Industry Overview
INDUSTRY JOURNAL Vol . 8
Industry Overview
10 Qualities of a Community Manager
1 . Strong communication skills
It ’ s no surprise that the person who is acting as a representative of the brand should have strong people skills . The community manager , in many ways , is the face of a brand , and this person must be able to effectively communicate the message to the members , whether it be short form or long form .
They need to be outgoing , friendly and relatable . They should be comfortable interacting with people offline as well as online ; a natural networker .
2 . Good judgement
In many industries , one role of a community manager is that of a curator . This person must be able to parse through all the content coming out of an organisation and determine what to share , how to share and when to share .
For residential communities , deciding how to engage with your members is especially important in times of difficult news . On days where we have really upsetting news to report on , we ’ re very careful about the kind of stories we share , and what information we put out there .
Community managers must also determine the best ways to handle feedback from the members and decide how to respond in an appropriate fashion . When people ask questions , how do you answer ? Not answering questions is answering those questions .
3 . Empathy
To engage a community in a discussion about a brand , a community manager must know the type of people who make up the members . You are dealing with a bunch of different personalities . If you ’ re not empathetic , you ’ re never going to be able to put yourself in those people ’ s shoes , which means you won ’ t be able to communicate a message to them .
Being able to demonstrate empathy is important , because a community manager must be able to effectively converse with the members . This person should see the brand from the perspective of a fan or consumer and use this point of view to guide your engagements with the community .
4 . Dedication
Unlike with other positions , there is no end to the workday for community managers . When news breaks , whether you are on the giving or receiving end , a community manager must be available to respond to the members . When you ’ re a community manager , you ’ re on duty 24 / 7 . Good or bad , something huge can happen at any time , and when it does , social media is the first place it hits . You are technically the face of the brand , so you must deal with it .
Carla Durand , Estate Manager with Sanet Jabobs , Chairperson of Xanadu Nature Estate
Community managers must look at their positions as a lifestyle rather than a job . if you want to check in at 8 am and out at 5 pm , you ’ re in the wrong field . When you ’ ve dealt with nothing but meanspirited comments , hundreds of emails , demanding members and a gruelling schedule of tasks — all in a 14-hour workday — you need something other than a pay cheque to keep you going .
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