Why Does Your IT Company Need Developer Communities to Grow?

The world has gone digital, the importance of which has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone is looking at new and innovative ways of getting online to improve communication and reach potential customers.

However, this is a two-way street. Consumers now have the power to directly influence a business through social media posts. The result is that businesses need to be aware of what consumers are saying, as this can greatly influence their success or conversion rate.

The tech community manager is responsible for overseeing and developing this link between businesses and their customers. Done properly, this improves brand loyalty and grows the business.

How can I be a good tech Community Manager? These are the top 10 qualities needed

It’s not just anyone who can become a great tech community manager. Specific technical and soft skills are needed to achieve the desired response. 

The following ten attributes should be considered essential if you’re looking to become, or hire, a tech community manager.

1. Passion

It’s difficult to engender the right response in customers or attract new business if you don’t have a passion for the product. You need to know and respect the brand yourself, believing in what you’re selling makes a huge difference to the level of your success.

Consider your own shopping experiences, you’re more comfortable buying from someone that is passionate about what they’re selling. That’s what you need to project to your customers.

2. Versatile

You need to monitor social media networks, your specific sector, and the industry in general. This ensures the content posted by your business is interesting, relevant, and unique.

There are many different multimedia platforms, and you need to be aware of all of them to ensure you choose the right approach for each audience. Setting the right tone is essential to your success as a tech community manager, and for the business as a whole.

Don’t forget, new innovations arise all the time: you need to be aware of them, how they affect your campaigns, and figure out the best way to incorporate them into your approach.

3. Knowledge

Your team is going to be as passionate as you about the industry. They’ll also be switched on to the latest developments specifically how coding, programming, and technology can be used to improve your attractiveness to customers. 

The good news is that you don’t need to match their detailed knowledge. You need a comprehensive understanding that allows you to converse knowledgeably with each member of your team and know when to trust their judgment. 

You’re in charge of the big picture your team can handle the finer details. 

4. Communication

Possibly the most important quality for any manager is good communication skills.

You cannot handle every part of the process that’s why you have a team.

To be an effective tech community manager you need to talk to your team regularly. Keeping the lines of communication open at all times will help to ensure you always make the right decision.

5. Trust

For any team relationship to work, you need to have trust. To create this you have to be prepared to listen to your team and support them, even if they make a poor decision.

Demonstrating your knowledge level early on will help to build trust as your team needs to know that you understand what they are talking about. 

6. Excellent organizational skills

You have people to organize, social media channels to monitor, the latest innovations to be aware of, and you need to stay abreast of developments in coding, programming, and technology.

That’s a time-consuming workload; the only way to successfully stay on top of all the information is to have excellent organizational skills. The ability to delegate will help. 

7. Curiosity

On any given day, at least one social media site will introduce a change. In many cases, these changes are small, and go unnoticed by the regular user, but you need to be aware of all changes, no matter how tiny.

Monitoring, reacting to, and using changes will help you to interact with both existing and potential customers.  

8. Empathy

Common sense is very helpful as a tech community manager, allowing you to step back and make what you judge to be a fair response. However, empathy should also play a powerful part in your social interaction.

Empathy allows you to predict emotional responses and tailor your personal message accordingly. It effectively allows you to maintain the integrity of your business without offending your target audience. 

A great way to ensure this is to get someone else to read your posts before they go live.

9. Creativity/Innovation

It’s not just social media parameters that change regularly. You need to demonstrate creativity and be open to innovation.

The simple fact is that everyone is creating content. This means that your content must be unique; to ensure this you need to be creative in your approach. The aim is to create captivating content that subliminally encourages readers to click on a link and purchase the available products or services. 

10. Handling pressure

There is little doubt that being a tech community manager is stressful. There are so many different elements that must be monitored on a daily basis, with decisions made accordingly.

You need to be able to stay cool and make decisions under pressure. 

Comments on social channels can become spiteful and personal. It’s particularly important in this situation that you can stay calm and react in a way that represents the values of your brand.

How can improving communication make me a better Community Manager?

Communication is the key to developing any relationship. 

As a tech community manager, you need to be able to communicate both with your team and with any existing or potential customer. This is the only way to build trust and brand recognition, which will leads sales.

Good communication also ensures you have a positive relationship with your team, that promotes creativity and productivity.

