Why is the role of community manager becoming such a sought after position by businesses?

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Sandra McDowell

In my experience, over the past six months, we have seen many brands become more and more active in the social space and as a consequence now want greater control within the organisation, rather than from an agency, which may have been the case in the adoption phase.

By appointing a manager dedicated to managing the outbound and reactive conversation, this person needs to be ‘department neutral’ which is why brands are looking for a dedicated individual, as opposed to shared roles from within different departments.

This role should be department neutral. The community manager should be part of a social media hub, if it exists, or a cross functional group whose remit is to use social channels based on a set of objectives eg: improving the speed of customer service. Governance is likely to change. Reporting lines should be to this group, with a line manager in communications. Organisationally, all the departments with an active interest in using social channels should use the channel manager as the ‘go to’ source of expertise.