Community Manager is an increasingly popular job title.
I think of the community manager (also known as social media manager) as a classical conductor dedicated to showing the online community (the orchestra) how to get in sync, never through force or coercion, but by using the magical powers of suggestion alone.
So, what exactly falls “under the jurisdiction” of the community manager?
Here goes:
Responsibilities of a Community Manager
I’ve outlined several typical responsibilities here:
The above scopes of work are some of the most important public relations activities.
Affiliate: I use Mailchimp as my default email list manager.
Affiliate: I use Missinglettr to plan, create and schedule my social media posts.
Affiliate: I use beacon.by to create, manage, and deliver lead magnets and content upgrades.
Affiliate: I use Email List Validation to protect my sender’s reputation by keeping my PR email lists free from bouncing emails.
Affiliate: I use SamCart to host online courses and other educational PR material.
The Community Manager Appreciation Day
Many community managers I talk to tend to have this one thing in common. They often feel underappreciated. No wonder the profession has its own day every 4th Monday of January—the Community Manager Appreciation Day.
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PR Resource: The Inbound PR Strategy
Spin Academy | Online PR Courses
Inbound vs Outbound
The inbound mindset is a fundamental shift in the PR- and marketing industry.
Historically, many PR- and marketing departments have argued:
“Why should we spend our PR- and marketing budgets on ‘already acquired’ audiences?”
The truth is — it’s the other way around.
Instead of “spamming” non-existing audiences, public relations and marketing can do much more with existing online publics. 1Silfwer, J. (2015, June 11). The Publics in Public Relations. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://doctorspin.net/publics-in-public-relations/
Drawing a line between those who know you and those who don’t know you is nothing new:
This inbound shift is the online equivalent of drawing the line between those who know you and those who don’t know you:
If your Inbound Shift PR Strategy is good, you might not need to prioritise outbound PR strategies — because your inbound audience will attract outbound publics.
Learn more: The Inbound Shift PR Strategy: Beauty From Within
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PR Resource: The Follower Contract
Spin Academy | Online PR Courses
The Follower Contract
How can brands better understand follower engagement? Think of every follow as an invisible contract.
Dear Brand,
Best regards,
Your New Follower
Think of every single follower, fan, and subscriber having such an agreement with your brand.
Learn more: The Follower Contract
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PR Resource: The High Road Tonality
The Stoic Tonality
An organisation is the polyphonic sum of all its coworkers. Imagine extracting each coworker’s most virtuous and mature traits and combining them into one voice — the Stoic tonality.
Stoic Tonality Examples
“Why doesn’t your brand speak out against industrial overfishing killing our oceans?”
“As a company that sells fishing gear, we want our oceans — and all animals and plants living in them! — to be healthy and plentiful. We, too, were disturbed by the recent news of overfishing. How could anyone not be? We now ask ourselves, how can our company make more of a difference? Honestly, we’re discussing our strategy for sustainability every day. I cannot say how or when we might take specific action regarding this latest news, but rest assured that we’re taking the general issue of saving our oceans seriously.”
“Why doesn’t your brand engage in Black Lives Matter?”
“As for right now, we’re listening. We’re listening to the stories being told. We’re listening to understand better how we can learn and grow as a company. As for inclusiveness and human rights in general, we think we’re doing a great job, and part of that is to stay open and carefully listen to people’s stories. We might take specific actions, but we’re listening and learning.”
“Why doesn’t your brand join our protests against toxic masculinity and the patriarchy?”
“Honestly, we’re a product company. We make products for anyone who likes them. And I dare say that we’re experts in making these products. However, we’re not experts on ideologies or societal structures. So, for now, we listen. And we continue to focus on making the best products that we can. For everyone. We believe that’s our best way of contributing at this point.”
“Why doesn’t your brand sign our petition to boycott all companies on our Environmental Black List?”
“As a company, we operate differently. Instead of signing petitions or participating in other public demonstrations, we take action within our sphere of influence. And I dare say that our many environmental initiatives are making a lot of difference worldwide relative to our size and reach. If we were to sign your petition, we would first have to use our resources to research the legitimacy of its creators and then make sure that none of the companies on that list is being wrongfully accused. While it would be possible, we’ve decided that we can do more good by directing our resources to where we can make the most difference.”
“Why doesn’t your company act against your female employees who take time off for abortions?”
“All our employees are grown-ups, and what they do on their own time is frankly none of our business. We’re a large company, and we have employees who are pro-life and pro-choice. We believe we have a workplace where people can have different opinions but still respect each other and work well together.”
“Why hasn’t your company offered your thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families of the school shooting?”
“The victims and their families have our empathies, of course. I speak for everyone working at our company when I say we were devastated by the news as everyone else. But you’re right that we haven’t posted any status updates about the shooting on our Facebook page. It’s not that we don’t care (we do!), it’s just that we focus our updates on our products and services and how they make a positive difference in the world.”
Learn more: The Stoic Tonality: Rise Above With Integrity
PR Resource: The Social Objects Workshop (SOW)
Spin Academy | Online PR Courses
Types of Social Objects
To promote word-of-mouth for your brand, you need ideas about what social objects to create content around.
“The first and most basic rule is to consider social facts as things.“
Source: The Rules of the Sociological Method 2Durkeim, E. (1982). The Rules of the Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press. p. 60.
There are different types of social objects:
Workshop idea: In the first half of the workshop, spend a few minutes on each type of social object. Write each idea as one sentence on a Post-It starting with, “Have you heard…”. In the second half of the workshop, run through the ideas, discussing, “Is this something real people would say?”
Learn more: Social Objects and Public Relations
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ANNOTATIONS
1 | Silfwer, J. (2015, June 11). The Publics in Public Relations. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://doctorspin.net/publics-in-public-relations/ |
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2 | Durkeim, E. (1982). The Rules of the Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press. p. 60. |