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What is a Social Media Community Manager and How Do I Hire One?

You’ve come to the realization that you don’t have the time or the skills to build and maintain your online presence, so you’ve decided to outsource these efforts. But who should do it for you and what are you getting for your buck?

Consider hiring a community manager. By definition, a community manager is someone who helps build, grow and manage communities around a brand — “a Community Manager is the face of a company.” In practice, this person is responsible for facilitating communication between a brand and its online community.

Social Media Community Manager

What exactly does a social media community manager do?

Think of your community manager as your online ambassador. This person represents your brand online; offers online customer service; builds customer loyalty through community building; and increases brand awareness through consistent interaction.

More specifically, depending on your business needs, this person:

  • Creates your social media profiles
  • Posts regularly to your networks
  • Monitors and responds to followers and fans on your behalf
  • Informs your online customers about events, deals, promotions, etc.
  • Creates or curates content, such as blogs, articles and newsletters, which your clients may value

How do you go about choosing a social media community manager?

There are plenty of lists describing the personality traits of a community manager. I like Amy Porterfield’s list. It’s simple and clear.

Social Community

A good community manager’s profile looks something like this:

1. A natural communicator

2. A problem solver

3. Someone who enjoys people, and is a good listener

4. Acts professionally, trustworthy and respectful

5. Someone who is enthusiastic and demonstrates a positive attitude

In addition to having such personality traits, a community manager should have other basic skills. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Does s/he have experience with social media tools? This isn’t a must, but will certainly cut down on training time.
  • Does s/he have writing skills?
  • Does s/he have time management skills? Social media is organic by nature. Can s/he get the fundamental tasks done while juggling shifting inbound and outbound communications?
  • Does s/he have the computer skills to measure and report growth?

Remember, experience doesn’t always equal ability, so look for strengths that are unquantifiable – charisma, personality, and intelligence. You might find you already employ the right person for the job of community manager.