Here’s your dream job listing! I was thrilled to see how flexible this employer is being.

A month ago I received an email from someone asking where to find a community manager. Look at the posting they did up!

Note the location – Anywhere in the World! & the option to telecommute!

The trips to the home office would be great too! I had a lovely time in London last year.

Is this job for you? The biggest question is does the topic fit your expertise & passion?

Companies are realizing the impact that the social web can have on their brand. Listening & building relationships with their consumers is going to become an integral part of their strategy for success. Those that ignore the trend will continue on their path, but ultimately it will be the consumers who decide their success.

The community manager role is quickly gaining acceptance. For companies that are doing the majority of their business online, it’s a role that’s imperative to their success. For larger enterprises the term, social media strategist, is frequently used.

It’s time to look into the future. The adoption rate for community building is gaining momentum. Some companies that have a very successful community manager are wondering how to scale the community building role with a team of people.

There are many companies that are empowering their employees to utilize social media to build community. And they range in size from start ups all the way to Fortune 500. I foresee the role of Chief Community Officer.

When I was rewriting my Goals & Responsibilities post from 2008 I removed some of the language. But for the CCO position, these should be included in the role:

1. Ensure that Company continues to remain strategically opportunistic by continually evaluating & revising Company’s online marketing and outreach strategies, including both tools presently being used to emerging technologies.
2. Take primary responsibility for executing Company’s outreach strategy to create, build & maintain brand (and engage with customers & identify potential markets).

Why do I feel that this position should be at this level?

Community building is going to become an integral part of operations. If the role is implemented across the organization it offers the opportunity to contribute to marketing, customer service, product development, etc. The question I hear so often is, Who should the community person report to? And a bit more troubling is that it’s a leadership role that requires a lot of responsibility & commitment, but not recognized as a management position.

When I was doing some research for this post I found a white paper by Chuck Brymer, CEO of DDB Worldwide. He suggests that a CCO is the new marketing role. He suggests moving from the 4 P’s (product, price, place & promotion) to the 3 C’s (conviction, collaboration & creativity). His paper is definitely worth reading. I like how he talks about the need for creative leadership to develop more interactive relationships with consumers.

In this world a Chief Community Officer ideally oversees the relationship between brands and their communities, not just in the narrow confines of how a consumer interacts with a product at point of purchase, but also in how consumers interact with each other…A Chief Community Officer implicitly understands how to align all areas of marketing to influence consumers and engage their communities around brands.

He outlines 4 areas that the CCO would be responsible for:

1. Build community around the brand using multiple channels & ensure that the organization is living its message

2. Know the community’s wants, needs & lifestyle & use that data for marketing efforts

3. Monitor, respond & interact with the community to build relationships

4. Facilitating & nurturing an environment that empowers the community to uplift the brand.

The Future is Now

It’s an exciting time for community builders. My speaking & workshops this year focus on the role, implementation of it & the strategy. I look forward to discussing these ideas at New Comm  Forum, Community 2.0 & Enterprise 2.0! (More info on the speaking tab on my site) This past week I joined two panels in the Twin Cities focused on community building. It’s exciting to hear people discussing & exploring the concept.

Deb Schultz uses this phrase that perfectly envelopes the concept of a CCO: Think Community Manager meets Senior Executive.

There are already a few with the title:

• Bill Johnston, Forum One Network’s Chief Community Officer.
• Amy Muller, Chief Community Officer at Get Satisfaction.
• StartUpNation has Joel Welsh as their Chief Community Officer.
• Douglas Atkin, Meetup

Do you have what it takes to be a Chief Community Officer?

You can apply to be the CCO at Autism Speaks.

(If you talk with them, gently explain why ‘exploit’ isn’t a good choice…)

Exploiting the new media of social and community networking in the not-for-profit sector

What are your thoughts?

(Image made with free 3 modeling program)

The job description that I posted in July 08 is another most frequently visited post. Here’s an update:

The Community Manager/Social Media Specialist position is a broad encompassing role.

My definition of the position: A community manager is the voice of the company externally and the voice of the customers internally. The value lies in the community manager serving as a hub & having the ability to personally connect with the customers (humanize the company), & providing feedback to many departments internally (development, PR, marketing, customer service, tech support, etc).

Responsibilities:

• Creatively and proactively assist customers.
• Serve as the initial point of contact for inbound requests from online company properties & the web at large
• Identify and analyze issues, patterns and trends in customer requests & product performance
• Transfer the information to the appropriate departments so that they can respond accordingly.
  • bugs to quality assurance
  • new ideas to product development
  • messaging effectiveness to marketing
  • frequently asked questions noted
  • identifying user generated content
• Monitor online conversations and participate in them to build brand visibility and thought leadership
• Author blog posts, articles, podcasts, videos and screencasts – whatever media you want to use – to creatively communicate product uses.
• Establish metrics & report on them on a monthly basis including recommendations
• Identify & engage advocates
• Proactively escalate issues, observations, opportunities, and insights to the executive team.
• Communicate issues, opportunities and insights to the company at large.
• Stay up to date on new social media tools, best practices and how other organizations and companies are using them, so that the company can continue to be an early adopter of these technologies.
• Participate in professional networking by interacting with peers and influencers & attending events.

