From the monthly archives:

July 2009

Community Manager Survey: The Results Are In

by Deb Ng on July 23, 2009

in Business, Community, Community Management, General

72 community managers responded to Kommein’s request to take our community manager survey. The results were quite interesting as I know many of us have been curious about items such as community manager’s pay and where they fit in with their companies. This blog post is revealing the responses to about half of the questions asked. The rest will be discussed in various standalone posts in the future.

Please add your thoughts and comments!

Well, I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Behold, the results of Kommein’s Community Manager

Survey.

community1

While most of us have been community managers for a short time and have felt this to be a new position, plenty of CM's have been at this longer than three years. One respondent has been doing this for 15 years.

Prior to Being a Community Manager What Did You Do? communtiy2 Answers to this ranged from project management to marketing to freelance writers. Community managers held all kinds of positions before taking their current gigs, not all having to do with computers, marketing, blogging or any of the obvious transitions. One person who responded was formerly a "sanitation engineer" but landed his CM job as a result of being heavy in his gaming community.

Answers to this ranged from project management to marketing to freelance writers. Community managers held all kinds of positions before taking their current gigs, not all having to do with computers, marketing, blogging or any of the obvious transitions. One person who responded was formerly a "sanitation engineer" but landed his CM job as a result of being heavy in his gaming community.

Though I was disappointed by those businesses that felt a CM position was entry level, or worse, an internship, many businesses treat community management as mid-management level position.

Though it was disappointing to see how many businesses felt a CM position is entry level, or worse, an internship, it was good to see many businesses treat community management as mid-management level position.

community41

Most community managers polled found their CM jobs via word of mouth recommendation or because they were already established members of the community.

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Several CM's who responded are also unpaid interns or volunteers.

community6

It's hard to predict where a particular business will place a community manager. Of the CM's polled some report to customer service, some to marketing, some to product development, and others to quality assurance, IT, technical support, editorial and public relations.

community7

As you can see, community managers have a wide assortment of duties including blogging, social networking, customer service, technical support and more.

community8

Judging from the results, there's no "median" income for a CM - they're paid somewhere between $20,00 and $80,00 depending on their business and who they work for.

community9

It appears the bulk of CM's work longer than 8 hours days. Hopefully they're adequately compensated for the extra hours.

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It was interesting to read the comments as many community managers are frustrated by internal issues such as not being given a voice as to how the community should be handled. Also, many CM's are frustrated at managements reluctance to embrace the community and really listen to their wants and needs.

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Seperated at Birth?

by Deb Ng on July 22, 2009

in Community Discussions, Insights

Seth Rogen and Kommein’s own David Peralty. Ever notice how you never see the two of them together in the same room? Coinicidence? I think not.

david-peralty

David Peralty

Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen

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Community Manager Job: Changyou.com

by Deb Ng on July 11, 2009

in Community Manager Jobs

Haven’t done my Community Manager Job of the Day in a while. Here’s one for Changyou.com, based in Santa Clara, CA:

Online Community Manager: Build new online communities with Changyou.com
Summary

Changyou.com (NASDAQ:CYOU) is an online gaming company, focusing on MMORPG market globally. We’re looking for an Online Community Manager with a dynamic personality, innovative thinking and a strong background in online community for games. The Online Community Manager will be in a position to build up a sustainable community for millions of members all who will get to enjoy the same rewarding, meaningful experience and fun of our games. The Online Community Manager will serve as a hub and should have the ability to personally connect with the users (humanize the company), and provide feedback to many departments internally (product, PR, marketing, customer service, tech support, etc). This is a chance to build out a scalable community, work in an office that is seriously fun, make millions of people happy, and have the opportunity to contribute to shaping its direction and development.

