What's the Difference? Community Manager vs. Social Media Manager

By Marisa Peacock (@marisacp51) Sep 1, 2011

As more organizations build online customer communities, often aided by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, the lines between community and social media have begun to blur.

A recent Tweet caught our eye:

For us, it started with a Tweet, but we’re pretty certain that it started way before that. Community building has been around way longer than social media. So if online communities are not synonymous with social media, why all the confusion? We take a closer look.

What Does a Community Manager Do?

From the employer’s point of view, things seem to fairly well-defined. A few recent job posts outline the following characteristics for the community manager.

Requirements:

Passion for new media, consumer brands and client service
Web design and development, with a focus on content creation
Superior understanding of social networks, design, functionality, audiences and measurement
Enthusiasm for community and conviction for execution
Understands the social media universe including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, forums, blogs, etc.

Skills needed:

Ability to produce guidelines and strategy that reflect an understanding of the role of social media and its effects
Ability to continuously educate clients and coworkers on digital media
Extensive experience launching successful products as measured by market impact metrics
Proven experience building online communities with measureable and substantial result
Experience in marketing, online marketing, community management, membership engagement and retention

Tasks performed:

Research, plan and develop comprehensive digital public relations programs for clients
Create web sites, blogs, social media channels and all related elements of digital campaigns
Develop and implement comprehensive content strategies
Develop strategy for online community including guiding the vision for the tools and technology that will enable community programs to provide new and updated information to the company’s portfolio of products
Engage with product enthusiasts to drive product innovations and new product ideas
Increase member retention and engagement as measured by declining member attrition and increased member activity, as well as numerous social networking, customer satisfaction, email, and other onsite metrics
Develop member loyalty programs that reward their most avid users
Engage members and non-members in social media channels by communicating consistently and effectively the benefits of our program on a daily basis

Compiled from at least three job descriptions for online community manager from across a variety of industries, employers are not so much looking for someone who can understand and use social media, as they are someone who can strategically research, develop and implement an online community that fosters customer engagement and offers relevant and useful content to their constituencies.

What Does a Social Media Manager Do?

For social media managers, employers also outline clear expectations. A few recent job posts outline the following characteristics for the social media manager.