How Do Companies Find Their Community Managers?

August 28, 2008

Online Communities by .mw It’s a new field where there are no experts; no real training for classification or certification, and it’s difficult for folks participating in it to explain how it works. It’s not a lawless field where anything goes, but the cowboys still roam the prairie where social media grazes. Christopher S. Penn describes the problem and the process quite well in his post How to Become a Social Media Expert, comparing social media to the nuances of martial arts training – pretty good analogy in my book.

Since there are no real experts with years of schooling and experience, how does a company find a community manager? Heck, how do they determine what they’re looking for – most companies really don’t even know exactly what they need. Several are starting to here “community manager” more in relation to social media, and I suppose it does make a bit of sense to the average hiring manager.

As I’ve been looking around in this space as a consultant myself, I’ve noticed a bit of mislabeling, and misunderstanding of what these positions do. They can range from being a glorified forum moderator, to the public figurehead of the company in social media circles. The vagueness and inconsistency is frustrating to both those looking to move into these jobs, and the companies who realize they need someone to fill this indefinable niche they have.

Normally, a company would hire a consultant to help define the needs, address the process, and sometimes assist in filling the role. The problem though is… aren’t consultants experts and there really aren’t any social media experts? Catch 22 huh?

Some firms are looking internally and finding candidates in their existing staff. This could be anyone from marketing, to information technologies, to human resources (and beyond). Sometimes it’s easy to get noticed and get in front of the right people. Other businesses are going for the big guns and hiring out consultants from the A-List to assist them in their social web endeavors.

At least, several of the A-List actually have participated in building, shaping, and forming the concepts of the social web through the work of Cluetrain and their own pieces through the years. This is a great place to start, even for organizations with small budgets – many of the thought leaders in social media give away really good information for companies to start from.

So in this nascent “industry”, there is confusion on both the side of organizational need and individual growth in social media. The next step for those mastering the dark arts of the social web is to be bold, go forth, do good things, and prove that you have the vision and understanding. Both to the founding concepts of Cluetrain and to the fiscal responsibilities of corporations that want to participate in, not control, the message.

Photo credit: .mw

Conversation Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories: skills, social web, web 2.0

Related Posts


If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

  • @Efusjon
    Good point about the internal employee culture - that is a critical element that the business usually forgets about.

    Where they really need to start is to answer the question "What are we trying to accomplish?" in building a relationship with their customers.
  • The biggest problem is that companies don't understand the true value of building community. So before they can even think of hiring a community manager (or third party service) they need to first understand the ROI around building a community for their product, service, brand, or even for internal employee culture.
    .-= Efusjon´s last blog ..Hi There =-.
  • It's interesting to observe these positions develop. The company I'm consulting to right now has an opening, but I believe they fall into the category of not knowing what they need. However, they are aware that they need someone.

    Brad, that is exactly why I'm so interested in this space, the willingness of others to share and participate. Great stuff.
  • Brad, I find your comment slightly amusing that the "social media community is very open to sharing," for isn't that implied in the word, "social?"

    But, yes, I do agree with your sentiments and with Rick as I'm exploring my way through the experience myself.
  • Rick, interesting post, one I think will grow in importance in the year ahead as more companies figure out social media must play an integral role in their marketing. I also do social media consulting, which truthfully consists of passing along what I've learned through my own participation over the last couple years. But almost every project involves asking other specialists for input and advice. Fortunately the blogging/social media community is very open to sharing and collaborating, which really helps accelerate the learning process for everyone.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Follow Me
f