Community Manager: Career, Duties and Training
The community manager runs an organization’s online communities on a daily basis.
In the cultural sector, he or she promotes artworks, artists, events or a program of activities, engages with audiences and looks after the organization’s online reputation.
He or she creates and distributes content adapted to each platform, moderates discussions and analyzes the results of his or her actions.
In brief: the community manager profession → the duties of a community manager → the skills needed to practice this profession → the difference between a community manager and a Social Media Manager → possible studies and programs; → employers and work environments; → salary and career progression. →
In brief: the role of community manager
| Other Job Titles | online community moderator, community manager, community administrator |
|---|---|
| Recommended Education Level | Bac+3 to Bac+5 in communication, digital, marketing, or related fields (source: Onisep) |
| Starting Salary | from €2,230 gross/month (source: Onisep) |
| Employers | museums and art centers, theaters, festivals and concert halls, labels and production companies, cultural media, communication agencies, associations, and local authorities |
| Key Skills | writing and adapting tone by platform, creating visual and video content, community management and moderation, monitoring and e-reputation, performance metrics analysis |
| Career Progression | social media manager, digital communication manager, content or brand content manager, digital project manager, digital marketing manager |
| IESA Program | Bachelor in Cultural Communication - Bac+3, work-study possible from the 2nd year; or Master’s in Cultural Communication Strategy - Bac+5, work-study possible |
What Are the Duties of a Community Manager?
The community manager runs an organization’s daily presence on social media and community spaces. They turn its editorial line into content suited to different audiences and maintain regular dialogue with followers.
Their main duties are to:
- observing usage, trends and conversations related to the organization or its sector;
- helping to develop the editorial calendar;
- writing, producing or adapting posts, visuals and videos;
- scheduling and publishing content on the relevant platforms;
- answering questions and moderating comments;
- reporting back audiences' expectations, reactions and any criticism;
- monitoring the organization’s online reputation and flagging sensitive situations;
- measuring results with indicators such as reach, engagement, clicks or conversions;
- producing reviews and proposing improvements.
In the cultural sector, the community manager must also understand the works, artists, events and audiences they address. They may, for example, support the communication of an exhibition, cover a festival live, showcase the backstage of a show or grow the community of a cultural media outlet.
What Is the Difference Between a Community Manager and a Social Media Manager?
The community manager focuses mainly on day-to-day production, publishing, engagement and moderation. The social media manager generally steers a more global strategy: objectives, platforms, editorial line, campaigns, budget and performance measurement.
In a small cultural organization, however, these two roles may be held by the same person.
Career benchmarks: Apec and France Travail.
What skills do you need to become a community manager?
Working as a community manager requires combining editorial, creative, interpersonal and analytical skills.
Professional Know-How
A community manager must in particular know how to:
- write precisely and adapt the tone to each audience;
- understand the codes and formats of the different platforms;
- create or coordinate the production of visual and audiovisual content;
- use publishing, moderation, monitoring and reporting tools;
- track performance indicators and draw recommendations from them;
- organize an editorial calendar and meet deadlines;
- prevent e-reputation risks and contribute to crisis communication;
- work with graphic designers, videographers, press officers, marketing managers or artistic teams;
- respect the editorial line, the visual identity and the rights related to images and content.
In culture, a good knowledge of players, works, practices and audiences is a real asset.
Personal Qualities
The profession also requires:
- excellent written communication;
- creativity and curiosity;
- listening and diplomacy;
- responsiveness and composure;
- organization and rigor;
- the ability to adapt to new usage patterns;
- a strong taste for interacting with audiences.
What to Study to Become a Community Manager?
There is no single training path. According to Onisep, employers tend to recruit profiles holding a Bac+3 to Bac+5 degree in communication, digital, marketing, or related fields.
Beyond the degree, internships, work-study, personal projects, and building a portfolio help demonstrate the ability to produce content, engage a community, and analyze a campaign.
Train in Cultural Community Management at IESA arts&culture
Several IESA programs allow you to acquire skills useful for the profession:
- The Bachelor in Cultural Communication, open after the bac or through parallel admission, covers digital communication, social media, influence, and the promotion of cultural projects. It takes place over three years and can be taken as work-study from the second year.
- The Bachelor in Cultural and Creative Industries offers a general introduction to the cultural industries before specializing, notably in communication, in the third year.
- The Master in Cultural Communication Strategy, open after a Bac+3, covers social media strategy, digital marketing, influence, data, and campaign management in depth. This two-year program can be taken as work-study.
These programs prepare for various cultural communication careers. The level of responsibility obtained then depends on experience, demonstrated skills, and the scope of the position.
Job source and training levels: Onisep.
Where does a community manager in culture work?
A community manager can work within:
- of a museum, a monument or an art center;
- of a theater, a concert hall or a festival;
- of a company, a label or a production company;
- of a media outlet or cultural platform;
- of an association or a local authority;
- of a communication agency;
- of a company in the cultural and creative industries.
They can be employed by an organization, work at an agency for several clients, or work as a freelancer. In smaller organizations, their duties may be combined with overall communication, content creation, press relations or marketing.
What is the salary of a community manager?
Onisep reports a starting salary from €2 230 gross per month, varying with status and place of work.
Apec finds that 80% of the gross annual salaries, fixed and variable pay included, advertised in the postings it analyzes fall between €22 000 and 43 000, with an average of €33 000.
These two figures do not cover exactly the same scope and are not specific to the cultural sector. Pay depends notably on experience, location, the size of the employer, the scope of duties and employee or freelance status.
What Career Paths Are Possible?
With experience and more strategic skills, a community manager can move into roles such as:
- social media manager;
- digital communications manager;
- content manager or brand content manager;
- digital project manager;
- communications officer;
- digital marketing manager;
- traffic manager;
- brand manager.
These career moves are not automatic. They depend in particular on mastery of strategy, project management, data analysis, paid campaigns, and, for some positions, team management.javascript:void(0);