The emergent figure of the Community Manager in the era of Social Media

Being a Community Manager is fashionable, it’s the profession of the moment. The funny thing is that everyone talks about it, but there is no established definition of what it is and what the functions of a Community Manager. According to Aerco, a Community Manager is “the person in charge / responsible for sustaining, enhancing and, in a certain way, defending the company’s relations with its customers in the digital field, thanks to the knowledge of the needs and the strategic organization and the interests of customers … “

The report, Community Manager Report 2012, indicated that 65% of the people practicing this profession were women, with an average of 30 years of age, whose main activity was the generation of content and highlighted Facebook social platform where they obtained better results although relatively in function of certain objectives and other aspects.

The social media expert, Pilar Trucios, in a recent article in Expansion, comments as for many “The community manager is seen as Superman himself, but it will not save the company” thus realizing an approximation to the reality of this new figure within of the world of social communication. In it, it shows an analysis of 30 job offers as a community manager in companies.

The most noteworthy characteristic was the great diversity of profiles required for the same position in each company, where the coincident features were absent. The type of training demanded was also very unequal, from graduate to engineer, graduate or “savvy” from the areas of communication, computer science, marketing, mathematics, humanities, or simply elementary baccalaureate.

As for the experience, many asked for 2 to 3 years, even the case was asked who asked for up to 10. In view is that there is a great lack of knowledge on the part of companies on the attitudes, training and characteristics of this profile professional.

In fact, the proliferation and high demand of this new batch of professionals has also provided an opportunity for those who want to place the label of professional or expert without even knowing the mechanisms and intricacies of strategic planning or the ability to solve solutions or problems derived that serve to fulfill a defined objective.

This is by no means a “part-time” profession that can be performed by any worker in his or her spare time or in a partial way since it requires a lot of involvement, time and effort.

In this sense, it is still common to ask the question of How to know if we are prepared to be a good Community Manager ?. On this subject there are certainly certain aspects and requirements  for which not every aspirant to this sacrificed profession is qualified. Not only is necessary it is necessary to know the main tools for a correct and optimal management of communities and social profiles, or be prepared to listen, communicate and participate in the conversations of fans and followers. It requires great involvement, communication skills, ability to analyze situations and reactions psychologically or manage a crisis of reputation among others.

It is clear that despite all this, the Community manager is not really a superhero! and is that as we move through the cycle of maturation (and integration in the offline world) of Social Media, we are increasingly convinced of the need to have a solid team, cohesive and, what is more important , social where the figure of the Community Manager is important but not the only piece of social machinery of a company or brand.

The general tone indicates that the Community Manager should be at the forefront of social networks, creating community, but it is evident that there is no defined strategy in Social Media, defined objectives that set the guidelines to follow. It would be interesting for companies to become aware of their reality in Social Media and firmly plan to implement a professional strategy.