Customer engagement platform
Digital-first, omnichannel platform built for enterprises
Digital-first, omnichannel platform built for enterprises
Agent efficiency, automation, and operational insights
Self-service support, education, and collaboration
Content management, publishing, and governance
Create a space for customers to get answers, connect with peers, and share new ideas
Connect with customers on SMS, Messenger, WhatsApp, & more
Chat with customers in real-time or anytime on your website
Start the conversation with automation, increase agent efficiency, triage, & more
Protect your brand & drive loyalty across social media and review site
Orchestrate social campaigns that drive business results
Understand social trends from customers, the market, and competitors
Find, curate, and share the best social media content
Deflect inquiries to messaging channels and self-service communities
Automate conversations with our intuitive drag-and-drop platform
Supercharge agents with AI tools & intuitive workflows
Build brand awareness with a user-generated knowledge hub
Drive higher conversion rates and more revenue
Secure solutions to keep customer information safe
Cutting-edge tech to innovate and inform your customers
Deep insights to keep a pulse on customer demands
Real-time capabilities to stay connected with consumers
An integrated platform to nurture the customer journey
Our in-house experts in social media and community management for Khoros customers
More than onboarding and implementation, this is where our partnership begins
Increase satisfaction and improve product adoption with complimentary training.
CX Confessions, the definitive podcast for digital CX leaders
Guides, tipsheets, ebooks, on-demand webinars, & more
Integrations to connect with your customers, wherever they are
Technical overviews and links to developer documentation
Join us for live webinars and other events, like Khoros Engage
Insights, tips, news, and more from our team to yours
Case studies with successful customers to see how they did it
Connect with 70K+ customer engagement professionals
A customer experience podcast with Khoros Customers
Check out our social content and follow us on every major platform
20+ years experience, built from Spredfast and Lithium
Meet the team that leads the team
Press releases and other announcements
Data integrations for better customer experience
We’re hiring — come build the future of customer experience
Need anything? We’re here for you
Our commitment to do more and do better
Digital-first, omnichannel platform built for enterprises
Agent efficiency, automation, and operational insights
Self-service support, education, and collaboration
Content management, publishing, and governance
Create a space for customers to get answers, connect with peers, and share new ideas
Connect with customers on SMS, Messenger, WhatsApp, & more
Chat with customers in real-time or anytime on your website
Start the conversation with automation, increase agent efficiency, triage, & more
Protect your brand & drive loyalty across social media and review site
Orchestrate social campaigns that drive business results
Understand social trends from customers, the market, and competitors
Find, curate, and share the best social media content
Deflect inquiries to messaging channels and self-service communities
Automate conversations with our intuitive drag-and-drop platform
Supercharge agents with AI tools & intuitive workflows
Build brand awareness with a user-generated knowledge hub
Drive higher conversion rates and more revenue
Secure solutions to keep customer information safe
Cutting-edge tech to innovate and inform your customers
Deep insights to keep a pulse on customer demands
Real-time capabilities to stay connected with consumers
An integrated platform to nurture the customer journey
Our in-house experts in social media and community management for Khoros customers
More than onboarding and implementation, this is where our partnership begins
Increase satisfaction and improve product adoption with complimentary training.
CX Confessions, the definitive podcast for digital CX leaders
Guides, tipsheets, ebooks, on-demand webinars, & more
Integrations to connect with your customers, wherever they are
Technical overviews and links to developer documentation
Join us for live webinars and other events, like Khoros Engage
Insights, tips, news, and more from our team to yours
Case studies with successful customers to see how they did it
Connect with 70K+ customer engagement professionals
A customer experience podcast with Khoros Customers
Check out our social content and follow us on every major platform
20+ years experience, built from Spredfast and Lithium
Meet the team that leads the team
Press releases and other announcements
Data integrations for better customer experience
We’re hiring — come build the future of customer experience
Need anything? We’re here for you
Our commitment to do more and do better
Simply having an online presence isn’t enough for businesses anymore — brands also need to build loyalty through exceptional digital content and community development. In fact, 74% of large companies and 40% of small businesses now have established online communities. In the past, businesses relied on social media managers to create content and foster community development, but more recently these tasks have become specialized. To see all of the ways social media managers can leverage social media to create business value, read our whitepaper.
