A Community Manager is a person in charge of establishing a connection between a brand and its audience through social media. They do it by posting content designed to spark a conversation and incite engagement between social media users. A Community Manager’s role is to act as a voice and tone of a certain brand, in order to establish loyalty with its followers. They estimate the reputation of the brand by the level of quality of the conversation and the overall sentiment of the users towards the brand.
Similar job titles
Social Media Manager, Social Media Strategist, Social Media Specialist, Social Media Evaluator, Social Media Consultant
What Does A Community Manager Usually Do?
A Community Manager handles communication between social media followers and a brand and uses powerful analytics tools to analyze users’ comments and responses on blogs, online forums, and social media platforms.
Here’s a list of duties a Community Manager typically performs:
- Provides engaging content for social media
- Responds to questions and comments
- Coordinates with the marketing department
- Tracks, monitors, and analyzes feedback and reviews
- Creates and maintains relationships with industry professionals
Provides engaging content for social media
Community Managers are in charge of creating interesting, thought-provoking, and engaging tweets and posts for blogs, newsletters, and social media accounts. To do that, they have to listen to users’ feedback and be in touch with the latest trends, movements, and interests in the community.
Community Managers must analyze topics that users show interest in and find a way of incorporating them into the content to attract more followers and inspire a discussion.
The more they are in touch with the community’s needs and interests, the better the strategy for reaching them will be.
Responds to questions and comments
Working hours don’t exist when it comes to community manager’s interaction with the followers. He must respond to comments timely and always be present to answer questions and engage in or moderate a discussion.
The Community Manager must think of clever and appropriate ways to respond to comments that can sometimes be unfavorable, so as not to create a negative atmosphere or endanger the reputation of the brand.
Coordinates with the marketing department
Community Managers cooperate with the marketing department on a regular basis. They have to keep other members of the marketing section informed of their work and strategize together to create a common goal for a marketing campaign.
For example, Social Media Managers will use the information acquired from Community Managers about a specific question to create a post that clarifies it, and Social Media Strategist will offer ideas on how to create more followers.
Community Managers must be well informed of the ways the marketing department approaches the campaign to make sure they use the same branding, themes, images, and voice when reaching out to the audience.
Tracks, monitors, and analyzes feedback and reviews
The Community Managers’ job doesn’t only include people skills and communication but also relying on data to develop future marketing strategies. They use reports to gain insight into several important issues:
- Identifying the best time to post for the social media manager
- The success of the interaction between the Community Manager and audience
- The success of the overall campaign
Creates and maintains relationships with industry professionals
The key of creating a great online community around a brand is being in touch with other industry professionals that can provide a valuable insight into community’s interests—such as journalists, influencers, and other industry professionals.
Community managers use their people skills to maintain a relationship with other possible sources of ideas and information that they can later use to create engaging content. They also rely on industry professionals to promote the brand via social media and boost the marketing campaign.
Roles a Community Manager Typically Collaborates With
To achieve the best possible results, Community managers must collaborate with a number of other marketing specialists. Here are the most important ones:
| Marketing Coordinator | Creative Director | Brand Manager |
| Graphic Designer | Copywriter | SEO specialist |
| Social Media Designer | PR specialist | Marketing Manager |
Social Media Manager Salary
The national average salary for a Social Media Manager is between $50,000 and $52,000 in the United States.
Based on the experience, the skillset, and the company, a Community Manager’s annual salary can range between $49,000 and $60,000.
What Is the Community Manager Pay Difference By Location?
Let’s see what the annual salary differences are for Community Managers in some of the largest cities in the US:
| City | Average Annual Salary |
| San Francisco, CA | $61,042 |
| New York, NY | $56,000 |
| Denver, CO | $51,000 |
| Washington, DC | $60,000 |
| Austin, TX | $53,688 |
| Boston, MA | $53,394 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $48,230 |
| Seattle, WA | $60,312 |
What is the Community Manager Pay Difference By Experience?
| Years of Experience | Average Annual Salary |
| 1–4 | $49,000 |
| 5–9 | $55,000 |
| 10–19 | $60,000 |
| 20+ | $60,000 |
Community Manager Job Description Template
[Company Name] is looking for an outgoing, talented, and creative individual to join our team as a Community Manager. We need someone to help us promote our brand and create a friendly and supportive community with our followers.
As a Community Manager at [Company Name] you will be in charge of finding ways to reach out to social media users, start a dialogue, and create a loyal circle of followers.
You will be working with our [insert departments—e.g., Sales, Marketing, Design] to help gain insight into the reputation of the brand among the community, upgrade the quality of content posted on social media, and develop a strategy for gaining more followers. You should have significant experience with managing social media, and great people and organization skills.
Community Manager Responsibilities
- Scheduling and posting of engaging content on different social media platforms
- Monitoring discussions, posting comments, and answering questions in a timely manner
- Collaborating with strategy, marketing, and production team on a day-to-day basis
- Analyzing social media metrics and finding a way to use results for developing marketing strategies
- Identifying new online channels and keeping track of new social media trends and technology developments
- Collaborating with sales teams on launching new products
- Redirecting customer questions and complaints to customer services and other channels
Community Manager Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, or any other related field
- +1 years of experience in community management
- Excellent understanding of social media platforms, their content format, and usage
- Advanced writing communication skills
- Knowledge of current trends and a strong sense of creativity and individuality, with a desire for further improvement