Qualifications:

• People oriented
• You love helping people and find it rewarding to solve people’s problems. Then you love to proactively use that experience to make the whole service better.
• Ability to work cross functionally
• You like working hard and thrive on the excitement of a goal oriented team.
• Possess 360 degree leadership skills
• You enjoy learning & are curious!
• Excellent communication skills
• You love to write & enjoy sharing your ideas with others.
• Project oriented & creative skills – You are an independent, creative self-starter who loves running with things while keeping everyone inside and outside the company in the loop.
• Net savvy (addicted to social networking sites & all things Web 2.0)
• You spend a lot of time online and stay up-do-date on new, fun things out there for web savvy users as well as regular people.
• Potential for working remotely
• This position lends itself to working remotely. The projects and ongoing work can easily be done independently.

Now you can personalize that for what your company needs. My recommendation is to make sure that it’s open ended enough to allow the position to grow. The type of person that you’ll hire will want to be continually challenged & motivated to keep the community growing.

One of the most visited articles on my blog is a list that I posted in July of 2008 of Responsibilities and Goals for a Community Manager. This was what I envisioned the role to be in 2007. It has been referenced many times and is linked from Wikipedia’s definition of ‘Online Community Manager’.

Here is a long overdue revision. This forms the framework of much of my speaking & workshops this year.

Enjoy! and your thoughts are always welcome.

Responsibilities & Goals for Community Manager Role

1. Online Marketing, Outreach Strategies & Building Brand Visibility

• Contribute to the development of the Company’s online marketing and outreach strategies.
• Foster a sense of community around the brand at both the brand properties and on the web at large by building relationships.
• Contribute to the Company’s web strategy so that customer communications at all touchpoints are maximized.
• Monitor key online conversations and events to make sure Company is participating effectively & is being represented.
• Participate in social networking sites:
• Claim brand names on social networks by creating profiles to protect the brand.
• Identify & participate in social networks where appropriate for your brand & Company.
• Manage, maintain, and ensure the success of the Company blog
• Ensure that it becomes a viable tool for communicating to Company’s customers
• Encourage, recruit and provide Company & outside “experts” with the resources to blog
• Promote the blog by increasing awareness of the blog’s potential both within Company and externally

2. Public Relations

• Identify influencers in your industry. Establish relationships, partner & collaborate with them.
• Engage and motivate the Company’s most active online advocates & ensure that their efforts are recognized.
• Respond to crises in a timely and professional manner.
• Coordinate the efforts of evangelists, forum moderators, & advocates so that affected Company projects are executed efficiently & in a timely manner.
• Provide leadership to motivate & maximize the impact of online community’s efforts
• Encourage WOM: teach them how to start the conversation & sustain it
• Establish the goals, identify objectives & timeline
• Break down the goal into tasks, deadlines & manage the projects to meet the goal.
• Ensure that projects are completed & those involved are compensated & recognized.

3. Customer & Technical Support

• Become one with the product(s). Learn it inside & out.
• Listen to customers and gather their feedback. Thank them for their input.
• Route customer needs to the appropriate department.
• Be responsible for the administration of the Company’s online brand property(s).
• Ensure that a positive environment is maintained that reflects Company’s commitment to excellent customer service.
• Work closely with Company’s IT manager to ensure that the goals of the forum are met.
• Monitor online forums, identify potential problems & issues & promptly communicate them to the IT Manager as appropriate
• Practice excellent judgement in communicating with customers about potentially controversial topics.
• Advocate for the customer’s needs but balance that with the needs of the company & diplomatically communicate that to both customers & Company

4. Product Development & Quality Assurance

• Communicate customer suggestions and provide ideas for product improvement.
• Participate in discussions on product use.
• Report product defects.

5. Sales & Business Partnerships

• Identify and route potential sales opportunities to the appropriate teams.
• Be proactively strategic in building relationships that will result in mutually advantageous business partnerships.

6. Internal Web 2.0 Ambassador

• Encourage internal communication & provide leadership for cross functional efforts.
• Develop guidelines to ensure that Company’s online outreach is both effective and consistent with the organization’s image and overall communications strategy.
• Increase awareness of web 2.0 tools across the Company and provide training in their use.
• Teach, guide, & encourage those that are new to Web 2.0 tools and culture.
• Be available to staff across the Company to assist them in identifying & using online tools to help them achieve their goals related to their position.
• Advocate for the culture shift that’s required to be a customer-centric company.

7. Reporting

• Participate in creating the online community plan including a budget
• Track and report the following on a regular basis:
• Quantitative measures as outlined by business goals
• Amount of activity at community site(s)
• Qualitative report of consumer responses
• Suggestions & feedback for management & executive levels
• Identify & offer solutions for breaking down barriers between customers & corporate. This includes identifying needs that aren’t being met from the customer’s perspective & being involved in the discussion as to whether the needs are valid, can be met and if they will benefit the organization as a whole.

8. Goal Setting & Professional Development

• Stay up to date on new social media tools, best practices and how other organizations and companies are using them, so that the company can continue to be an early adopter of emerging technologies.
• Participate in professional networking by interacting with peers and thought leaders in online arenas & attend events.