A Day in the Life of a Content & Community Manager

After running through the ‘day in the life’ of series with most of the other team members, it’s now my turn to share insights into life as a Content & Community Manager here at gm-design…

Tell us about your typical working day as a Content & Community Manager

It’s really hard to to describe a ‘typical‘ working day here at gm-design; everything is so fast-paced in a digital agency. I’ve been asked by friends and family about my role and I’ve realised that a lot of people don’t quite understand the responsibilities of a Content & Community Manager.

For me, my day starts as soon as I wake up… my hand is already reaching for my phone to turn the alarm off, so I usually start to check client emails, news alerts and any social messages that have come in overnight, whilst I’m still trying to wake up! I tend to mark the more pressing items with a flag to follow up with later in the morning, which kick starts my to-do list for when I get to the office…

Once at the office, my first port of call is coffee. Always. In fact, I’m rarely seen without a cup in my hand, which is terrible, I know (and I’m still drinking it at 8pm!). Then I start to work through my to-do’s. Typically I’m working on a range of things all at the same time, for both gm-design and our lovely clients (so multitasking and attention to detail are a must in this role) – this can range from creating content for various different blogs, copywriting for a client’s website or newsletter (have you signed-up to ours?), planning social media campaigns with our design team, scheduling posts, interacting with followers or putting together editorial plans for the upcoming months. The majority of my planning and content creation is influenced by data, so social listening and analytical reporting are paramount.

There are rarely less than 15 tabs open in my browser, safeguarding any company’s reputation is a huge responsibility so I need to make sure I keep myself up to date and in the know. I tend to use Sprout Social for social listening as well as managing most social platforms, and I’ve integrated my Feedly list to make content curation a breeze – if an article is right for a particular audience, I’ll schedule it there and then, and if it’s going to educate or inspire the team, I’ll send it out via Slack. My priority browser tabs are permanently pinned in Chrome so I can easily check-in with things (that’s Sprout Social, CoSchedule, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Analytics and Bitly, in case you wondered) and take action when needed.

What are your favourite and least favourite things about working as a Content & Community Manager?

I enjoy most aspects of my job, which is fantastic! I think it’s because no two days are exactly the same – the Internet never sleeps, so there is always more content to consume, new technologies and trends to educate myself with, as well as interesting brands or individuals to interact with. But I guess because the Internet never sleeps, I’m rarely in bed before midnight as I spend a lot of time on my iPad, flicking through my go-to websites, social platforms and sources… Therefore I’d recommend a good concealer, eye-bags are so last season!

When did you decide you wanted to go down the digital industry route… what inspired you?

I don’t think there was a time when I thought, “I want to be a Content & Community Manager”… a role such as this didn’t even exist until a few years ago! I’ve had a relationship with technology since a very young age… it started with an Amiga and continues with the Internet. I’m very interested in how we, as humans, behave online vs. offline and how the boundaries of the ‘real word’ are continually blurred with each technological innovation – I think this is what keeps me inspired in the world of digital… it’s still evolving.

Which steps did you take to get you where you are today?

I took a bit of an unexpected route into this role and studied Television Production at university, which taught me a lot of pre and post-production skills, alongside developing a greater understanding of strategic content creation and the impact it can have on different people. In my last year, there was a lot of independent learning and the flexibility to make the course your own, which is when I was able to push it into an area that focused more on the digital/online side of things.

After university, I volunteered as a Digital Marketing Assistant for the charity, Amantani, which then led me onto an internship at Exeter Phoenix for a short period. After this I went freelance, authoring a wide range of content pieces for Futurespace Magazine, until I settled here at gm-design.

What 3 words would you use to describe the gm. team?

Caring, insightful and passionate.

What’s your best tip for keeping a cool head?

Remember to breathe! Sometimes things get stressful, it happens. But remember to come up for air, take in the bigger picture and refocus – don’t bury your head and suffer in silence!

What advice would you give to any young people who would like to work in a similar role?

Always be conscientious, you never know where or who you may end up working with. Intern as much as you can and stay up to date with all things digital. Oh, and remember to keep your social profiles clean… you will be Googled.

Any parting words?

The biggest mistake you could ever make is being too afraid to make one… learn from it and move on.