Introduction

The world is changing. This has always been true, but we feel it more because the pace of change continues to accelerate. Advances in technology have pushed the pedal to the metal on every aspect of our lives! The Internet, with its social networks and mobile technologies, is turning the world into one big neighborhood. People can connect with each other instantly and constantly. Location is no longer an issue, and connectivity truly has enabled an engaged world.

The Business Landscape Has Changed

The business world is no exception. In every industry, technology is bringing down the cost of creating products, accessing markets, and building infrastructure. This “leveling of the playing field” allows smaller companies to compete and new sources of competition to emerge in other parts of the world.

This fast pace of evolution is our new reality, and companies are scrambling to stay ahead of the competition.

Community Management Drives Competitive Advantage

While technology provides a lot of new tools and opportunities, people are inherently still the same. If they feel a personal connection to a brand, they will be loyal to it. That’s why communities of customers, employees, and shareholders are so important. Thriving communities give companies not only a competitive advantage, but an adaptability advantage. They do that by tending to the real resource: people.

The stakes are higher than ever with the growth of social media. Greater access and transparency puts customers in the driver’s seat. Consumers now have the power to research companies before making a buying decision and broadcast their opinions to the world. Business mistakes can’t be swept under the rug with great PR or ad campaigns anymore.

Fortunately, brands can also benefit from these changes. From open communication on social media to responsive customer service, the digital age enables companies to connect with the public. With a few clicks of the keyboard, companies can access a wealth of data on their customers’ reactions, habits, behaviors, needs, and desires. This information is vital to staying relevant in a sea of competitors.

Community management (CM) is more critical than ever in helping businesses gain customers and integrate themselves into the daily lives of consumers. It’s also a huge liability if businesses ignore their customers and the communities that surround them. How, you ask? We’ll take a look at an example from lululemon’s community success and then failure in Chapter 1.

The Community Manager’s Playbook is designed to teach you how to build a community management strategy that creates a loyal customer following and strong competitive advantage for years to come.

Community Management Isn’t Just for Community Managers

Community managers can build a career based on the information in this book. Since this is a rapidly evolving discipline, pushed along by the advances in technology I have mentioned, the role and responsibilities tend to shift from company to company.

However, there are universal standards for performing well and measuring success in managing modern communities. Whether you’re wondering how to prioritize multiple communication channels, how to meet business goals or tactically execute for success, this book will address these gaps for you.

This book is also designed to support founders of startups and business leaders who want to understand their customers, drive business growth, and create value. This is because community managers aren’t always part of the team when a company is just getting started, or has been in business with a more traditional marketing approach. In either case, key components of community management should become embedded in the early company building stage as well as at critical growth points where customer and market feedback is crucial for success. Companies can benefit greatly from the discovery and validation processes taught throughout the book.

In the same vein, stakeholders involved in assessing investments and ROI, from C-level executives and business leaders at larger consumer brands to startup founders and venture capitalists, should develop an understanding of community management and how it should be integrated into an organization.

Finally, the book speaks to hiring managers or human resource personnel who require an understanding of the community management role in their organizations. Finding the right person to fill the community manager role is never an easy task. Even if you rope in that rare person with the perfect experience and background, your company may not have the right tools or organizational structure to set that CM up for success. This book tells managers what expectations to set, how to benchmark performance, and how to develop community managers into stellar brand assets.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Learning, Planning, and Doing

I’ve read a lot of business books, and I’ve noticed that the best ones actively engage their readers in the subject and set them up for success. That’s what inspired The Community Manager’s Playbook. I wanted to share the theories, strategies, and tactics that I’ve learned over the years in a fun, invigorating way.

You can use this book in various ways. It covers theories of community management, strategic approaches, execution techniques, and useful tools. Numerous hands-on exercises will push you to apply what you’ve learned and use it in the real world.

Part I: Learning

Part I is meant to level the playing field. New and junior community managers can learn the basics, while readers with more experience can review foundational knowledge. And hiring and supervising managers can gain a new appreciation for the community management discipline.

This section explains the fundamentals of community management and the community manager’s role—what it is, why community is valuable, what CMs do every day, and why it is important to your organization.

• Chapter 1 defines community management and the value of a CM in today’s business world.
• Chapter 2 describes major CM responsibilities and the traits needed to succeed.
• Chapter 3 details creating a recruitment and hiring process tailored to unique business needs.
• Chapter 4 expands community management into broader business strategy and shows how it unquestionably creates value.

Part II: Planning

Part II teaches you how to build a strategic framework for community management. It explains how to set goals that connect to big-picture business objectives, conduct research, define metrics, and map out a plan for success.

• Chapter 5 provides a strategic overview of community management aligned with business goals.
• Chapter 6 dives into the ABCs of strategy—audience, brand, and category—with hands-on exercises.
• Chapter 7 leads you through using a powerful tool for gaining insights about community members.
• Chapter 8 guides you to create a full strategic plan based on what you’ve learned.

Part III: Doing

The final portion of the book, Part III, guides you through tactical execution.

• Chapter 9 explains how to design productive experiments and apply agile methods to your work.
• Chapter 10 is all about metrics that track performance.
• Chapter 11 covers the most useful platforms for engaging people and growing your brand.
• Chapter 12 provides knowledge at a tactical level on practical ways to maintain and build your community—and acquire customers.
• Chapter 13 explains how to tell a story about your brand—the best way to connect with users at an emotional level.

Get Ready

By studying this book and applying its principles, you will learn how to create a robust and successful community management practice within your company. As a founder and consultant who has worked with a ton of startups, I understand the need for a bias toward action. This book is jam-packed with exercises and prompts to help you build a strategy that meets the business needs of your organization, regardless of its size or stage.

By the end of this book, you will have a community strategy that drives bottom-line results for your company. Let’s get started!