Community Director

Back to the nitty-gritty of routine community management; how will your candidate take to implementing a solid policy and set of escalation procedures, or write them up from scratch? Asking them for examples of situations they have experienced is useful too. I used to ask candidates in passing how taking the Tube made them feel; you’d be surprised at how many were quick to anger at the mere thought, which didn’t bode well.

A question like this not only tests their knowledge of popular (and not so popular) social networks but it will ask that they apply it to business. Since the responsibility of a Community Manager is to know how to apply social media to business this is an important discussion to have. Being a community manager goes beyond knowing how to post and onto what and why content should be shared with the community.

A truthful answer will generally be “Not always.”. A reassuring answer would be “I made some mistakes, but here’s what I learnt:”. An enlightened answer is “Some things worked, some things didn’t, but overall I grew the community whilst increasing engagement because:”. A blank stare is worrying.

It’s a common misconception that a social media manager is the same as a community manager. However, being a community manager often involves creating content and interacting with users on social media accounts. Simply being a personal user of Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram is not enough to show that you can manage a brand or business social media presence, if that’s part of what the role you’re interviewing for asks for (many will ask for this, many will not– this is why you need to do the research).

Here’s your chance to show off that you’ve done your research on the company and its community. You will be interacting with members on a daily basis, so show the hiring manager that you can get inside the mind of a member and understand why they are part of the community. Even better, back this up with theories from psychology and case studies.

Knowing that the candidate is active in online communities or has an opinion of their importance is critical information to know when hiring a Community Manager. Do they perceive them as a place to share and cultivate relationships or do they find online communities stale or strange? Understanding their comfort level with a variety online communities can be a clear indicator whether they are a top contender for the position. If the candidate gets through the first part of the question, hearing how they would put new plans into effect to foster and build a community is essential. This requires creativity, critical thinking, and strategy wrapped up in one answer.

A Community Manager who doesn’t know which metrics are relevant to their community and doesn’t know how to measure the success of their engagement initiatives will soon run into trouble. A star performer will have some ideas that are pertinent to your community by the time they meet you for an interview. It’s even better if they ask you who will be viewing the report and devise a custom answer based on that.

A major part of the community manager role is advocating on behalf of users, so this question should be a no brainer for anyone you intend to hire. This is also a good question to ask folks who might be transitioning in from another field, as there should be many transferable situations at top of mind ranging from defending younger siblings from bullies to helping a teammate get a promotion. Pay particularly close attention to how they describe the way that they went about pursuing a good outcome — this can be very telling, particularly in its absence.

Site Notifications are an effective way to share community guidelines and keep user expectations top-of-mind.

If I had a dollar every time I got this one… Make sure you’re not tweeting when your fans are sleeping! There is a myth that the universal best time to tweet exists. The truth is, there is a different best time to tweet for everyone. For example, Simply Measured, as a B2B company, hits its sweet spot during work hours on weekdays. However, for B2C companies, they may have a better chance at reaching their fans on the weekends. Curious when your sweet spot is? Here’s a few ways you can find it:

Truth be told, some things flop just ’cause. There isn’t always a quick fix. But, what you can do is give your content everything it needs to take off. Analytics are absolutely crucial in developing content that will not only get shared by your mom, but by your audience as a whole. Learn from past content’s performance, test different tweet copy, target influencers, and speak your customers’ language. These considerations are all crucial in packaging content. View our full breakdown here:

Let me just say, I think LinkedIn is underrated. On LinkedIn your brand voice can cut through the noise that exists on Twitter and Facebook. People following brands on LinkedIn are genuine fans of the brand or industry. Users following LinkedIn pages are extremely attentive and responsive. Additionally, LinkedIn Groups offer a unique opportunity to engage with users around a common, and often specific, topic. The appeal for a marketer is obvious, although many still haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet. But it’s only a matter of time.

Both articles and ideas boost collaboration and strengthen relationships within your community.

Articles are structured documents perfect for capturing and sharing valuable information, such as business processes. Articles are an effective way to showcase expertise and can be up-voted or liked by others based on helpfulness.