Digital community manager
Reference Number: ST0345
Details of standard
Occupation summary
This occupation is found in industries and organisations that interact and communicate with their customers and end user online, for example the videogame industry and software providers. It is a key role for such employers, from small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to large organisations. The broad purpose of the occupation is to facilitate and instigate direct communication online between the end user or customer and the organisation. The customers who are communicating with the organisation are referred to as ‘the community’. Digital Community Managers are the ‘public face’ online for an organisation, implementing their communication strategy to support its business objectives. This is achieved through the management of online media channels and delivering activities such as release information, updates and responding to questions from the community. Digital Community Managers deliver information and useful ideas from the community to their organisation and are the ‘eyes and ears’ of the organisation within the player community. Conversely, they provide information from their organisation back to the community.
In their daily work an employee in this occupation routinely works with multiple communities on-line. Information has to be delivered in the unique tone and voice of each community. The community can run from hundreds to many thousands of customers dependent on the size of the product or game. As they talk to a considerable number of customers with each interaction they have a huge responsibility to accurately and appropriately represent the organisation, a mis-step or badly handled communication can have a detrimental impact on an organisations reputation or revenue. Digital Community Managers work within an office environment and are part of a team developing and implementing an overall communication strategy. They work autonomously but will interact with other departments in an organisation including public relations (pr),marketing, production and communication.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for analysing and interpreting data from the community. Their evaluation of customers’ behaviour and data is reported upwards in the organisation, feeding into future communication strategies and product direction. Digital Community Managers are responsible for reviewing their own work and understanding the impact of their communication in order to better inform future interactions. The nature of the work is autonomous as online communication is fast moving and often needs to be timely without requiring supervision. Therefore they have a high degree of responsibility and need to exercise good judgement for their own work within the parameters defined by their organisation.
Digital Community Managers report to Senior Digital Community Managers, Communications Managers and Communication Directors.
Typical job titles
Typical job titles include – Community Manager, Consumer Experience Representative, Games Community Manager
Occupation duties
Duty |
Criteria for measuring performance |
KSBs |
|
Duty 1 Engage support and enable the community by responding to call to actions and contributing to conversation and debate. |
That the level of customer engagement with communications or online interactions has reached a level in line with the organisation communication strategy or policy. |
K1 S1 B1 |
|
Duty 2 Deliver a high level of written communication when messaging the online community via forums and online media channels. |
Written communication to the on line community is accurate and in line with organisation community strategy or policy |
K3 S2 B2 |
|
Duty 3 Review forums and community sites to identify a threat or opportunity for brand or product, assess and act swiftly, using their knowledge of the product and the overall communication strategy. Analyse and prioritise information and data analytics acquired through such reviews to create reports for internal use and escalate appropriately within the organisation. |
That community trends have been identified and reported internally in a timely fashion as per organisation policy or communication strategy. Reports delivered in line with agreed timescale and organisations format. |
K2, K4, K6 S3, S12 B3 |
|
Duty 4 Take an active role in their communities, participating and leading forum discussions and engaging interest through creating or contributing to assets, offering support and answering questions. |
Frequency and timeliness of online interaction with community is in line with agreed organisation guidelines or communication strategy. Community level of satisfaction with communication is up to standards set by the organisation’s procedures. |
K2, K4 S4, S5 B5 |
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Duty 5 Use custom or internal forum software and content management systems to manage and schedule posts and delivery of assets as per a communication strategy plan or schedule. |
Accuracy in scheduling activity in relation to planning documents and organisations communication schedule. |
K5 S6 B2 |
|
Duty 6 Deliver the communication strategy effectively by adapting the tone and voice to suit the particular audience of the different online media channels and stay within the platform holder’s policies and guidelines. |
Delivered in compliance with online platform holder’s policies and guidelines. Tone and style of communication is appropriate to the overall tone and style of individual channel. |
K3, K7, K10, K11 S7 B2 |
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Duty 7 React and respond appropriately to a wide range of topics pertinent to an organisation’s product or brand and the wider industry community. These can form part of an overall communication strategy but will routinely be reacting to an unforeseen issue or subject raised by the community. |
Communication is in line with organisation guidelines or communication strategy |
K2, K4 S8, S5, S9 B3 |
|
Duty 8 Actively moderate forums i.e. overseeing communications between members, making decisions regarding appropriate content and guiding the direction of conversation. |
Forums are moderated in line with company guidelines. |
K2, K1, K4 S10, S11 B3 |
|
Duty 9 Review the effectiveness of their actions online in order to report and inform an organisation’s or their own future behaviour. |
Assessment of actions and outcomes against an organisation’s targets for community engagement. |
K6, K12 S12, S15 B2 |
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Duty 10 Manage inappropriate comments positively and escalate or enforce conduct standards for inappropriate conduct as necessary. |
Community interactions adhere to company and platform standards. Identify the inappropriate behaviour and respond appropriately in a timely fashion as required by company guidelines. |
K7, K8, K9, K15, K17 S13, S14 B5, B6 |
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Duty 11 Implement communication strategies to support business and communication objectives whilst delivering both positive and unwelcome information to the community. |
Delivered in line with organisation communication plan and schedule. |
K1, K13, K16 S8, S14 B5, B6 |
|
Duty 12 Drive brand loyalty and a positive experience for the community. |
Alignment of customers comments, reviews and discussion to the organisations communication plan and strategy. |
K1, K2, K14 S2, S1, B1 |
KSBs
Knowledge
K1 Company brand, goals and commercial objectives in order to communicate effectively and appropriately with the wider community.
