Communities have a long history behind them, and the ways of interacting with them have not changed much over time. In the past, this was done by PR and marketing specialists, and then by social media specialists. In the US, the profession of community manager has existed for many years. In Russia, the first specialists appeared in the online gaming industry in the 1990s.
With the increase in the general pace of life, the development of new media and the complete transition of communication to the online space, the need for the specialists in question has increased. There are several explanations for this:
Online communities are a convenient and quick way to stay in touch with people while maintaining relative privacy. However, in a work environment, your interests in various topics, such as anime or historical reenactments, can cause misunderstandings.
In specialized groups, you can find like-minded people to communicate with. The manager's job is not only to understand the community's values, but also to actively participate in its development, adjustment and direction. The main requirement is to be involved in this group at least partially.
Popularity of the Community Manager Profession
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Community members quickly receive answers to questions from experienced participants, which usually inspires more trust than information from unfamiliar sites or individual experts. To effectively interact with the community, you need to have a deep understanding of the product and actively use it yourself.
For a community to thrive, it needs a constant supply of content, and the most valuable content is information about the group itself. This data requires careful development, creation, editing, and publishing. The community manager also plays an important role in this process.
For a community to key features of paytm not just exist, but to benefit the brand, someone needs to be aware of its goals and be able to communicate them to others in a way that makes members happy to help.
Perhaps most importantly, the community manager is the face of the company and, at best, its conscience. Community members know they can turn to the community manager personally for help and support, which is far more valuable than simply contacting the support team. And this is the most stressful aspect of the community manager's job.
As communication has become not just operational, but instantaneous, and the volume of information has increased to enormous proportions, companies have begun to attract specialists to interact with communities. Now, within the community management team, there may be professionals with their own narrow areas of expertise:
Responsibility for planning, strategy development and analysis rests on the shoulders of the team leader.
One person is responsible for organizing events.
The community is replenished with content by the writing KM.
The Moderator Group Leader is responsible for maintaining the team and chat atmosphere, resolving conflicts, and coordinating the work of other moderators.
Typically, in gaming companies, there may be as many as five or six community managers working on one large-scale project (in Russia and the CIS, there are usually no more than ten, while in the US and Europe, there may also be a larger number).