Today is Community Manager Appreciation Day. What is a community manager? A community manager is a professional who uses digital networks (including social networks) to build awareness for a brand, as well as to maintain and grow customer communities online. Typically they manage social networks in a way that builds trust, credibility and motivates community members to take action on behalf of the brand.

Community managers spend ridiculous amounts of time on social networks. So much so that in many cases you won’t find them online during off hours. They have to read fast, write fast, be social, spunky and ever curious. They need to be able to stay on top of every social network’s technicalities learn and adapt fast when something changes. Emotionally, they have a tough job. So today, give some love to your community manager. If you still need convincing, here are ten reasons why:

1. They are your eyes and ears, whether it’s good or ugly

 

Typically your community manager will be the first to see that nasty review. And they’ll have to handle it right away, and break the news to you as nicely as possible. And many times they have to deal with your upset response. They stay tough when things get bad. And although it’s emotionally taxing, they keep interacting on your behalf with all types of audiences, good or bad.

2. They notice things you don’t and things you may not be ready to notice

 

Not long ago I had one of those winning moments when a former client contacted me and said, “you told me so, but I wasn’t ready to listen.” Your community manager sees and hears more about your brand than you do. A good community manager will very quickly notice if there’s a disconnect between your message and what your audience needs to hear. If you give them the chance, they can give you valuable insights.

3. They think about your customers more than you do

Just as many companies take the customer service role for granted, many see the community manager role as a low-value but “we must do it” role. And that’s why so many companies fail. If you don’t appreciate the workers who are your closest connection to your customer, you may have a customer service blind spot. Both customer service and community management folks are solely focused on the customer and they will know more about their needs and wants than you do.

While you’re busy developing products and worrying about your financials etc, your community manager is thinking of how to get you new customers and how to keep your existing customers happy. That’s their primary focus. So if you haven’t given your community manager a chance to tell you what user experience opportunities they’re noticing, today may be a good day to listen to them.

4. They’re more worried about spelling than you’ll ever be

 

We often criticize our community managers for typos but we don’t realize they produce tomes of copy every day, in a very fast moving environment. We’ve all had nightmares about sending off the wrong tweet to the wrong account. Your community manager really cares. And they definitely don’t want to make mistakes.

5. They’re uber-concerned with your customer

Community managers are more concerned about user experience than a customer service representative is. Keyword here is “experience.” Community managers are responsible for building communities, and communities are based on shared positive experiences.

6. They’re told their job is easy

 

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone confidently state they can do it, “in-house” or themselves. Or have an intern do it. One of our community managers mentioned how a guy she dated said her job must be easy. What other job do we go around and claim is easy? Have you tried it? We expect our community managers to love reading, be outstanding writers, be technical, analytical, social, quick to solve problems, must get SEO, and should have marketing experience. If you think that’s easy then you should quit your job and become a community manager today.

7. They experience burn-out

 

When you spend 10-14 hours a day communicating with people online, you can experience social media burn-out. Every community manager will tell you, it happens to all in the industry. At Lightspan we take a social media detox day every quarter, or else we’d lose our minds.

8. They take the time to test everything

 

So you don’t have to. There are a bezillion social media tools out there and odds are your community manager has tried and crossed off the list all the bad ones and is making some magic happen with the good ones. Additionally social networks features and rules change frequently. Your community manager has to stay on top of it all. Often she will test new features on her own accounts to be able to make your marketing more effective. Her social networks may look like battlegrounds but thanks to it yours will look like you’re always on top of the newest features and trends.

9. They’re crazy agile and quick thinking

 

Have you seen a community manager at work in a Twitter chat, handling hundreds of tweets at once? It takes practice, agility and quick thinking to move that fast. But your community manager can do it. I often think that social networking is sales on steroids. And your community manager can nurture 10 leads faster than you can get through one conversation at a networking event.

10. They’re social!

Community managers love people. They are fun and friendly and are pros at interacting with strangers. So even if you’re shy or an introvert, go hug a community manager. They’ll make it seem like the most natural thing to do.