The Accidental Community Manager

Episode 96: Becoming an Accidental Community Manager with Adrian Speyer

In this episode of the Community Strategy Podcast, Adrian Speyer shares the story behind his new book. He is an experienced digital marketer and community builder. The book is titled The Accidental Community Manager. 

Adrian has over ten years of community industry experience. He has delivered many talks about community building at major international conferences. Adrian is the author of The Accidental Community Manager. 

He has worked with top brands. This experience has enabled him to teach community builders best practices and effective frameworks. He also teaches ways to be successful in community building that have a meaningful impact on organizational goals. Adrian now resides in Montreal. He is the Head of Community and Evangelism at Higher Logic Vanilla. This is a SaaS community platform hosting the best-loved brands in the world.

Click here to learn more about Adrian and to buy his book! 

Show Notes

7:32 Adrian shares why he wrote The Accidental Community Manager. He explains how it’s different from the other books on the market. These books are for new community managers, community builders, and community designers. 

9:51 There are a few different kinds of communities, and Adrian’s book is directly for companies building a brand community. He explains how platforms change. This creates a challenge for business owners. Social media shifted to “pay to play” for brands to be seen. 

12:20 Companies lose an opportunity for engagement when building on social media like Facebook. Adrian recommends building a community on a platform that the company can control. 

14:02 Deb and Adrian discuss terminology and language marketing professionals use and how to rephrase the conversation. Connections in direct messages on social media have been coined “dark social.” Adrian explains that community professionals use another term for direct message conversations called “dark community.” When conversations happen in a private space, others can’t gain from them. This context is related to customer support and engagement. It also fails to give credit to the community manager who creates engagement. 

19:37 Adrian offers positive coaching for those new to the community industry. This coaching helps them step into the confidence they need. It ensures they feel valued and respected. 

25:07 Adrian describes a business to business strategy and how to build relationships, including internal and external people. A brand community is about the customers and the internal company stakeholders, teams, and departments. 

26:42 The community manager role requires self-advocacy. Sometimes there can be internal challenges due to a disconnect between the stakeholders. A community manager’s role is to guide the company. They show how the community can impact the company. This approach avoids needing to defend the role of a community professional.  

28:06 Adrian says that a thriving community strategy for brand communities begins with structuring community development into four phases. These phases do not occur at the same time. 

32:11 Deb shares thoughts about the importance of internal cohesiveness when building an online community. A community manager must explain the value and impact to others. A community manager is a cheerleader for the community. To get support in their role, they must step out of their comfort zone. 

35:12 Adrian shares many ways that community professionals can partner with other teams within the organization. These ways help to promote the community. They also show how to be a player at the table. 

39:39 The community building process takes between 6-8 months, Adrien says. It takes about three years for the community to get engaged. Be realistic about the time it takes to build a healthy online community. This includes everything from community concept to launch.  

43:22 ROI can be more than dollars; it is loyalty and brand awareness. The numbers are good, but you need to know your goals, which will change over time. 

46:35 The difference between advocates, ambassadors, and community volunteers depends on the definition. Adrian speaks about creating ambassador or advocate programs intentionally.  

49:46 Adrian advises new community builders, sharing that everyone makes mistakes and learning from them is the key to development. He recommends having conversations with MVPs (Most Valuable People) as the most critical factor in cultivating an engaged community.