Nowadays, most social media managers focus on content, while community managers promote audience engagement. These managers work together often, but they typically operate on vastly different platforms.
How does your company handle these responsibilities, and do you know the differences between these important roles? Fear not, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about the differences between a community manager and a social media manager.
A social media manager is responsible for the brand voice on all of the business’ social media profiles. They deliver news across platforms, such as the release of products, services, and features. They also create content to promote the brand’s products and attract new customers.
For example, the social media manager for the popular Madden series of football video games regularly promotes the annual release of the main product, along with the addition of new features throughout the year. The image below showcases a launch campaign created by the Madden social media manager in coordination with a popular sports news outlet to get people excited for the launch of Madden 20.
The campaign kicked off a month before the game’s release with a mural featuring the outlines of four players. Each week during the lead-up to the game’s release, one of the highly-rated players was revealed. As fans speculated who the next player would be, new game features were unveiled with promotions to encourage pre-orders.
A social media manager can work independently or as the head of a dedicated team. Depending on the size of the business, a social media manager may delegate posting responsibilities to other team members. For large organizations, they may focus solely on strategy and analytics.
The goals for a social media manager are often sales related. Important metrics include click-through and conversion rates.
In summary, a social media manager’s responsibilities include:
A community manager connects with the audience on a more personal level by posting in discussions as themselves to encourage engagement among group members. Often they are seen as the community’s advocate for the brand. They encourage discussions that will help improve the product and will often ask for feedback from the core audience.
For example, the Madden game series’ community manager goes by the username Kraelo. Kraelo regularly engages with the community by participating in discussions with fans through social media and forums.
By consistently joining fan discussions, Kraelo has become a core part of the Madden fan community. Community managers like Kraelo help grow the brand by encouraging engagement among existing users while also connecting new users to resources that will help them get more involved.
In addition to increasing engagement, community managers like Kraelo are also tasked with looking for ways to improve the user experience. They answer user questions and make a note if the same issues are brought up frequently. In the example below, Kraelo asks forum users to participate in a monthly survey to improve the game.
Surveys are an important part of a community manager’s role because they help telegraph that the brand is actively looking for ways to improve the user experience. Also, catching issues early helps reduce customer frustration later.
The goals for a community manager are more broad than they are for a social media manager and include increasing awareness or engagement. A community manager looks to increase the number of brand mentions, impressions, and community members across platforms.
To summarize, a community manager’s responsibilities include:
The social media manager and the community manager often work together on content strategy and answering user questions. For example, the unique “ear-to-the-wall” perspective of the community manager may help the social media manager understand what type of content to create.
In the case of Madden, people speculating in forums about the unreleased ratings of rookies led to the creation of a social media campaign that showcased rookies reacting to their in-game ratings.
Both positions respond to user mentions and questions, but they do so in different ways. The social media manager responds to general inquiries, such as people asking about the release of a new product or pricing questions. Technical questions and issues are handled by the community manager, who helps with troubleshooting.
The key difference between roles is how they interact with audiences. A social media manager acts as the brand to promote the brand’s products, while the community manager acts as an average user to encourage audience engagement and provide support.
A community manager’s goals are usually broad and long term. They center around establishing a strong and supportive community, which can take years. The social media manager’s goals are more specific and short term and focus on sales or conversions.
Both positions are crucial to any business looking to build a strong digital following. Although some companies still rely on one person to manage all of these responsibilities, many have begun specializing tasks in order to better serve their customers.
Splitting duties into different roles will allow your business to better connect with audiences. From increasing conversions as a result of better content to creating lifetime customers through community development — both roles have the potential to transform your business.
Don’t miss out on an opportunity to strengthen your brand. Learn how Khoros Communities can help you create a seamless experience for customers that builds deeper relationships while increasing sales. And to learn more about improving social media engagement, read our whitepaper.
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