throwback Archives

Throwback Thursday – All About Community Management Careers

September 15, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

It’s no secret we’re a little bit in love with community managers. But, really it goes deeper than that. We love the people that want to be community managers. We love the people that are community managers. And we love the people that have moved on to different, exciting roles after being a community manager. And boy, do community managers do interesting things with their careers!

This week we’re sharing a few posts specifically for those community folks out there thinking about their community careers. Whether you’re just getting started in the world of community, or you’re in place to be building out your very own community team this post has something for you.

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on the many stages of community management careers – from getting started to the executive view.

Free eBook: Defining Community Management Roles – This free ebook uses our research to target one of the pain points we most often hear from community professionals – the lack of clear role definitions in community management. This is a problem for human resources professionals and hiring managers. Standards for what defines a community manager role, versus a community strategist or director of community can be difficult to ascertain. As a result, providing proper compensation, support and professional development opportunities is difficult.
Community Career Profiles: All About Community Strategists – Engagement and people skills rank as the most important skill set for a successful community strategist. However, strategic and business skills were most important to nearly 20 percent of those in this role.
Community Career Profiles: All About Directors of Community – Directors of community bring a special skill-set – strong engagement skills, a knack for content development – to the table. But, they spend most of their time on strategic and business objectives.
Community Career Profiles: All About Community Managers – Not surprisingly, engagement and people skills are an essential part of being a community manager! Internal community managers have more strategic responsibilities related to change management in their organizations. They’re advocates for the community and are more likely to be responsible for developing executive support and coaching executives and member training.
For TheCR Network Eyes Only: Community Careers and Development Group – Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this group inside TheCR Network where members share job postings, hiring advice and best practices for landing the community jobs of your dreams!

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Throwback Thursday – Community Metrics 101

September 8, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

One of the most daunting aspects of community management for many community managers is how to tackle metrics and measurement. There are so many things to measure, track and report on. And then – what’s the best way to share this data. Weekly? Monthly? With your whole team? Executive reports? It can become overwhelming quickly.

Our research has shown that communities need to be aspirational in their metrics instead of settling for what is easily available. Measuring behaviors and outcomes rather than just activity correlates with overall community maturity. That’s a challenge for a couple of reasons – those metrics can be harder to define and they can be harder to track in many platforms. Dive into this week’s #tbt post for a primer on community metrics 101: what metrics you should track, how to think about community value and more!

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on Community Metrics 101 – a look at the importance of metrics and measurement in any community.

What community metrics are most important to track? – One of the most daunting tasks for many community managers is dealing with community metrics. A member recently approached us with the following question: “I’m getting started with tracking metrics for my community and looking for guidance – where do I begin? What metrics are most important to track?”
If you run a community, don’t think like a website on metrics – As we continue to slice and dice the data from more than 200 communities for the State of Community Management 2015, we know that one of the most viewed pieces of the report will be the engagement profiles – the percentage of members who are lurking, contributing, creating and collaborating in the community. It’s a natural thing, especially for new communities, to want to look at engagement and growth metrics early as a way to show to people the success of the community.
The Basics of Metrics and Measuring – If you get a group of community managers together and merely mention the word “metrics”, the first question that comes up is “What do I measure?”… and that is a fantastic question. With a huge variety of forum platforms, an even bigger pool of possible community objectives, and a never-ending list of user types – it might feel really impossible to come up with the perfect community dashboard.
For TheCR Network Eyes Only: Community Pitch Deck – Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this Roundtable Report: Unlocking the Executive Perspective on Success & Measurement: Business Goals, Community, & Metrics

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Throwback Thursday – Community Management 101

September 1, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

Looking to get started in community management, or just need a refresher on the basics? Check out these community management 101 resources! We’re highlighting the fundamentals of community management in this week’s #throwbackthursday post – including an exclusive glossary of community management terms for members of TheCR Network!

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on Community Management 101 – getting back to basics with some fundamental community definitions.

