Social Media Manager vs. Online Community Manager: Same or Different?
a post in one of my LinkedIN groups asking “what is the difference between
a social media manager and an online community manager?” Easy, I thought,
and offered a quick response on my mobile … “Social media managers bring
the guests (clients, prospects) to the table and community managers welcome
them in!”
require more words than I can manage on that little screen. So, naturally, I
turned to trusty Google to see what others have said on this topic.
I came across was a CMSWire which discussed the confusion between social media and online community
management, and suggested the two roles have become blurred.
confusion often begins with job descriptions, which are rarely written by
actual practitioners. For larger organizations new to these rapidly evolving specialties,
they strive to find and describe the commonalities rather than highlight the
differences in the two roles.
trusted peers and colleagues to see and hear what they had to say. In a post by
the very knowledgeable Blaise Grimes-Viort from the UK firm e-Moderation, he
shared the following definitionsof these two roles:
from deep within the company, managing customer relationships with a brand or
product, and each other. Potentially she can be a fully Enterprise Community
Manager, involved in facilitating efficient inter-team and staff communication
and collaboration. She is focussed on the flow of information and knowledge,
strengthening relationships and promoting productive collaboration, which may
include moderation and hosting of both micro- and macro-events on the company’s
community platform. Placement within the Organisation chart is more likely to
be connected to Editorial, Product development, Business development, and
Marketing.
Customer Service/Support to the list of org chart nodes above.
reputation outside of the scope of the brand website. He is focused on
listening and evaluating brand perception, planning campaigns and promotional
material or initiatives to promote the company’s message, building and
leveraging social networks on social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to
facilitate depth of communication. He will usually be found within the
Organisation chart connected to Marketing, PR, and Sales.
blurring and overlap in roles is the type of organization doing the hiring –
what is the business focus for the role? Business-to-business (B2B) and
consumer companies have very different requirements. In consumer organizations,
the community focus is individual consumers, and consumers generally frequent
public social media channels with broad reach and large numbers. On the other
hand, B2B organizations focus on building customer intimacy using channels such
as online communities, customer councils and executive briefing centers along
with offline outreach. For B2B, the desired relationship is deeper, just as the
purchase cycle may be longer, revenue potential much greater and the depth of
engagement (think suppliers and partners as well as customers) may be much
greater and more complicated. In B2B organizations the social media manager is
part of marketing and PR, facing outward for the most part. The B2B community
manager has some outward responsibilities, but is connected to more core
operations at the firm.
especially visible in the success measures for each role – the key performance
indicators. Of course, both roles may share responsibility for a number success
metrics and will need to partner effectively to deliver results. Here is a short
tabulation of key B2B success measures, the role involved and the
organizational accountability path.
|
B2B Success Measure
|
Role
|
Accountability
|
|
Drive leads
|
Social Media Manager
|
Marketing
|
|
Raise awareness of
products or services |
Social Media Manager
|
Marketing
|
|
Visibility of company,
products, services or thought leaders |
Social Media Manager
|
Marketing
|
|
Increase sales
|
Social Media Manager
|
Sales
|
|
Event attendance
|
Social Media Manager on
public channels, Community manager on community channels |
Marketing
|
|
Customer questions about
how to use a product or service |
Community Manager
|
Customer Service
|
|
Learn from customers (e.g. feedback
into product development) |
Community Manager
|
Product Management/R&D
|
|
Customer retention /
satisfaction |
Community Manager
|
Sales
|
|
Call center reduction/ Improve customers’ ability to get help from each
other |
Community Manager
|
Customer Service
|
|
Increase utilization of the products
|
Community Manager
|
Product Management
|
the B2B world, where customers tend to be other organizations purchasing
complex and expensive products and services, the lines between the social media
manager and the community manager roles can be more clearly defined than in
consumer space. B2B and consumer prospects have very different information and
relationship needs, and when the sale is made the customers require very
different levels of ongoing engagement and support. The overlap between the B2B
social media and online community manager roles is usually much less than for
those roles at a B2C firm.
Visit us on the web at http://www.leadernetworks.com. Connect with us on Twitter http://twitter.com/vdimauro Call us at 617 484 0778
Vanessa DiMauro is the CEO of Leader Networks, a research and strategy consulting company that helps large organizations succeed in social business and B2B online community building. DiMauro is a popular speaker, researcher and author. With over 15 years experience in social media leadership positions, she has founded and run leading online communities for CXO Systems, Cambridge Technology Partners and IDG, and has developed winning social strategies for influential companies such as Cisco, Cognizant, EMC, Palladium Group and SAP.
Vanessa DiMauro is an Executive-In-Residence at Babson College’s Olin School of Management, and holds both a B.A. and M.A. from Boston College. She serves on the Advisory Board at WEGO Health and blogs at http://blog.leadernetworks.com.
2012-09-25 19:23:45
Source: http://blog.leadernetworks.com/2012/09/social-media-manager-vs-online.html
Source:
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).
| Online: | |
| Visits: | 1,602,979,975 |
| Stories: | 8,148,541 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
