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Community Management Career Profiles from The Community Manager Salary Survey

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.


Two weeks ago we released our latest infographic “Community Management Career Profiles” sponsored by Jive Software. This is the first research released from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014. Subtitled “The Career Path Of The Community Professional – Insights From The Community Roundtable’s Community Manager Salary Survey 2014” the infographic provides some great stats for community professionals, hiring managers and the community industry as a whole.

Without further ado, here are the initial findings from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014.  You can view the full infographic here.

THE ROLE, COMPENSATION AND CAREER PATH OF THE COMMUNITY PROFESSIONAL.

For the purposes of the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 infographic we focused on three of the most common community titles:

  • Community Manager
  • Community Strategist
  • Director of Community

View the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 infographic here.

AVERAGE SALARY

Key finding: Research from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 showed that community professionals who work with internal employee facing communities earn more than their externally facing peers.

  • Community Manager
    • Internal Community Manager Average Salary:$69,887
    • External Community Manager Average Salary: $74,939
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist Average Salary: $85,075
    • External Community Strategist Average Salary: $90,400
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community Average Salary: $106,356
    • External Director of Community Average Salary: $113,263

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Key Finding: In the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that directors of community who work with external market facing communities have the most community management experience and the average level of work experience was over 10 years, countering the assumption that community managers are typically younger employees.

Percent of total work experience in community management:

  • Community Manager –
    • Internal Community Manager: 39%
    • External Community Manager: 30%
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist: 48%
    • External Community Strategist: 29%
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community: 45%
    • External Director of Community: 44%

Average years of community management experience:

  • Community Manager –
    • Internal Community Manager: 4.2 years
    • External Community Manager: 4.7 years
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist: 6.9 years
    • External Community Strategist:5 years
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community: 7.4 years
    • External Director of Community: 7.1 years

Average years of work experience:

  • Community Manager –
    • Internal Community Manager: 10.8 years
    • External Community Manager: 10.6 years
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist: 14.3 years
    • External Community Strategist: 14.3 years
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community: 16.4 years
    • External Director of Community: 16.2 years

TOP THREE PRIORITIES FOR COMMUNITY PROFESSIONALS

Key finding: Data in the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 clearly showed that business and strategic skills become more important in senior community roles.

Top Three Priorities For Community Managers

  • Monitoring activity and listening
  • Communication and editorial
  • Curating and sharing content

Top Three Priorities For Community Strategists

  • Monitoring activity and listening
  • Developing the community strategy
  • Measuring and reporting community performance

Top Three Priorities For Directors of Community

  • Developing the community strategy
  • Developing community policies and guidelines
  • Advocating for the community

COMMUNITY PROFESSIONALS WORKING REMOTELY

Key finding: working remotely does not hinder career progression for community professionals

  • 24% of community managers reported working remotely most of the time
  • 24% of community strategists reported working remotely most of the time
  • 41% of directors of community reported working remotely most of the time

Key finding: directors of community are 71% more likely to work remotely than managers and strategists, suggesting individuals with those skills are scarce and can negotiate for more flexibility.

WORK ENVIRONMENTS FOR COMMUNITY PROFESSIONALS

Key finding: through the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that community strategists are three times more likely to work for agencies than community managers.

  • 80% of community managers work in corporate environments.
  • 6% of community managers are freelancers.
  • 8% of community managers work at agencies.
  • 6% of community managers work in a different environment.
  • 62% of community strategists work in corporate environments.
  • 24% of community strategists work at agencies.
  • 11% of community strategists are freelancers.
  • 3% of community strategists work in a different environment.
  • 79% of directors of community work in corporate environments.
  • 5% of directors of community work at agencies.
  • 7% of directors of community are freelancers.
  • 9% of directors of community work in a different environment.

COMMUNITY PROFESSIONAL: AN EMERGENT CAREER PATH

Although Community Manager is the most common job title among professionals surveyed, other roles are emerging.

Among the survey sample of the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014:

  • 55% had the title “Community Manager”
  • 13% had the title “Community Strategist”
  • 17% had the title “Director of Community”
  • 13% had the title “Community Specialist”
  • 7% reported they had another title

Key finding: 36% of professionals surveyed in the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 reported being promoted within community management.

LOOKING FOR A PROMOTION? WORK ON YOUR SKILLS.

In the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that advanced community professionals, including community strategists and directors of community are more likely to have these key skills:

  • Program management
  • Building a community roadmap
  • Developing executive support and coaching executives
  • Creating, purchasing or delivering training
  • Hiring and managing community team members, contractors, agencies
  • Internal consulting

LOOKING FOR A COMMUNITY JOB? GET CREATIVE ABOUT FINDING YOUR NEXT ROLE!

Through the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that the majority of community roles are not sourced through formal HR processes. In fact:

  • 39% of community professionals were approached by or introduced to the hiring manager/team
  • Only 27% of community professionals found their role through an external job posting
  • 20% of community professionals defined their own new role

View the infographic and find more community career resources at communityroundtable.com/cmss14

Brought to you by Jive Software.

