3 Reasons Why You Need a Community Relationship Manager

We all know fostering meaningful connections and engagement with your members is a non-negotiable in community management. Whether you’re nurturing a Discord or Slack community or working to scale and maintain an enterprise community, having a Community Relationship Manager (the “new” CRM, if you will) will ensure you understand the various personas, allow you to track what you need to as a community manager, and will provide better opportunities for cross-collaboration.

Community Relationship Management vs. Customer Relationship Management

Although most companies have a Customer Relationship Management (CustomerRM) system already, like Salesforce or HubSpot, for example, there are several benefits to having a dedicated Community Relationship Manager (CommunityRM). These are considerations that could also help create a business case for bringing on a separate CRM for your community.

• Platform customizations: Typically, your company’s CustomerRM is owned by your sales or marketing team and is focused on tracking contacts and opportunities related to sales initiatives. Generally, it takes lots of time, dependency on your platform admin, and more work to add customizations to your CustomerRM, if you’re even able to. Having a dedicated CommunityRM gives you the control to customize the fields and configuration on your own time and in your own way.
• Platform control: In addition to the point above, you may be stuck with limited licenses or visibility into various components of the CustomerRM. You may only be able to provision yourself or a few team members for the CustomerRM, which could hinder autonomy and visibility to the wider team, which could actually lead to being counter productive.
• Community first: As a community manager, there are items that are important for you to keep track of that aren’t necessarily related to sales or marketing goals, or that you’d want them having visibility to - things like birthdays, t-shirt size, speaking interests, call notes, etc. Having your own CommunityRM allows you to keep community data to the community team.

1. Holistic member tracking: Knowing your community inside out

Keeping relevant information about your community members is more than just a logistical task—it's a strategic advantage. A CommunityRM enables you to effortlessly track and manage vital information about your community members, such as member names, affiliations, interests, community programs they partake in, and even miscellaneous items like birthday and t-shirt size, which are great for surprise and delight initiatives. This level of insight not only facilitates personalized engagement but also lays the groundwork for sending thoughtful swag or conducting targeted community building activities. With a CommunityRM, you move beyond mere recognition; you understand your community at a deeper level, fostering stronger bonds and tailored interactions.

2. Cross-functional effectiveness: Breaking silos for comprehensive insight

Community management does not exist in isolation; it is intricately woven into the broader fabric of your organization. A CommunityRM can act as a connective tissue, seamlessly integrating with other platforms across your company, giving you and your stakeholders a panoramic view of customers and their engagement in various ways throughout the customer experience journey. This cross-functional integration can provide enhanced visibility into community-qualified lead conversions, distinguish between cases submitted by community members and non-members, streamlining issue resolution and member support, and even provide insight into product adoption amongst people in the community versus not engaged in the community. In essence, a CommunityRM can help break down silos to bring cross-functional data and community together and provide a comprehensive understanding of your community's place within the broader organizational landscape.

3. Precision segmentation: Tailoring engagement for varied community segments

Communities are diverse ecosystems with members spanning various interests, roles, and preferences on how they engage in the community. For example, while one community member loves to attend in-person user group meetings, another may just enjoy the monthly virtual Ask Me Anything (AMA) the community hosts with a product manager. A CommunityRM equips you with the ability to segment your community effectively. Whether it's industry-specific discussions, product-focused updates, or exclusive events, a CommunityRM allows you to create targeted approaches that resonate with specific segments. This not only enhances the relevance of your interactions but also ensures that members receive content that aligns with their needs and interests. Precision segmentation is the key to fostering a sense of belonging and value among diverse community members.

Community Relationship Management with Talkbase

If you’re interested in learning more about how having a comprehensive Community Relationship Management tool can benefit your organization as a whole, visit https://talkbase.io/crm or reach out to us at hi@talkbase.com. A few of our core features in the Talkbase CommunityRM allow you to filter, sort, and segment members, see analytics on their engagement and activities in the community, and opens doors to cross-functional goal tracking, plus so much more.

‍