Overview of the role

Facilitate and instigate direct communication online between the end user or customer and the organisation.

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 include:

Community manager Consumer experience representative Games community manager

Occupation duties

Duty KSBs

Duty 1 Engage support and enable the community by responding to call to actions and contributing to conversation and debate.

K1

S1

B1

Duty 2 Deliver a high level of written communication when messaging the online community via forums and online media channels.

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.

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.

K2 K4

S4 S5

B5

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.

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.

K3 K7 K10 K11

S7

B2

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.

K2 K4

S5 S8 S9

B3

Duty 8 Actively moderate forums i.e. overseeing communications between members, making decisions regarding appropriate content and guiding the direction of conversation.

K1 K2 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.

K6 K12

S12 S15

B2

Duty 10 Manage inappropriate comments positively and escalate or enforce conduct standards for inappropriate conduct as necessary.

K7 K8 K9 K15 K17

S13 S14

B5 B6

Duty 11 Implement communication strategies to support business and communication objectives whilst delivering both positive and unwelcome information to the community.

K1 K13 K16

S8 S14

B5 B6

Duty 12 Drive brand loyalty and a positive experience for the community.

K1 K2 K14

S1 S2

B1


KSBs

Knowledge

K1: Company brand, goals and commercial objectives in order to communicate effectively and appropriately with the wider community. Back to Duty

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. Back to Duty

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. Back to Duty

K4: Key competitors, wider trends and ‘hot topics’ in the relevant industry outside of own brand. Back to Duty

K5: Internet forum software and content management systems. Back to Duty

K6: Principles of data analytics and how to report findings. Back to Duty

K7: Platform holder policies and best practice guidelines. Back to Duty

K8: Company policy and standards. Back to Duty

K9: Conflict management techniques and theories. Back to Duty

K10: Demographics and how this impacts on online behaviour and communication Back to Duty

K11: Neuro linguistic programming theory and practice Back to Duty

K12: Understanding of best practice of community management in the relevant industry. Back to Duty

K13: Working safely online and understanding that interactions with the online community are on the behalf of the organisation and not personal Back to Duty

K14: Theory and practice of digital marketing, its role in overall communication strategy and how best to communicate a brand or product value Back to Duty

K15: Cyber security, how to spot potential threats and protect data and systems as per company guidelines and current data protection regulations Back to Duty

K16: Online security procedures as per company guidelines Back to Duty

K17: Basic understanding of how to identify and deal with any malicious or criminal activity as per company and legal guidelines Back to Duty

Skills

S1: Actively moderate community forums, steering and encouraging debate and conversation in line with overall communication strategy and business objectives. Back to Duty

S2: Communicate clearly, in writing, adapting the message in order to address the particular audience appropriately. Back to Duty

S3: Work autonomously as online interaction and communication is fast moving and response to the community often needs to be delivered promptly. Back to Duty

S4: Create and contribute to creation of assets for publication online including written, visual, audio or video to engage community. Back to Duty

S5: Listen, assess, engage and react appropriately to an online situation or requests from the online community. Back to Duty

S6: Use custom and internal forum software and Content Management System to manage and schedule posts and content delivery. Back to Duty

S7: Craft the tone of communications to appeal to the different audiences on different digital platforms, in keeping with company brand and message. Back to Duty

S8: Ability to deliver the organisations message and goals to the community in a manner appropriate to the community and forum Back to Duty

S9: Analyse, interpret and evaluate the information and ideas that are raised by the online community. Back to Duty

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 Back to Duty

S11: Deliver effective written communication when messaging the online community via forums and online media channels. Back to Duty

S12: Use data analytics created by software packages and community tools dashboards to create reports for internal use Back to Duty

S13: Identify and moderate users who violate the forum or company policy, intervening to change behaviour or issuing warnings, suspensions and bans as appropriate. Back to Duty

S14: Ability to manage conflict positively. Back to Duty

S15: Analyse and evaluate the information created by data analytics to review the effectives of their actions Back to Duty

Behaviours

B1: Proactively stimulate and drive customer interaction with their brand. Back to Duty

B2: Attention to detail and a high level of accuracy. Back to Duty

B3: Self-motivated and comfortable working autonomously with good self judgement in a fast paced, challenging environment. Back to Duty

B4: Interest in current trends and innovations in the relevant industry Back to Duty

B5: Reliable with a high degree of professionalism Back to Duty

B6: Maintain a positive and friendly manner. Back to Duty


Qualifications

English and Maths


Additional details

Occupational Level:

4

Duration (months):

24

Review

Status: Approved for delivery (available for starts)
Level: 4
Reference: ST0345
Version: 1.0
Date updated: 30/04/2021
Approved for delivery: 14 August 2019
Route: Digital
Typical duration to gateway: 24 months (this does not include EPA period)
Maximum funding: £13000
LARS Code: 491
EQA Provider: Ofqual
Employers involved in creating the standard: Ubisoft, Auroch Digital, Rebellion, Future Games of London, New Dawns, Sports Interactive, Coatsink Software, Blazing Griffin

Version log

Version Change detail Earliest start date Latest start date
1.0 Approved for delivery 14/08/2019 Not set

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