Focus on keeping communication channels open; encourage people to contact you directly. You’ll need to master listening first and responding second, and it’s important to make sure you understand the issues as well as the possible solutions. 

It’s a good idea to meet up virtually with other tech communities. This will allow you to share ideas, innovations, and stay in touch with the latest developments in technology. Communicating with other community managers will help you identify the most desirable and undesirable qualities in a tech community manager. That knowledge will improve your own performance.

What soft skills do I need on top of technical knowledge?

It’s important to be aware of the latest technological developments and innovations. However, being a tech community manager is about more than knowing the best coding responses or how to program. 

You need an array of soft skills, specifically those ones listed in the list above of the top 10 qualities. Managing people is infinitely more complicated than managing technology; while technology can be learned and reacts predictably, people can’t and don’t. Soft skills center around managing people, convincing them to buy your product even before they know they want it.

Self-reflection is an important part of this process, i.e. allowing yourself the time to evaluate your decisions. This doesn’t mean you should change course or spend hours regretting the decisions you’ve made. It simply provides the opportunity to learn and develop as a manager.

It’s also important that you are willing to continue learning. Soft skills need developing and improving in the same way that your technology skills do. The more you practice the better you’ll be as a community manager.

Do I have to be a star programmer and coder to gain an audience?

No!

You have to be adept at locating opportunities to promote your brand and business in a positive manner. This means connecting with people and the simplest way to achieve this is by getting to know your target audience.

You can do this by communicating on social media. This is where your knowledge of coding and programming will help. You’ll be able to demonstrate credibility, which will inspire trust, but it is important to talk with your audience and not at them.

You also need a specific message to deliver each time you talk. This will keep your audience’s attention and ensure people come back to hear what you have to say next.

Don’t forget that most people will be convinced to join you because of the service you’re offering. However, they’ll choose to keep coming back to your site because of the community you create. Investing in, building, and communicating with your community is the key to promoting your brand, increasing customer flow, and gaining brand loyalty.

Do I need to be a leader?

Ideally, yes.

The community manager looks after social media sites, just like a social media marketing manager would, using these sites and their own innovative ideas to speak directly to potential customers. Existing customers, potential customers, and members of your team are all looking for leadership.

To successfully increase brand visibility you need to be able to lead others. This means being decisive, setting an example, and staying calm under pressure.

A good leader will possess the same top ten qualities already discussed above.

You don’t just want to lead your team; you want to discover new innovations and stay ahead of the competition.

Is awareness of technology, innovation, & DevRel important?

Knowing the technology relevant to your industry is paramount to your success as a community manager. 

You need to be aware of the latest innovations and how they can be used by your followers. This will help you to stay ahead of the game and contribute to continued income generation.

Understanding Developer Relations (DevRel) is also essential. DevRel was arguably first recognized in the 1990s. For many, this was the beginning of the internet, and the arrival of open-source programs created an abundance of opportunities. 

Developers quickly built their own community a community that has grown rapidly and is of great importance today. Anyone looking to market their brand needs to be able to communicate and coordinate with developers.

Doing so will help you to stay on top of the game and at the forefront of innovation. You may not need a detailed knowledge of technology but understanding the importance of DevRel is essential to your ongoing success. 

If you’re a one-person team you’ll need to develop expertise in all of these areas. 

What makes a good CM in the development environment?

The development environment focuses on writing, building, and testing new programs, whether from scratch or utilizing open source technology. 

A good community manager in the development environment needs to be aware of all the latest developments in open source and pre-packaged programs, especially those that relate to the sector they occupy. 

Without this knowledge, it will be difficult – maybe impossible – to build a rapport with specialists in the development field.

In many ways, this is the most challenging aspect of community manager’s many roles. A CM does not just do social media management channels but also needs to have a passionate and deep knowledge of computing systems. At the same time, soft skills are also needed to build you business’ brand, making CM a particularly challenging role.

Final thoughts

It can be challenging to find the right tech community manager. There are plenty of people with great technological skills, but a successful community manager also needs to demonstrate leadership, one of the soft skills discussed earlier in this article.

The good news is that soft skills can be learned. Combining these with the right metrics to determine and measure your digital community’s growth and the ideal community-building platform is what makes a great tech community manager.