Defining Community – The challenge with the word “community” is people mean a lot of different things when they say it, but there are few definitions. Joshua Paul at Socious took a crack at this issue and provided some great suggestions on how to differentiate between several meanings of the word, highlighting the preposition that comes before it. Is it ‘The community’, ‘our community’ or ‘a community’?
Differentiating Between Social Media and Community Management – As someone who works with social media managers and community managers, it seems the line between the two types of positions is not terribly clear – and maybe doesn’t need to be – but I think it would be helpful to distinguish between the two. Why?
Community Types and Terms Defined – There still seems to be a lot of confusion and disconnects when people are talking about their community or talking with The Community Roundtable about how being a member of TheCR Network can help them. And it’s not surprising. Much of the lingo and concepts are still very new in organizations and understanding what lens you view community practices through is important.
Connection, Friend, Member – Who’s In Your Company’s Online Ecosystem? – We came across this article last week about defining your online community to higher ups, and it resonated because people mean a lot of different things when they use the word community. As the article so aptly states, it is hard sometimes to understand if you are “referring to the online community at large, the community of people that your organization interacts with online, or an online community where your customers, employees, or partners can engage one another and support your customers or members.”
For TheCR Network Eyes Only: Community Management Glossary – Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this exclusive glossary of dozens of community management terms – and add the ones you think need to be there!

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Throwback Thursday – The Social Executive, or Easy Executive Engagement

August 25, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

We hear from too many community pros that they work tirelessly on programs, spend countless hours interacting and engaging with their community members, and even working to define and strategize around community strategy and roadmaps – only to be met with blank stares, or worse – road blocks as they present their achievements to executives. We believe community initiatives have a place at every level of the organization – which is why we’re highlighting best practices for executive engagement in this week’s #throwbackthursday post.

This cartoon from Grundfos pretty much sums it up for too many community managers…

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on the social executive – ways to get your executive stakeholders on board with community.

The Social Executive: The Imperative to Succeed in Social Business – When I was at IDC and newly researching the social media space, I reported on a world of possibility that was opening up to us and radically changing the way we communicated and the way we organized ourselves for collaboration. But connecting dots in a theoretical way and actually working in a new and different way are two entirely different things.
Executive Engagement in Three Venn Diagrams – I admit it, I’m a bit wonky. I really love Venn Diagrams, in part because I think most of the interesting things in life happen at intersections. When I was asked to speak to a group of women about my online presence last week, I found myself using three Venn Diagrams to explain how I thought about it.
Selling the Value of Community Management to the C-Suite – Far from being a discipline thrust on the most junior member of the marketing team, community management is the future of all management. The ability to inspire and generate value from networks is what will enable organizations to truly take advantage of a digitally connected, global population. More than anything, community management transforms our organizations from entities primary constructed to control and limit risk to ones constructed to inspire and realize potential. It is THE work of the 21st century.
The Social Executive: A Basis for ReThinking Business – Today everyone has a technology tool or solution. You are either the recipient of a social business strategic imperative or you are driving the so called “change.” No one knows yet how they will measure the success – is it clicks, likes or some secret ROI model? And it is one of the most interesting times in business as there are more conversations taking place about tools and technologies than people and adoption. There is confusion around business value.
For TheCR Network Eyes Only: Executive Engagement Template – Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this exclusive discussion thread inside the Network on ways to engage your executive audience, including great advice on how to make your community stakeholders have their “ah-ha” moments around community.

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Throwback Thursday: The Ins and Outs of a Community Roadmap

August 18, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

If you don’t know where you’re going it can be a long journey to success in community management – which is why we’re highlighting best practices for community roadmaps in this week’s #throwbackthursday post! From the basics of why a community roadmap is important, to the best practices you need to build a community roadmap, right on to securing executive buy-in for your strategy and roadmap we’ve got you covered.

Don’t just take our word for it though. Our research has shown that there is a real gap between thinking about strategy in your community, and having a fully-resourced roadmap. 63% of communities with an approved strategy lack a resourced roadmap! Keep reading to learn how you can make the jump to a roadmap backed with resources!