K2 Expert level of familiarity with their product and brand in order to promptly address concerns and enquiries that are often complex and non-routine.
K3 Social media platforms and their customer profiles, understanding that each platform caters for a different demographic of customer and that modifying communication to suit each platform can maximise the impact of the message.
K4 Key competitors, wider trends and ‘hot topics’ in the relevant industry outside of own brand.
K5 Internet forum software and content management systems.
K6 Principles of data analytics and how to report findings.
K7 Platform holder policies and best practice guidelines.
K8 Company policy and standards.
K9 Conflict management techniques and theories.
K10 Demographics and how this impacts on online behaviour and communication
K11 Neuro linguistic programming theory and practice
K12 Understanding of best practice of community management in the relevant industry.
K13 Working safely online and understanding that interactions with the online community are on the behalf of the organisation and not personal
K14 Theory and practice of digital marketing, its role in overall communication strategy and how best to communicate a brand or product value
K15 Cyber security, how to spot potential threats and protect data and systems as per company guidelines and current data protection regulations
K16 Online security procedures as per company guidelines
K17 Basic understanding of how to identify and deal with any malicious or criminal activity as per company and legal guidelines
Skills
S1 Actively moderate community forums, steering and encouraging debate and conversation in line with overall communication strategy and business objectives.
S2 Communicate clearly, in writing, adapting the message in order to address the particular audience appropriately.
S3 Work autonomously as online interaction and communication is fast moving and response to the community often needs to be delivered promptly.
S4 Create and contribute to creation of assets for publication online including written, visual, audio or video to engage community.
S5 Listen, assess, engage and react appropriately to an online situation or requests from the online community.
S6 Use custom and internal forum software and Content Management System to manage and schedule posts and content delivery.
S7 Craft the tone of communications to appeal to the different audiences on different digital platforms, in keeping with company brand and message.
S8 Ability to deliver the organisations message and goals to the community in a manner appropriate to the community and forum.
S9 Analyse, interpret and evaluate the information and ideas that are raised by the online community.
S10 Deliver what the community may regard as unwelcome information about a product, such as a game release, in a positive manner, protecting brand reputation.
S11 Deliver effective written communication when messaging the online community via forums and online media channels.
S12 Use data analytics created by software packages and community tools dashboards to create reports for internal use
S13 Identify and moderate users who violate the forum or company policy, intervening to change behaviour or issuing warnings, suspensions and bans as appropriate.
S14 Ability to manage conflict positively.
S15 Analyse and evaluate the information created by data analytics to review the effectives of their actions
Behaviours
B1 Proactively stimulate and drive customer interaction with their brand.
B2 Attention to detail and a high level of accuracy.
B3 Self-motivated and comfortable working autonomously with good self judgement in a fast paced, challenging environment.
B4 Interest in current trends, games and innovations in the relevant industry
B5 Reliable with a high degree of professionalism.
B6 Maintain a positive and friendly manner.
Qualifications
English and Maths qualifications
Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the End-Point Assessment. For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.
Additional details
Occupational Level: 4
Duration (months): 24
Review
This standard will be reviewed after three years.
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