Community Manager Mindset - Webinar Recap

AWS · August 21

On Thursday, August 29, 2024 4:00 AM UTC, we hosted the Community Manager Mindset office hours with the Discourse Customer Success team, where we discussed:

Developing your mindset as a Community Manager.
Approaching the Community Manager role.
The truth behind benchmarks and KPIs.

Plus, we answered your submitted questions!

Replay

Office Hours: Community Manager Mindset & Resources

Introductions

These office hours were hosted by @jenny, @bas, and @danielle from the Discourse Customer Success team. The information shared is based on our in-depth experience with a variety of communities and not necessarily a top-down dissemination of strategies from Discourse as a whole.

Community Manager Basics

What is a Community Manager?

“Community management is the act of growing and sustaining a community in which customers, employees, partners, and others help each other achieve their goals.”

FeverBee - The Beginner’s Guide To Community Management

“A community manager is a marketing professional responsible for the management and development of a company’s online community. They are responsible for building, growing and managing the company’s community online and engaging with customers.”

Indeed - Career Guide

“The one essential role for every community is the ‘in the trenches’ community manager. This is the person who spends nearly all their time directly engaging with members…. {Without a community manager} members won’t get the quality and quantity of responses they deserve. There won’t be someone they can trust and build a good relationship with.”

The ‘In The Trenches’ Community Manager by FeverBee

Community Managers are the driving forces behind thriving communities!

Definitions Don’t Matter

Community Managers need to be managed upward.
Everyone needs to understand what your community is actually doing, and this recognition must happen by the decision makers, such as your CEO.
You need to define the why and ROI behind your community.

Without clear objectives and alignment with your organization’s needs, the impact of your work may go unnoticed. Community Managers must continuously advocate for their community while also making the business case for its value.

-@Bas

Towing the Line: Speaking About Community

There’s a duality in how Community Managers communicate, balancing the need to connect with both community members and corporate decision-makers.

Community Members:

Connection
Engagement
Trust

Corporate/Decision Makers

Demonstrating ROI
Metrics
Strategic Value

That’s why clear goals, being proactive, and receiving feedback are crucial.

Goals, Benchmarks, & KPIs

What goals should I set for my community?

At Discourse, we’re often asked, ‘What goals should I set for my community?’ The truth is, the answer depends on your community’s specific purpose and objectives. Each community is unique, so the goals you set should align with the core mission of your community and the needs of its members.

Support Community: Goals might include improving response times, increasing issue resolution rates, and enhancing member satisfaction.
Product or Service Community: Goals could focus on tracking member interaction with your product or service, gathering valuable feedback, boosting overall engagement, and even driving sales or upgrades.
Employee or Team Member Community: Goals might revolve around better connections among team members, increasing their self-sufficiency, and raising awareness of organizational updates and initiatives.

Start at the Origin

Revisit the reason your community was created.
Ask yourself: Why was this community started? What problem were you looking to solve?
Understand the original purpose to help identify key areas to measure.

Connect to Business Goals

Reflect on how your community ties back to the main business or organizational goals.
Consider how the community can support these objectives, whether it’s improving customer satisfaction, increasing brand loyalty, or enhancing employee collaboration.
This will give you a clear framework for identifying relevant metrics.

Something critical to note:

It doesn’t matter if your community is active—what truly matters is how well your community’s goals align with your organization’s business objectives. You can have thousands of active users and millions of posts, but if your community’s impact isn’t tied to the business’s goals, it risks being shut down.

Community Managers must connect their efforts to tangible business outcomes to ensure long-term success. Always start by asking, 'Why do we have this community, and how does it drive our business forward?

-@Bas

Derive KPIs

Once you have a clear understanding of your community’s purpose and how it supports broader goals, you can derive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that align with these objectives.
KPIs might include specific targets for growth, engagement, or impact, tailored to your community’s unique needs.

As a Community Manager, your priority isn’t just to engage with the community but to ensure your efforts align with the broader business objectives. It’s not enough to say, ‘I want to increase engagement.’ You need to set specific, measurable goals—like increasing engagement by 10% over the next six months—that directly contribute to the business’s success.

Always monitor, adjust, and align your community strategy with the organization’s changing goals to drive real value.

-@Danielle