ACM 2018 Survey results revealed
The results of the second major survey of Australia’s professional online community managers have been released.
Huge thanks to all the community professionals around the country who participated in the survey. You've helped us map our industry and continue to bench mark it in valuable ways.
If you didn't take the survey this year, please consider taking it next time and help us build the most complete picture possible of our practice, and a tool peers can use for role and salary negotiation.
If you're the only community professional working in your organisation , this is a useful report to share up the line to management and executives, to help them quantify and understand the nature of your working life in the context of the full industry.
They may learn, for example, that they are spending less or more on their community than others in their sector.
What's the state of our industry?
2018 results show a maturing community management industry in Australia, dominated by women, rapidly embracing AI and automation, and managing significant issues around work-life balance and online toxicity.
Key findings include:
2 out of 3 community managers identify as female;
1 in 3 community managers say their role is partly understood and somewhat valued;
Only 37 per cent have a documented strategy;
community managers in senior level positions has grown by 10 per cent to 43 per cent;
15 per cent of community managers grapple with online bullying and harassment as part of their job;
37 per cent of community managers are using automation or artificial intelligence (AI) in their communities;
freelance community professionals saw a small decline while in-house roles are on the rise;
frustration with social media platforms is climbing;
only 2 per cent of online communities inform product and service development (low compared to global insights); and
40 per cent of community professionals in the region are enthusiastic about the future of the industry
Download the full report to learn:
salary bench marking for community professionals
education levels and backgrounds of community professionals
tenure and age of communities
strategic role/purpose of communities
success metrics used
community budgets (inc. by sector)
most useful training and resources
most used platforms
percentage of community professionals engaging third parties and for which functions
key challenges
-- and much more.