Career as a Community Manager- How to start a career as a Community Manager
Social media is a great platform for exploring and has become extremely popular among today’s generation. Many of today’s youth are now taking an interest in making money through social media. In recent years, the demand for social media job positions has increased in the global market. The job profile of community managers is one of them. It has emerged as one of the most trending job positions in recent years. Most businesses, brands, and organizations are now focusing on building an online community to extend their reach, especially after realizing the importance and usefulness of social media community development. Social media has completely transformed the relationship between the audience and organizations, and it is where the importance of community management has taken the limelight.
Community manager is one of the most common job positions in social media marketing or digital marketing. The job profile is high in demand as community managers add a lot of value to a brand or organization. They are primarily responsible for maintaining a healthy interpersonal relationship between a brand and its customers. However, the job role and responsibilities have undergone multiple evolutions in the past few years depending on the company’s requirements. If you are also passionate about pursuing a career through social media and have excellent communication and community management skills, this job profile can be your ideal career choice. Here in this article, we will discuss how one can become a community manager, the job responsibilities of community managers, what skills are required, what courses can be helpful, and more. Before elaborating on the details, let’s know who a community manager is.
- Who is A Community Manager?
- Roles and Responsibilities of A Community Manager
- Require Skills To Become A Community Manager
- How To Become A Community Manager?
- Community Management Courses and Fees
- Salary of A Community Manager in India
- Top Recruiters of Community Management Jobs In India
- Top Online Platforms for Community Management Certification Courses
- Community Management Course Duration and Fees (UG/PG Level)
Who is A Community Manager?
A community manager is a marketing professional who plays the active role of connection between a business and its potential and new customers. Community managers are primarily responsible for building and managing an organization’s online community. They play the role of a moderator of a brand and actively participate in several community discussions and content distribution. Additionally, they support the community members and develop marketing strategies to increase digital engagement. The job positions of community managers are of great importance as they add great value to every business by helping build the brand’s online presence. They usually manage a brand’s social media accounts and continue communication with the customers by organizing live polls, discussions, and events. Many community managers monitor online forums, blogs, mobile applications, and social media accounts using various analytical tools. This activity is essential to know the audience’s feedback regarding the respective brands.
Based on the company’s requirements, an online community manager handles various tasks related to digital marketing, social media management, social media marketing, public relations, and communication. Community managers are also responsible for ensuring that their content meets the community guidelines. Many renowned organizations hire a team of community managers and assign them to separate social media positions, such as Facebook community manager, YouTube Community Manager, or Instagram Community Manager. For example, the one appointed as Facebook Community Manager handles and manages only the tasks related to Facebook community building. However, it is the only social media management job position that continues to evolve as strategies for communicating with and engaging the audience change over time.
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Roles and Responsibilities of A Community Manager
The primary role of a community manager is to maintain an interpersonal relationship between the brand and its audience. They also develop and implement marketing strategies to increase brand awareness. They initiate interactions with the digital community and spend most of their work hours directly communicating with new and existing consumers. Online community managers often represent their respective organizations in live events and listen to the requirements of their customers. The primary aim of a community management job position is to create a loyal group of consumers connected by similar interests.
The following are some significant work responsibilities of a community manager.
- Communicating with the audience
Communicating with the audience and providing support to them is one of the primary responsibilities of a community manager. They also use different communication methods (such as email communication, social media communication, and phone communication) to increase their followers on their company’s social media accounts or pages. They also interact with internet stakeholders and share community engagement insights with them.
- Developing and implementing marketing strategies
Community managers often plan and execute social media campaigns that align with their company’s marketing strategies. They develop and implement different strategies to understand the key audience and their requirements. They work closely with the marketing and public relation team to make digital marketing plans and develop social media strategies.
- Handling social media accounts
This responsibility is another significant one. Community managers are usually assigned to handle an organization’s social media pages or accounts. However, they either work on one specific social media account or manage multiple existing accounts. They also respond to the followers’ emails, messages, comments, queries, and concerns.
- Managing and publishing content online
Online managers create and share engaging content on a brand’s social media accounts. The content can be images, videos, current updates, emails, blogs, newsletters, posters, and more. However, some community managers are specialized in these responsibilities. They not only create and publish content but also plan them, create content calendars, curate topics, and handle search engine optimization.
- Building relationships with online community members
Community managers build interpersonal relationships with their potential and new consumers by organizing various engaging discussion sessions. They provide customer service to the community members and implement strategies to increase engagement within the digital community. Community managers are also solely responsible for the connection between an organization and industry professionals.
- Handling analytics
Many community managers also handle digital marketing analytics and submit the metric reports to the team head. They often analyze social media metrics and other marketing data primarily to understand which strategy works best to increase customer engagement rate.
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Require Skills To Become A Community Manager
People of any gender can apply for this job position. In India, both male and female community managers enjoy equal professional benefits. However, an individual requires a few essential skills to pursue a career as a community manager. Below are some significant skills most employers seek in their community management employees.
- Community managers must be excellent in digital marketing as they often have to develop and implement profitable marketing strategies for their company.
- Community managers must have outstanding data analysis skills. They must have an in-depth knowledge of social media metrics. Similarly, they must know to interpret qualitative and quantitative data from different projects.
- Community managers must have project management skills as they can be assigned to handle multiple projects with distinct requirements. Additionally, they must have the ability to meet strict deadlines.
