If you love social media, enjoy speaking to others virtually, and have experience managing others, a job as a community manager may be the perfect fit. As a community manager, you’ll be tasked with managing your company’s social media presence. You’ll be communicating with customers, other brands, and any influencers that your company may be using. To do this, you need to have excellent communication skills and be familiar with content creation, making marketing plans, and working with other social media individuals.
To succeed as a community manager, you’ll need to have strong social media skills and be familiar with all social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and more. You should know the trends happening on each platform, and be able to create marketing plans that will lend your brand a seamless brand presence.
Sample job description
Do you love TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook? Are you witty, enjoy speaking with customers, and have excellent grammar? [Your company name] is looking for a dedicated community manager who is committed to maintaining our brand image. Responsibilities include participating in social events, corporate events, and workshops, heading up community initiatives and programs, and providing community feedback. You’ll be in constant contact with customers, influencers, and other brand ambassadors. If you are familiar with social media platforms, are a good listener, and enjoy working in a professional setting that is fun and always-changing, this is the perfect job for you.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Developing relatable posts for blogs, social media, newsletters, or promotional videos
- Monitoring social media campaigns
- Ensure accurate brand presentation
- Working with journalists and PR agencies
- Finding and sourcing influencers to represent the brand
- Speaking with customers on social media platforms
- Providing community feedback
- Creating beneficial content marketing plans
- Participate in social and corporate events
Education and experience
- B.S. degree in marketing, communications, skillset or relevant field
- Experience with marketing, sales, or social media
- Familiar with marketing strategies, sales techniques, and social media management
- Knowledge of media production and communication
Required skills and qualifications
- Ability to engage consumers
- Strong communication skills
- Funny, witty, and relatable in social media comments
- Creative and always up with the new trends
- Excellent project management skills
- Strong organizational skills
- Skilled market researcher
- Intense interpersonal skills
- Analytical abilities and in-depth knowledge of social media insights
- Expert level with community management navigation tools
Preferred qualifications
- Extensive knowledge of social media platforms and online networking
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- A resume of successful online marketing campaigns is a plus
- Excellent time management abilities
- Dedicated commitment to fruitful customer service opportunities
Typical work environment
The typical work environment for a community manager is an office setting. They spend a lot of time in their own offices but they also spend a significant amount of time planning social media campaigns with others. Community managers can also expect to spend time traveling for company events, PR events, and conferences.
Typical hours
Community managers work the typical 9 AM to 5 PM workweek equaling 40 hours a week. If they are responsible for comments and messages on social media platforms, they may work longer hours or log onto the accounts when the consumers are most active.
Available certifications
Community managers have several certifications to choose from. Here are just a few options that a community manager can choose from to increase their knowledge and skill set in their field:
- Facebook Certified Community Manager. Knowing your social media platforms is extremely important. You should be experienced with Facebook and how to establish communities, make strategic content decisions, engage and moderate the community, and measure and analyze community success. You can take a 30-minute practice exam, but the real exam is 105 minutes long. You will not need to renew this certification.
- Community Management Specialist. This certification is everything you need to master community management. With seven separate modules and six hours, you’ll become a master at community management. The modules cover everything from how to segment communities on social media platforms, how to grow your community, how to build better content, how to track using community management metrics, and moderation with customers. You’ll need to enroll in the course and pay $495, take seven quizzes, and one final exam.
Career path
Earning a B.S. degree in communications or marketing is a wise first step to becoming a community manager. Students who hope to become a community manager will need to find internships in social media, keep up to date with current trends, and follow best practices when communicating with customers. Those who become community managers can then hope to become social media senior managers, senior community managers, or directors of social media operations.
US, Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job outlook
SOC Code: 11-9151
| 2020 Employment | 174,200 |
| Projected Employment in 2030 | 200,700 |
| Projected 2020-2030 Percentage Shift | 15% increase |
| Projected 2020-2030 Numeric Shift | 26,400 increase |
Position trends
The future for community managers is bright. With the increase of social media users, especially on newer platforms like TikTok, community managers are needed now more than ever. These people will be responsible for communicating with the customers in unique ways that customer service teams cannot. This position will continue to grow at an exponential rate as brands realize the importance of being present on social media. Companies may end up hiring more than one person for the job, where each community manager will be dedicated to one platform, like solely TikTok or solely Instagram, as each platform requires different brand voices. This alone will increase the need for community managers.