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on the importance of a community roadmap.

Why is a Community Roadmap Important? – A community roadmap gives direction to your community
Building a community is not a linear path. A roadmap documents milestones to keep the community on the growth curve to success.

program. Your community strategy describes your destination. The roadmap helps steer you there. Roadmaps often look like project plans, detailing specific activities and the resources required. Roadmaps mark milestones in a community’s journey, making tracking progress easier.

Building a Community Roadmap – The State of Community Management 2014 research found that the best–in-class communities are more likely to be able to translate an approved strategy into realistic planning. As a result, 85 percent of them can measure their value, however building a roadmap can be a daunting task for any community manager. This eBook helps you get started building your own roadmap!

For TheCR Network Eyes Only: 5 Tips to Get Stakeholders to Like—Even Love—Your Roadmap
– Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this article inside the Network on how to get stakeholders on board with your roadmap!

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Throwback Thursday – Community Engagement Drivers

August 11, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

The one of the most frequent questions we get from community managers is “How can I increase engagement in my community?” It’s a great question – and one that has no single answer. Of course the variables that define every community – size, scope, audience, purpose, all directly influence the way you need to interact with and engage your members. But – there is good news! We have identified some community engagement drivers that can help you increase activity and loyalty in your community.

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on community engagement drivers.

Best Practices from TheCR Network: Hosting an Ask Me Anything (AMA) – Recently we’ve caught the AMA (Ask Me Anything) bug. Maybe you’ve seen our AMA webinars with community managers? Our members are realizing the value of the AMA format for real-time community engagement, and have been sharing best practices for AMAs within their communities. I wanted to share a few of the best practices that TheCR Network members swear by when planning and executing a successful AMA.
How Can I Use Gamification for Community Engagement? – Gamification is a hot topic in TheCR Network, and among community managers at large. In fact, – nearly half of our surveyed communities in the State of Community Management 2014 employed some form of gamification (and more than 60% of best-in-class communities do). As gamification tools become more common, more community managers are looking to tap into gamification as part of their efforts to increase engagement. It’s more than just “turning it on.” Everything from how you structure rewards, badges and levels to general usage patterns can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of your effort.
For TheCR Network Eyes Only – Engagement Drivers: Down & Dirty Case Studies – A roundtable report recapping a recent panel of members sharing case studies on their best community programs. Hillary shared that one of the competencies in TheCR’s Maturity Model that is most often overlooked is the content and programming competency. This call, therefore, was dedicated to discussing how to create engagement through content and programming. Case studies were used as a way of learning from others.

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Throwback Thursday – Community Strategy 101

August 4, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

Too often new community managers (or veteran community managers faced with a brand new community) will dive right in – because from day one, the to-do list can be daunting. We can’t urge you strongly enough: STOP! DROP! STRATEGIZE!!

To liberally paraphrase the great Ben Franklin – an ounce of stratigization is worth a pound of community success. (Our apologies to Mr. Franklin…) But seriously – time and time again our research has shown that communities that spend time thinking about their long term strategy are simply more successful. Join us for this week’s trip in the way-back machine as we explore community strategy 101.

This week’s #throwbackthursday focuses on Community Strategy 101 – getting back to basics with the fundamentals of building a community strategy.

The Basics of Community Strategy – Are you just getting started and looking to build your community strategy? We recommend using the Community Maturity Model to help in building a community strategy.
Why is a Community Roadmap Important? – A roadmap highlights your community’s objectives and how you will achieve them. When you have a roadmap, your conversations with stakeholders become more productive. Instead of talking about “why we should invest in community,” you can discuss where to target your investments.
I need to build a community strategy. Where do I start? – Whether you are starting from scratch with a new community, or taking over an existing community that could use some love there is a good chance you’ll be tasked with building a community strategy.
For TheCR Network Eyes Only: Community Pitch Deck – Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this community strategy pitch deck that a fellow member put together to make the case for their community strategy!