The Four Essential Job Roles in Social Commerce

There are four roles which are essential to cover when running a commercial site successfully. If any of these roles are not covered then major structural weaknesses start appearing and the site will usually fail sooner rather than later. If, however, the four roles are being fulfilled and there is a viable business proposition driving the site, then there is every chance of success.

The roles are based on direct expeirence of working with organisations as diverse as Diesel and MasterCard through to UKTV (BBC) and X-treme Video.

These roles are the four pillars that are the key drivers for the online business:

Commercial Manager

The Commercial Manager is ultimately responsible for the commercial success online. The role focuses on driving customer engagement, satisfaction and conversion. It is focused on generating the maximum return on assets and has a highly analytic role.

The role will vary considerably depending on how much of the sales / purchasing process happens on-site online. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Commercial Driver
• Revenue Generation
• Analytics and Response
• Campaigns and Sponsorships
• Online Product Catalogue
• Affiliate Relationships
• Sales

Editor

The Editor’s is traditionally the leader of the overall direction of the website and the ultimate authority for any non-commercial aspects. The Editor is responsible for originating and sourcing all the non-community content for the site, establishing content policies, managing the overall site structure and acting as the guardian of the online brand.

The editor manages the online structure whether there is a single site, or multiple sites covering differing markets and demographics. The Editor is also the key driver for ensuring a coherent whole and in driving the build process as well as coordinating the day to day management of the site(s).

Key Responsibilities:

• Content Creation
• Content Sourcing
• Taxonomy
• Site Structure
• Sourcing Media
• Content Flows
• Content Feeds
• Newsletters
• Usability

Community Manger

The Community Manager is a new role for most organisations as few have one in place. Frequently this role can be covered by someone from sales, marketing or support. The role requires an outgoing personality, and the person should be a familiar user of social media. It is also important that they are passionate about the site and preferably already an active leader within the wider community.

They need to establish, engage with and lead powerful on-topic communities both on-site and within the broader social media.

Key Responsibilities:

• Seeding Community Content
• Community and Online Customer Support
• Engaging with Community
• Developing and Supporting Community Leaders
• Social Outreach, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linked In and Flickr
• Motivating Community
• Informal Events
• Community Networking

New Media Creative

The New Media Creative is the creative driving force behind the business and will have significant say and input into the evolution of the brand, look-and-feel, usability and campaigns that are developed. If this role is not being covered effectively then the site will soon look second-rate and tired. Given that almost half of users will not buy from sites which do not have a good presentation, this is becoming a significant role.

New Media Creatives are not traditional print designers. They need to have the core skills, experience and sensibility for working with online media such as Flash as well as traditional design tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator (or comparable technologies).

Key Responsibilities:

• Creating and Implementing Page Designs
• Media for Content and Products
• Campaign Media
• Videos
• Animations
• Graphics
• Icons

The Team Dynamic

When starting up it is quite usual for individuals to cover multiple roles for example being both editor and community manger. The roles are however all quite distinct, requiring different skill sets and temperaments. In particular it is very difficult to combine the commercial role with the others, and the role of New Media Creative is not something that everyone should attempt. The roles of Editor and Community Manager have a lower barrier of entry in that most people can be trained into the roles, however there is real value in having an experienced person in both roles since they will make far fewer mistakes and will be able to engage with the audience faster and more effectively.

At the outset it is also possible to outsource the community manager and new media creative roles, the new media creative in particular. However the venture will invariably fail if the commercial and editorial roles are not staffed in-house from the outset.

As the revenues / funding and requirements grow, it should be a priority to bring in dedicated personnel for each role. This will greatly reduce the design and media costs as things scale up, and will mean a balanced focus within the business.

The key to driving the business forward is having definitive areas of leadership and responsibility (including overall leadership), whilst creating a close working dynamic. For example the Commercial Manager might sell a campaign which has been jointly developed with the Editor and Community Manager. The execution will then be down to the Editor, Community Manager and New Media Creative whilst the Commercial Manager takes the account manager role.

The four roles covered are just the starting point, and there will be a rapid evolution as the business grows, however that will depend on the commercial focus and the dynamics surrounding the sales process and community / customer engagement.