- Community managers must have excellent verbal and written communication skills as they have to interact with existing and new customers and industry professionals for different purposes. Good communication skills help community managers build interpersonal relationships with the audience. It is also important for identifying customer requirements.
- Community managers should know to use different online tools and applications. It helps them handle and manage a company’s multiple social media accounts and pages.
Other required skills are:
- Organization skills
- Time management skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Empathy and patience
How To Become A Community Manager?
The job profile of community managers is solely based on skills and work experience. But an individual requires a few educational qualifications to apply for this job position. Though work experience is not mandatory, it can help an individual to pursue a career in community management and know the tips and tricks of working in this field. Candidates must meet the following criteria to get a job as community managers.
Eligibility
Individuals must complete a bachelor’s degree to start their career in the community management field. Most companies prefer community managers with a bachelor’s degree from any discipline with a minimum of 50% marks from a recognized educational institute. However, many online platforms offer paid and free certification courses in community management. Candidates can join these courses to learn more about building and managing an online community. No colleges or universities in India provide offline programs in this field. But individuals willing to have an offline learning experience can join digital marketing or social media management courses which are considered helpful for getting a job in this field.
Experience
The job position of community manager is not full-time. Most companies provide part-time or freelance opportunities for those who want to pursue their careers in community management. Individuals can also apply for paid community management internships to gain work experience. Work experience is not mandatory for this job position. But internship certification and experience help individuals to become successful community managers in the future. It helps them to gain practical experience in building an online community, handling customers, and managing various social media accounts.
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Community Management Courses and Fees
People who want to pursue their careers in online community management can join online certification courses to learn more about this field. Nowadays, many online educational platforms offer free and paid online community management courses for those who want to start their careers as online community managers. However, it is hard to find any educational institutes in India that provide offline community management courses.
Best Online Community Management Courses
The following are the top 8 best online community management courses.
P.S- Candidates can join these online community management courses anytime, according to their preference.
| Sl No. | Courses Name | Course Provider | Duration | Average Fees |
| 1. | Introduction to Online Community Management | Udemy | 1 hour | INR 1299 |
| 2. | Marketing Digital: Content & Community Manager | edX | 5 weeks | Free |
| 3. | Define and Establish a Community | Facebook Blueprint | 15 minutes | Free |
| 4. | How To Start An Online Community | FeverBee |
Enrollment Required | INR 59,000 |
| 5. | Build an Engaged Online Community from Scratch | SkillShare | 1 hour 40 minutes | INR 5500 |
Best Offline UG and PG Diploma Community Management Courses in India
No private or government educational institutes in India offer undergraduate programs in community management. Similarly, it is hard to find universities in India that provide community management postgraduate diploma courses. However, candidates can pursue the following courses considered helpful for becoming an online community manager.
- Social media marketing
- Digital marketing
- Social media management
- Journalism and Mass communication
P.S- For joining an offline UG or PG diploma course, the candidate must complete their 12th with a minimum of 50% marks from a recognized board.
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Salary of A Community Manager in India
The average salary of online community managers has increased quite a lot in recent years due to the ongoing demand and popularity of social media across the globe. In India, the average salary of a community manager is 25,000-30,000 INR/month. Additionally, a senior-level community manager with more than five years of working experience can earn up to 6-7 lakhs per annum. Money-making as an online community manager widely depends on several significant factors, such as a community manager’s skills, respective company, work experience, job roles, and responsibilities.
Most organizations and businesses don’t offer full-time opportunities for this job position. However, candidates willing to start their careers in this field can apply for freelance and part-time community management jobs. Such companies generally pay community managers based on their roles, responsibilities, and work hours. Additionally, many companies offer multiple community management internship programs for freshers who wish to learn and earn together. A fresher community manager can earn up to 15,000-20,000/month while working as an intern. However, the pay scale of community managers increases over time depending on their yearly performance.
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Top Recruiters of Community Management Jobs In India
Due to the growing demand in every business sector, recruiters are now turning to online or social media community building to extend their businesses and reach a worldwide audience. There are various job opportunities for community managers in India. The following are some renowned companies hiring for the job profile of community managers.
- UpWork
- BabyChakra
- CoinDCX
- Quince
- Sprinklr Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
- Phyllo
- Quor
- KodeKloud
- Goodwall
- Asymmetrique
Top Online Platforms for Community Management Certification Courses
Many online educational platforms offer certification courses in community management. Individuals willing to pursue their careers in this field can join these courses. Below are the five best online platforms offering helpful online courses in community management.
- Udemy
- Facebook Blueprint
- SkillShare
- edX
- FeverBee
Community Management Course Duration and Fees (UG/PG Level)
Many online educational platforms provide short-term community management certification courses for those who want to pursue a career in this field. However, no such educational institutes in India offer UG and PG offline programs in community management. However, individuals who wish to start their career in this field can join some offline social media marketing, digital marketing, mass communication, or social media management courses.
While most online platforms offer free community management courses, candidates must pay to join the offline ones. The course fee largely depends on the course topics and duration. The duration of an online community management course can range from a few minutes to a few weeks. Additionally, an online community management course can cost up to 1200-60,000 INR, while the fees of the above-mentioned offline courses can be between 2,00,000-6,00,000 INR.
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