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What is the difference between a community manager and a social media manager?

18 May 2026 by
What is the difference between a community manager and a social media manager?
ELOREZO
What is the difference between a community manager and a social media manager?



If you are involved in digital marketing, you have probably heard the terms "Community Manager" and "Social Manager" be used interchangeably. However, there is a distinct difference between these two roles. But which one? Let's take stock.


The community manager: the communications specialist


A community manager is responsible for the management and engagement of online communities of the enterprise. Its tasks include managing online forums, Facebook groups, LinkedIn pages and any other online communication channel where customers and corporate fans can come together to discuss their experiences. 🗣️


The main mission of a community manager is to create positive relationships with the company's customers. This professional is responsible for answering questions, solving problems and creating a community of people who support each other and share common interests. It also ensures that the company's online communities remain positive and respectful. In the event of conflicts or problems, it may intervene in order to resolve them.


Community managers work closely with marketing teams to ensure that the content created is aligned with the company's objectives. 🎯


The Social Manager: the expert in creating a social media strategy and team management


On the other hand, a social media manager is responsible for the creation and implementation of the marketing strategy the company's social media. It supports the creation and planning of content for social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and other relevant channels.


This professional also uses analytical tools to track the performance of their content and adjust their strategy accordingly. 😉


Its role is to ensure that the different teams, such as the social sellers, the social breeders and social lovers (company ambassadors), apply good practices and appropriate digital routines to each network.


Firstly, the Social Manager works closely with the Social sellers. The latter are responsible for: promoting products or services of the company on social networks, interacting with potential customers and creating sales opportunities. The Social Manager supports social sellers by providing strategic advice on how to optimize their presence on social networks, develop effective advertising campaigns and create engaging content. Through this collaboration, social sellers are able to maximize their impact and generate positive results for the company.


In addition, the Social Manager also provides essential support to Social breeders. These recruitment professionals use social networks to identify and contact potential candidates. The Social Manager guides them in the use of different social platforms, helping them develop targeted recruitment strategies and optimize their actions to attract the best talent. Ultimately, social recruiters can reach a wider audience and find qualified candidates for the positions to be filled more easily.


Finally, the Social Manager works closely with the Socialovers, the Company ambassadors on social networks. These people are often engaged employees who actively use social networks to promote the brand and share positive information about the company. The Social Manager supervises them by helping them develop their online presence and providing them with guidance on the messages to be disseminated and the behaviours to be adopted. Thus, social lovers become valuable allies in building a strong brand and committed online community.

Social Manager vs Community Manager: complementarity at the meeting

Although these two roles are often confused, they are actually very different. A community manager focuses on creating and managing online communities, while a social manager focuses on creating content strategies for social media platforms by managing different teams.


And in fact, a Social Manager has three very specific roles

  1. Pilot : Monitor and guide the activities of all the social sellers of ambassadors. Ensure compliance with the action plan in terms of publication, collective audience, team animation, guide it on a daily basis on the most important posts and interlocutors.
  2. Coach : Maintain the skills of already trained employees, train new recruits in LinkedIn and in the implementation of the action plan.
  3. Measure : Defining and following the KPIs: Views and engagement on the posts, those of the profiles but also those of the page; growth and targeting of the audience, concrete business results, success stories.

Social Manager or Community Manager: who to hire for your business?


Before you hire one of these two professionals, you need to understand the difference between these two functions to find the right person for the position. If you need someone to manage and develop your online community, bet on a community manager. On the other hand, if you need someone to create content for social media platforms and manage an entire team you should look for a social manager.


Ultimately, the difference between a community manager and a social manager is limited to their specific roles and responsibilities within the company. As a result, these two roles require different skills. 👌


And if you want to acquire the skills of a Social Manager, sign up for our training: https://www.elorezo.com/formation-social-manager 🚀


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