What is a community marketing manager and why should you hire one?
Digital Prophet, Chief Heart Officer, Happiness Hero: these are just a few actual job titles at some of the world’s fastest-growing companies.
Not only has technology created jobs that didn’t even exist when I was considering my career path a few years ago, but it’s also banished stuffy labelling and formal company cultures — no doubt in a bid to attract the savvy millennials who’ve grown up with this disruptive force.
However, for job-seekers and employers alike, it can be difficult to cut through the jargon and decide what you want to be, and who you want on your team.
My own job title serves as the perfect example of the exciting new professions that have cropped up in recent years. I work for a very cool social media software company called Quuu as — wait for it — ‘Quuumunity Marketing Manager’. But, even without the quirky branding (we simply can’t get enough of our puns: ThanQuuu, Quuusers, Quuucumbers, etc.), people don’t always understand exactly what it is that I do (hi Grandma).
So in this post, I’m going to do my best to define the role of community marketing manager and explain why every business needs one.
Cast an eye over job vacancies for marketing positions, and you’ll find a whole host of options: social media manager, data analyst, content writer, customer success officer, etc. In larger companies, these roles will fit together to create a marketing department. In a startup, on the other hand, these roles are often embodied by just one person.
And that’s where ‘Community Marketing Manager’ comes in — it serves as an umbrella term for a variety of skills and responsibilities.
At Quuu, for example, we’re a small team of only seven people, meaning each of us wears several hats at once. The job title my employers, Daniel Kempe and Matthew Spurr, assigned to me is a perfect reflection of my role in helping to grow the business. Rather than pigeonholing me into one aspect of digital marketing, it encompasses the diversity and flexibility of my day-to-day tasks. To see what I’m getting at, here are a few of the things I’m responsible for:
- Customer support (dealing with enquiries from our users via email and live chat)
- Social media marketing (strategy and daily management)
- Content creation (guest posts on our blog, newsletters, social content — both written and visual)
- Blog strategy (developing an editorial calendar that aligns with our social activity)
- Analytics (collecting and reporting data from our social channels)
- Influencer relations (nurturing relationships with high-profile brand ambassadors)
- Copywriting (email marketing and in-app copy)
- Organising team meetups (aka Chief Restaurant Picker)
What these things all have in common is the operative word in my job title: community.
Good old Wikipedia defines community marketing as ‘a strategy to engage an audience in an active, non-intrusive prospect and customer conversation’. Put simply, it’s a way for brands to talk with their audience, human to human. Whether it’s new customers, existing users, influencers, or even my own team, it’s my job to make sure that everyone is happy, creating spaces and building relationships from which we all benefit.
One thing I know for sure is that my role will constantly be evolving. Who knows where technology will take us and how we’ll be communicating with each other in a few years’ time?
But bringing a community marketing manager onto your team will ensure one thing: that no matter what happens, you’ll always be putting your people first — and that’s the secret behind every successful brand.
How would you define the role of a community marketing manager? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks for reading The Marketing & Growth Hacking Publication
Follow us on Twitter. Join our Facebook Group. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Get our best stories in your inbox by following us below.
