Social Media / Community Manager

A social media manager organises an organisation’s presence on social media. They choose audiences, channels and messages that suit the brand’s objectives, then monitor responses and results. Day-to-day community engagement may sit within the same role or with a separate community manager. The title “Social Media / Community Manager” brings these two aspects together without prescribing the same division of duties for every company.

The role connects content planning, publishing and conversations with communities. It takes account of how people use each network and the questions they put to the brand. Monitoring helps identify topics that interest audiences and reactions that need a response. Metrics such as reach and engagement inform editorial adjustments. On their own, they do not prove a commercial effect.

Reporting lines and autonomy vary by organisation. In a small business, one person may plan the calendar, produce content and respond to messages. In a larger team, they may steer the social media presence and coordinate community managers. They work with communications and marketing to keep messages consistent. Customer service or senior management retain decisions within their respective responsibilities.

Leaders’ presence on social media may also call for advice or internal guidance. This does not mean the role routinely manages their personal accounts or writes messages on their behalf.

Social Media / Community Manager, Brand & Communication Manager and Acquisition / Paid Media Manager: who does what?

• Social Media / Community Manager: organises the organic social media presence, publishes content and manages conversations, according to the agreed remit.
• Brand & Communication Manager: has a wider brand and communications remit than social media alone.
• Acquisition / Paid Media Manager: handles advertising specialism, notably buying and technically managing campaigns. A social media manager may still contribute to decisions about sponsored posts.

Hiring for this role starts with defining what the company expects from its social media presence. Does it need someone to choose its messages, produce content regularly, respond to comments and messages from the community or coordinate these activities? The answer determines the autonomy required and avoids grouping poorly defined responsibilities under one title.

An audience may grow without its interactions serving communications objectives. Conversely, an active community requires time to respond, listen and pass questions on to the relevant teams. Channel and format choices should therefore start with the intended audiences. Expecting a presence on every platform without setting priorities risks spreading the work too thinly. The hiring team can define which exchanges call for a direct response and which should go to customer service or communications.

Reputation is another consideration. Negative comments and sensitive questions call for monitoring and an appropriate response. A quick reply cannot substitute for a substantive decision when a request concerns a product, a customer or a statement on the company’s behalf. The job description should specify which matters the postholder can handle alone and which require approval.

Hypothetical example: a brand receives a series of questions about a delivery problem under a post. The postholder can spot the conversation, draft a response suited to social media and pass the problem to customer service. The company needs to have decided who confirms the information given to customers.

Finally, an organic social media remit should not obscure a different need. Someone able to engage a community may contribute to decisions about sponsored posts. If the main need is buying and technically setting up campaigns, it is closer to a specialist online advertising role. Defining this boundary helps assess candidates against the right work, rather than their job title alone.

• Define the audiences, networks and messages that suit the brand’s social media objectives.
• Prepare a publishing calendar aligned with communications activity and topics of interest to the intended audiences.
• Create or coordinate content suited to the formats and conventions of each network.
• Publish content and engage with people in the community spaces covered by the role.
• Respond to comments and messages within the remit, then refer sensitive requests to the relevant decision-makers.
• Monitor conversations, trends and reputational signals that may call for a change in messaging.
• Measure reach, engagement and other relevant metrics against objectives to adjust content.
• Advise employees or leaders on their use of social media, if this falls within the role.

Possible routes into the role include communications, marketing and digital work. The qualifications cited by the sources range from a French BUT or licence professionnelle to a master’s degree or specialist school. These are possible routes, not a compulsory qualification for every post. The expected level of education depends on the responsibilities: day-to-day community management, planning the social media presence or coordinating other contributors.

To assess someone’s background, look at what they have actually done. Have they chosen networks to suit the audience? Prepared content for different formats? Responded to community comments and messages, monitored reactions and explained the changes they made? This work tells you more about their command of the role than a qualification title alone. Community management experience can demonstrate practice in handling conversations. Responsibility for planning and choosing how an organisation appears on social media may show a broader remit.

A portfolio may include posts, a calendar, sample responses and an analysis of results, subject to confidentiality. Ask the candidate to distinguish their contribution from that of an agency or team. Greater responsibility shows in the decisions made and the people coordinated; years of experience alone do not establish autonomy.

The salary grid also uses the levels Junior (0-2 years), Confirmed (2-5 years), Senior (5-8 years) and Lead / Head of Social (8+ years). These are the labels retained from this profile’s salary grid. They do not replace an assessment of work performed or set a minimum experience threshold for entering the profession.

To assess this profile, start with the responsibilities you intend to assign. Use the following steps as interview guidance and adapt them to the role.

1. Set criteria before interviews

Separate the expected activities: channel selection, planning, production, community management, monitoring and analysis. Specify which call for independent decisions and which involve communications, marketing or customer service. A simple assessment grid can pair each activity with an example of completed work and the expected level of autonomy. This helps avoid judging a candidate solely by the size of their audience or assumed mastery of a platform.

A positive sign is a clear explanation of the intended audiences and format choices. Be cautious if the candidate treats being on every network as an end in itself, without relating it to the role’s objectives.

2. Examine past work

Ask for a post, a sequence of posts or a calendar the candidate can share. Clarify the context, their contribution, who approved the work and what changes followed feedback. An example of a response to a difficult comment helps reveal judgement and diplomacy. If data is available, ask which metrics they tracked and what they concluded from them.

A strong portfolio distinguishes the candidate’s work from that of the team or agency. Be wary of a result presented without context, or an engagement figure treated as direct proof of sales.

3. Set a task close to the role

Present an audience, an objective for the social media presence and two or three conversation scenarios. Ask the candidate to choose networks and formats, then outline a few posts and explain the order of actions. Add a sensitive comment: how would they respond, what information is missing and to whom would they refer the decision? Keep the task proportionate to the work the role would involve.

Hypothetical example: a post receives criticism about an order. The candidate could suggest a measured public response and ask customer service to verify the facts before promising a solution.

Sound reasoning sets out assumptions and the checks needed before replying. It is a warning sign if the candidate invents a definitive response without the necessary information.

4. Observe coordination and communication

Ask how the candidate would seek approval for a statement involving the brand or a leader. See whether they distinguish social media advice from the final decision on the company’s message. For a coordinating role, ask how they would divide preparation, publishing and message handling among contributors.

The sign to look for is a clear allocation of decisions. If the candidate says the postholder would always have final approval over everything, they may have misunderstood the remit, depending on the organisation.

5. Cross-check decisive evidence

If you seek references, ask for specific examples of collaboration and autonomy relevant to the proposed remit. If your team lacks expertise in this work, involve someone skilled in social media communications or an external specialist in the assessment. Give them the same criteria and practical task as the other assessors. Then compare observations, without treating a platform preference as a universal skill.