and authority.

3. CULTURE

Culture

Key takeaway

Ask for the truth, even if it hurts.

Key takeaway

Be prepared to let the outside in.

Key takeaway

Get multiple positive voices on your side to overcome company culture.

6. POLICY & GOVERNANCE

Policies & Governance

Key takeaway

Recognize that ‘policies’ are not the same as ‘guidelines.’ Guidelines are the expression, in accessible language, of the culture you wish to promote, and community boundaries.

Key takeaway

Keep key issues top-of-mind when structuring governance: regulatory environment; size; culture; strategy; and social business maturity.

Key takeaway

Centralize the role of the social team.

7. TOOLS

Tools

Key takeaway

Tools and technology tend to grow more complex and complicated over time. It is worth revisiting functionality to simplify your user experience.

Key takeaway

Don’t feel that you have to use every social media tool or channel available.

Key takeaway

Find the vendor(s) with the right fit for your organization.

1. STRATEGY

StrategyKey takeaway

Don’t Replace What Works… Supplement With Community.

Key takeaway

It’s basic but worth repeating… know your target member.

Key takeaway

Nothing grows in a sandbox. If you want to see growth, you need to build a garden.

4. COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

Community Management

Key takeaway

It’s counterintuitive, but do not jump in and automatically answer questions or help out.

Key takeaway

Schedule regular brown bag lunches or show & tells that help others understand social tools and your social initiatives.

Key takeaway

Lead by example and show members how you want them to behave.

Key takeaway

The social space is about personal connections. It is a channel that is owned by the customer, not the company as a marketing avenue.

5. CONTENT & PROGRAMMING

Content & Programming

Key takeaway

Your content strategy needs to be focused on both your audience AND your goals.

Key takeaway

Create content plans that bridge your audiences. If you look at your content holistically and broadly, you’ll be more relevant to your audiences.

Key takeaway

Create content that fills a needed gap. Ensure your content has a unique angle, and fills the void for information missing in the marketplace.

Key takeaway

Keep attention spans in mind. Consider the length, quality, quantity, portability and “snackability” of content when you’re planning.

8. METRICS & MEASUREMENT

Metrics & Measurement

Key takeaway

Don’t think about metrics as a single set. Different metrics serve the needs of different audiences. Typically there are three types of scorecards: the strategic, the operational, and one with daily task-based reporting.

Key takeaway

Executives have become numb to copious amounts of data. What provides meaning and drives change is the ability to share a story. Use metrics to support a story maximizes the impact of data.

Key takeaway

Community ROI does not happen overnight. The ROI can take a while; there’s very little that’s quick about changing behaviors.

Key takeaway

Remember the “billboard” example.

State of Community Management 2011• Market analysis

• Survey findings

• Compilation of practitioner lessons and practices

• Resources

Download the 90+ page report for free at:

http://community-roundtable.com/socm-2011/#ASTDL20

Thank You

Interested in learning more? Contact me:

jim@community-roundtable.com

or

@jimstorer on Twitter