Introducing the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 Infographic

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.Jive Webinar: Deep Dive on The Community Manager Role

If you’ve been reading our blog for the last year you know we love a good infographic, which makestoday’s post extra exciting. We are thrilled to share the first data from our newest research platform, the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014, via this new CMSS 2014 infographic: Careers in Community Management.

We surveyed more than 350 internal and external community managers, strategists and directors for this first-ever survey, asking them to share information including their salary, their expertise and responsibilities, their experience, and their career path. The infographic was released Wednesday night during JiveWorld14. (Jive Software is sponsoring the infographic and upcoming publication of the survey data.)

The infographic represents the first research results from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014. It highlights the salary range for internal and external community professionals, and illustrates the demonstrable career path for those who want to use their skills and experience in more strategic roles. Rachel shared her perspective earlier today:

“The new research highlights a number of what were unproven truths in the community space and adds new insights. It makes clear that community management as a discipline has matured to the point where not only are there great, well-paying jobs to be had, but there is also a clear career path for career professionals.”

You can head over to the official CMSS 2014 Infographic page to download the entire high-res infographic and sign up to be notified when the full Community Manager Salary Survey is released later this year.

Careers in Community Management

Careers in Community Management

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Free Jive Webinar

Join The Community Roundtable and Jive as we dig into the community manager role.

Deep Dive into the Community Manager RoleEvent Date: Tuesday, November 18thEvent Time: 10am PT/1pm ET

The Community Manager Salary Salary research aims to bring more awareness to what community managers can expect in their career and what hiring managers should know to grow effective community programs. This new research from The Community Roundtable takes a comprehensive look at community manager roles.

Learn more >>

 Register Now

Community Manager Salary Survey Sneak Preview, Part Two

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By Maggie Tunning, Learning and Culture Manager at The Community Roundtable.

We’re collecting Community Manager Salary Survey responses until the end of the month, and we’re excited about all of the results we’ve already received. We can’t help but start looking into the data and wanted to share some early findings with you here.CMSS - Directors of Community

Over half of all participants identify their job title as “Community Manager,” but we’ve received responses from community specialists, community strategists, marketing managers and more. We’re looking for more data from “Directors of Community”- who may also identify with titles like “Head of Community,” “Director of Community Engagement, “Director of Member Engagement” and “Community Management Director” – and appreciate if you can share the survey with them (and any other community professionals!) you know: https://www.tinyurl.com/CMSS2014

Quick preview of early results:

  • Almost 40 percent of directors of community were approached directly by the hiring manager/team about their role. Another 20 percent defined and moved into this role.
  • Over half of directors of community have been promoted in their community management role in their organization.
  • Although engagement and people skills rank highest in the skill set of the average of respondents, strategic and business skills rank highest among the community director participants.

This preview represents early data, and we are looking for more responses to explore trends in the upcoming report. We would appreciate if you can share the survey with any community professionals you know: https://www.tinyurl.com/CMSS2014

 

Take the Survey

 

 

 

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Looking to take your career in community management to the next level? 92% of members agree that TheCR Network supports and advances their personal and professional goals. Learn how our research, access to peers and experts, targeted content and exclusive concierge service can help you achieve your goals. 

Community Manager Salary Survey Sneak Preview – Part One

By

By Maggie Tunning, Learning and Culture Manager at The Community Roundtable.

We’re collecting Community Manager Salary Survey responses until the end of the month, and we’re excited about the results we’ve already received. We can’t help but start looking into the data and wanted to share some early findings with you here:

Who is participating in the CMSS 2014?Salary Survey: Calling all internal community managers!

  • About 75 percent of respondents are corporate staff (vs. agency staff or independent consultants).
  • About one third of respondents work remotely most of the time, and about another quarter have the option to work remotely some of the time.
  • Community managers from all types of communities – communities of practice, product innovation communities, customer support communities, communities for staff collaboration – are participating, but at this time we have almost three times as many responses from external community managers than internal community managers.

We’re looking for more data from internal community managers and appreciate if you can share the survey with them (and any other community professionals!) you know: https://www.tinyurl.com/CMSS2014

Early Research Distinctions: 

  • Internal community managers have on average more professional and community management experience than external community managers.
  • A higher percentage of internal community managers reported defining and moving into their current role than the average of responses.
  • About 40 percent of all respondents have been promoted within their community management role, and a higher percentage of internal community managers have been promoted than external community managers.

We can’t wait to share the full results from the Survey this Fall – and we’ll be back with another sneak preview of results next week!

In the meantime if you haven’t yet taken the Survey please consider sharing your insights. If you have taken the Survey we cannot thank you enough! If you have any friends or colleagues who work in community management in any capacity please share the survey with them: https://www.tinyurl.com/CMSS2014

Take the Survey

 

 

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Looking to take your career in community management to the next level? 92% of members agree that TheCR Network supports and advances their personal and professional goals. Learn how our research, access to peers and experts, targeted content and exclusive concierge service can help you achieve your goals.