Responsibilities
? Plan strategically the functions and development of the community
? Maintain strong familiarity and dialog with the game community by reading and posting to official forums, external forums and Web sites and deliver regular community feedback reports
? Creatively and proactively assist users and go the extra mile to make sure our users have a wonderful community experience
? Solve community disputes and enforce community rules
? Manage the teams of volunteer moderators that oversee the forums, adoption areas, groups
? Identify and analyze issues, patterns and trends in users requests & product performance
? Stay up to date on new social media tools, best practices and how other organizations and companies are using them, so that the company can continue to be an early adopter of these technologies
? Create events, write copy and work with the Marketing team to promote the product
? Participate in professional networking by following the prominent bloggers and online writers & attending events
? Work in concert with the Product and Customer Service teams to ensure an all-around great user experience and product additions/enhancements
? Support the growth of external community Web sites by establishing and maintaining contact with Web site operators, in conjunction with Marketing
? Take an analytical approach to improve the efficiency of online community and customer service processes

Qualifications for the position:

• Previous experience moderating online communities through forums, Web sites and other platforms;
• The ability to communicate and comprehend technical topics clearly. Both written and verbally;
• Proven time and project and team management skills with demonstrable ability in handling multiple responsibilities concurrently while working well under deadline pressures;
• An understanding of marketing strategies and online business models;
• The ability to prepare reports and analyze customers’ trend and characteristics;
• Strong organizational, analytical, and presentation skills;
• Superb interpersonal skills;
• A creative mindset. Adept at finding new ways to deliver old material;
• A proven ability to take initiative and be proactive;
• Proven experience in successfully developing and managing people, resources and schedules;
• A passion for online games and an understanding of MMO games and the market.

This is a full-time, on-site position located in the Santa Clara , Ca Office. Salary based on experience and skills. Growth opportunities based on achievements.
Email your resume and cover letter to job_us@cyou.com

Original ad

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Community Manager Survey

by Deb Ng on July 8, 2009

in General, Resources for Community Managers


‘
chat

Are you a community manager? If so, we’re interested in learning about your experience. We’ve put together a survey for community managers that will tell us a little something about community managers salaries, who they report to, job challenges and more. And yes, we’ll post the results here.

Please note, we’re not asking for names and don’t need to know who you are. Feel free to speak openly and candidly about the issues facing you as a community manager.

Please access the community manager survey here. We’d be doubly appreciative if you could pass this around to other community managers in your network.

Tagged as: community manager survey

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Using Stats for Successful Online Community Management

by Deb Ng on July 3, 2009

in Community, General


stats-stock-xchnge

Analyzing my online community’s stats is one of my favorite ways to learn about the people who interact at my blog network on a regular basis.. In fact, my analytics programs sometimes tell me more about my community’s wants and needs than if I had straight out asked them (and, just to be clear, we should be doing that as well.)

Here is what I learn from my daily stats reports:

  • Where is search traffic coming from?
  • How are current promotions (such as giveaways) doing?
  • How are new members of the community learning about products and services?
  • Which products and services work - and which need work?
  • What are folks searching for before landing on your website?
  • Which tags and keywords are working?
  • Which community discussions are the most popular?
  • What are people saying outside the community?
  • Who is linking to my company’s products and services?
  • What are people doing once they’re on my site?
  • What content gets the most results?
  • What content, product or service gets the least amount of interest from users?
  • What countries and areas do members of my community come from?
  • What languages does the members my community speak?

All of this is important. For instance, when people come from different regions, even different regions of the same country, their wants and needs are different.  Also, by learning which content gets the most visits and the biggest response, a community manager or editorial team can write the type of blog posts, articles and other written content tailored to the users’ needs.

I use a combination of Google Analytics and Performancing Metrics, both provide a goldmine of information. If you’re a community manager and your place of employment won’t allow you to have access to the company’s stats, patiently explain the reasons why it’s important. Successful community management depends on knowing your users’ wants and needs. Without knowing where they’re coming from and what they’re doing, the job is made that much more difficult.

Community managers also need to know what is going on outside of the website or online community. What is someone is saying something untrue about the business or has a specific issue in need of trouble shooting?  What if a product or service received a glowing review and the community manager would like to reach out and say thanks? Knowing who is linking to you and what they are saying are key when it comes to getting others to drink the Kool Aid.

What do the stats say about YOUR community?

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