Community Engagement Manager

A community engagement manager is a game changer for businesses. Get tips on how to build your career as a community engagement manager!

What is a community engagement manager?

^{Photo by Kylie Lugo}

A community engagement manager is usually responsible for building real relationships with members of online communities. As a CEM you can manage a variety of online community platforms from Facebook Groups to Instagram pages but also closed community pages and niche groups.

So if you’re an extrovert and like making friends online - you may be suited for a career as a Community Engagement Manager!

What does a community engagement manager do?

Here are some common tasks that CEMs are responsible for:

• Helps build relationships with existing community members
• Improves member retention rates and sales from the community
• Attracts new leads and warms them up
• Responsible for community growth and satisfaction
• Builds the community engagement strategy
• Gathers feedback from the community

Community engagement manager vs social media manager

I often get asked what’s the difference between hiring a community manager and a social media manager - and they’re not the same! I have a simple breakdown of their roles below.

Community Engagement Manager:

• Builds your community engagement strategy
• Responsible for community growth
• Monitors community engagement metrics
• Engages with community members
• Responsible for generating new leads
• Helps to improve member retention
• Gathers feedback from community members
• Helps to improve community satisfaction
• Plans events that bring together members

Social Media Manager:

• Plans content for your social media pages
• Designs images and videos for your social media pages
• Responsible for implementing your social media strategy
• Tracks social media stats using analytics tools
• Measure performance against goals
• Replies to enquiries using the FAQs list you provide

As you can see the roles are different in nature, but they also have some overlapping skills. Many smaller brands will first hire a social media manager to grow their followers. But as brands grow, they will realise that maintaining an active Facebook group and growing a community space takes a LOT of effort!

So they’ll naturally look to hire … a community manager!

How to become a Community Engagement Manager?

^{Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com}

Now that you know what a community engagement manager role is all about, would you like to become one?

• Do you like to get to know different people and engage with them?

• Are you a great conversation starter?

• Do you love planning events that will bring together members of the community?

If you answered “YES!” to all, then you’ve found your ideal job!

Many brands are looking for community managers to help them grow their leads and provide a more personal experience to their members. Trust me, brands also get overwhelmed with so much content! What’s even better? With more communities becoming fully virtual - you can work from anywhere!

Essential Skills for Community Engagement Managers

1. Communication
2. Empathy and patience
3. Administrative skills
4. Customer service
5. Marketing
6. Sales

Where to find community engagement manager jobs?

Start by searching the keywords “Community Engagement Manager” on LinkedIn or do a google search of “Community Engagement Manager” + your location/industry to find recommendations.