The community manager is in charge of building, managing and moderating virtual communities around a brand or company on the internet.
Social networks deployment as a communication channel makes it necessary for both companies and self-employed people to be ther, in order to publicize their services and products. In this sense, not to be in the net means a significant loss of market share and customer base. In addition, it is not only necessary to have a business profile on social media, but also to keep it active and up-to-date, energizing the community and interacting with customers in order to give feedback to their queries and comments, contribute to create a good brand image and foster a sense of belonging and closeness.

In this context, a community manager builds the company's public virtual face. Its mission is to use social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.) as a tool to engage customers to the company or brand and attract new ones, either through of the daily contact through social networks, the creation of new brand related contents and/or by participating with communication and public relations as well as the programming and management of events.

• Contributes to the development of online marketing and the company's dissemination strategies. It uses existing social networks and digital tools to create profiles tailored to the company's goals related to web global positioning.
• Fosters a sense of community around a brand or company by building relationships with customers and potential customers through the network.
• Monitors online conversations and manages comments that can be included on the company's website, social profile or blog.
• Identifies reference websites, specialized bloggers or new trends in relation to their online business niche, and links them to the digital tools and social networks available to the company online marketing strategies. In addition, it also identifies new networks where the company can position itself.
• Manages the reputation of the online company, controls its brand, uses it correctly and protects it.
• Monitors social media, actively listens to what is being said about the company, analyses comments, and applies conclusions to the company's marketing strategies.
• Participates in social networks, encourages participation related to the company for other organizations or users, connects the company to new clients and identifies its needs.

Regulated training and graduates

• Professional Training Course(s) in the professional family of IT - Advanced Level: Multiplatform Application Development
• Professional Training Course(s) in the professional family of IT - Advanced Level: Web application developer
• Grau: Comunicació cultural
• Grau: Comunicació
• Grau: Comunicació audiovisual
• Grau: Comunicació i industries culturals
• Grau: Informació i documentació
• Grau: Comunicació i periodisme audiovisuals
• Grau: Publicitat i relacions públiques
• Grau: Periodisme
• Grau: Publicitat, màrqueting i relacions públiques
• Grau: Continguts digitals interactius
• Grau: Màrqueting i comunitats digitals
• Grau: Humanitats
• Grau: Humanitats i estudis culturals
• Grau: Psicologia

Complementary training

A community manager needs to have additional training in graphic design or web programming. They should know how to use digital image editing tools (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.), have sufficient knowledge of HTML and CSS language to interpret and edit simple webpage codes and also be able to use content management software such as Blogger or WordPress.

It is also important to have knowledge of SEO/SEM (Search Engine Optimisation/Search Engine Marketing) positioning. Hence if they have this additional training and have done a community manager course, their basic training may be varied and associated with any professional field.

Other specific skills

The community manager should speak and write English correctly, because it is the language normally used to implement a new application or social network, and much of the information on the network related to their work is made in this language.
Must have mastery on different browsers, Outlook and Office.
In addition, it is advisable to have a hybrid profile with a humanistic side and interest in understanding both users' psychology and virtual communities' sociology. The community manager should have a deep and up-to-date knowledge of virtual networks and platforms and writing skills adapted to each platform, ranging from tweet writing to storytelling techniques. The community manager should also be familiar with data tracking and 'likes' provided by each social network and to know how to identify and take advantage of public trends and preferences.

Learning and use of knowledge: Level 1

Commitment to the organisation: Level 3

Concern for order and quality: Level 2

Networking: Level 2

Communication: Level 3

Communication

Those who show a preference for the field of communication are interested in the generation and dissemination of information. This information, however, can have various purposes: provide information on events and occurrences, generate public opinion on a certain topic or promote and publicise a service or product. Carrying out these activities requires knowledge of various techniques aimed at communication, persuasion and marketing.

New technologies

People who show an interest in this field are motivated by the development and advanced use of new technologies in any of their applications (software, hardware, telecommunications) from an innovative perspective and in accordance with the continuous updates of technologies, programmes and equipment that appear on the market. The design, installation, management and maintenance of computer systems and new technologies are activities specific to this field.

Content manager

Online training tutor

Web analytics expert

Director of communication

Online advertising expert

• Work hours

  Full working timetable with flexible hours or part time; depending on the requirements of the company they can also work by the hour.

• Salary

  Remuneration is calculated based on hours worked and proven experience. However, it will be within a range of between €14.234 and €24.662 gross per year. Median: 18.736 euros annum gross. This range is so wide due to the type of contracts (full-time or part-time, hourly, etc.) and because the level of training and experience required of community managers vary depending on the company's business activity and the complexity of the communities and marketing strategies to be implemented.
  
  Source: Report ¿Observatory of Jobs and Salaries of the Labour Market. Barcelona Activa¿, elaborated by ICSA Grupo. April 2015.

• Professional category

  Technician

Community manager functions required by a company are very often outsourced to other specialised companies or freelancers as workforces often do not contain someone with the ability to fill this role. Hence it is common for a person to be a freelance community manager working for one or more enterprises.

A freelancer community manager needs a computer with the necessary software and an Internet connection. Thus if someone has the knowledge and knows how to use marketing techniques in social media and on the Internet, the investment required to be a freelance community manager is relatively low.

However, social networks are operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which means a freelance community manager will usually have to work at the weekend and have sufficiently flexible working hours to meet specific promotion/maintenance/user loyalty needs which can crop up at any time given the pervasive nature of social media.