6 Reasons Community Managers Need to Learn How to Code

Day in the life of a Community Manger

I am a Community Manager. My job requires me to manage the social profiles of our clients, to create compelling and shareable content with a CTA (Call to Action), that will increase engagement, followers, likes and shares. On the opposite side of the office is the Web Team, what they do I have no idea. No matter where you work, you may have noticed a clear divide between technical and non-technical employees- those who can build things with code and those who cannot.

It seems to me that those who are considered technical employees are the ones who are in high demand and can create the ideas that community managers can only dream of. Now, what if there was no disconnect? What if the community manager could post content, monitor results, and build social campaigns that go viral every time? In the next 5-10 years it’s said the divide between technical and non-technical is going to close and many people will need to learn how to code to keep up with their jobs. I sure don’t want to be left behind, do you? If you are still unsure, here are 6 reasons why learning to code will benefit you as a community manager.

1. You will better understand how your product works

Once you understand even the basics of coding, you’ll get a feel for the building blocks that make up tech products, such as APIs, databases, and web servers.

2. You will be able to communicate better cross-functionally

Imagine sitting down at a table full of your company’s engineers and being able to speak their language.

3. You can generate actionable insights that will improve community retention and engagement

With coding knowledge, you can break down exactly how your company’s Facebook group is performing. You’ll be able to see which users are most active, which are liking the most posts and commenting the most, as well as those who have not visited recently.

4. You can easily automate the tasks you hate doing

With basic coding skills, you can generate custom reports and metrics instead of manually collating data in spreadsheets.

5. You will understand how to tweak websites

You can create and customize the look and feel of your site without putting in a request and waiting weeks for a web developers help.

6. You will be able to pull insights from community spaces

Learn how to pull analytics from Facebook groups, Twitter chats, and other gathering places where you’re otherwise powerless to gain data-backed insights.

6 Reasons Community Managers Need to Learn How to Code