The ones posting announcements in discord/telegram servers, the ones hosting Twitter spaces, the ones that hop on 1-on-1 calls with you, the ones frantically running around to ensure that the IRL event's experience is A1.
Yup, that’s us. Community Managers.
Chances are, if you’ve ever bought into a crypto/NFT project which has some form of community (in which 99% of them do), you’ve come across a community manager.
But before we go down the rabbit hole, we have to first cover the foundation: community.
Why is Community Important in Crypto?
It’s pretty obvious that community is important in all aspects of society, developing a sense of identity or belonging over like-minded interests, values, and beliefs.
Yes, but what sets crypto communities apart?
The community offers valuable feedback and ideas, influencing the direction and enhancement of the product.
By spreading awareness and educating potential users, the community drives the adoption of the product being used.
They also have an influence on the market price by discussing market trends, as well as minting, buying, and selling tokens / NFTs which are part of the company’s ecosystem.
Now that we got that clarified, let’s move on.
Understanding the Role
Okay, so what in the world do Community Managers even do?
In traditional industries, a community manager acts as a liaison between an organization and its audience, fostering and nurturing digital relationships between a brand and its consumers.
Typically part of the marketing team, they possess a comprehensive understanding of the organization, including its products, structure, competitors, brand voice, storytelling, and strategies.
A community manager primarily focuses on facilitating communications, but they also spend time analyzing and gathering feedback. Additionally, they have some opportunities to be creative with various tasks they wish to execute.
In our crypto world, imagine it as described above, but on steroids.
What is the true value of a community / growth role?
The true value is among some of the top roles in any company, such as a CEO, a VP of Operations, Head of Product, etc.
Companies can create a wonderful product, but they cannot reach their audience without some form of Community Lead (whatever title you'd like to call it), someone who is able to understand the vision and properly communicate that to the proper audience. A CM position is a hybrid of a Head of Growth/Community and Marketing/Storytelling role.
As AI continues to evolve at such a fast pace and will soon take over many jobs (such as engineering work), one thing it cannot take over is creativity. There is a necessity for human imagination in any industry.
Only recently are roles that consist of communicating with people on a individual or audience basis becoming extremely valuable in our crypto industry — and it will continue to boom.
Tending to Your Farm
Believe it or not, Community Management is one of the most important roles in the crypto space. Why? Let me give you an example.
If you've got a big farm with lots of land and you want your crops to be plentiful, how do you make it happen?
You tend to their needs by providing the resources, being consistent with their care, protecting them from potential damage, and giving them the time to grow.
Crypto and NFT communities thrive when they have a clear purpose and compelling reasons to connect. This connection can be to the product being developed, to the team behind it, or even to each other.
CMs are the ones that tend to their community; and they are the ones that provide the resources, consistently communicate with the community, protect them from any liabilities, and curate an ecosystem of organic growth.
Tending to your community everyday isn’t easy. But it’s well worth it.
Bridging Two Realms
Being a community manager means being the messenger.
It is your job to ensure that the communications are effortless between the two parties, both top-down and bottom-up.
A direct line to both the community and the team, you get to witness two different perspectives, two different goals, two different worlds.
With this role, you get to feel the community's excitement and passion while also getting a grip on the team's strategic and day-to-day tasks.
Make no mistake — managing communications with both a public audience and a private company is trickier than it seems. We'll explore this more later in the article.
The Highlights
Let’s talk about the best parts about being a community manager.
Being a Visionary and Having an Influence
As the crypto space continues to drive technological innovation, you have the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking projects that have the potential to revolutionize the world.
In fact, you get to be part of a vision you've believed in from the beginning, witnessing and contributing to its entire journey. It's a rare opportunity to work and have influence on a product that you're truly passionate about.
Early Adopter
There’s most definitely a lot of incentives within each ecosystem, where you can have a strong salary and the opportunity to receive equity, bonuses, tokens / NFTs, or beta access to the product being built. The more successful the project, the more you profit.
Flexible Schedule
You thought Working from Home (WFH) was cool in the traditional industries? Most startup companies in crypto break the 9-5 barrier. You work on your own time, have unlimited vacation, and can do whatever you basically want as long as you get your tasks done efficiently on time. Massive corporate culture upgrade.
Career Development
Being a CM, you gain skills in problem-solving, community building, marketing, customer support, content creation, and so much more.
As a content creator, you develop engaging content; from social media posts to educational resources. This also ties into event organization, where you have online or offline events such as AMAs, meetups, and other fun activities designed for the community.
Community, Networking & Recognition
Had to save the best for last! From in-person meetups to hopping on a zoom or discord call, it’s fantastic to engage with a global community of passionate members. You get to bond with people and hear their stories on their cultures, backgrounds, reasons for entering the crypto space, and so much more.
Your community also has their own networks, and if they see an opportunity, they will facilitate connections for you.
They are the ones that thank you for your hard work, they appreciate your efforts of relaying communications to the best of your ability, and they’ll even defend you from other folks who are attacking you.
The Struggles
Obviously, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Let’s talk about some of the obstacles encountered as a CM.
Dealing with FUD, Trolls, Toxic Behavior
Alright, I’ll give it to you straight: People can be a complete ass sometimes.
On the internet, it’s very easy to dehumanize others and treat them like absolute garbage. When there are financial incentives mixed in with a project, and members have financial ties in these projects, the behavior of some people can become very nasty and unacceptable.
Some people just love to pick a fight, what can I say?
Pressure on Updates
Progress is never linear, everyone knows that. But the pressure to release updates isn’t easy, especially when the team isn’t ready to provide any updates.
24/7 Availability & Burnout
Shuffling between platforms like Discord and Twitter to tend to the community, communicating with the team via Slack, hopping on Zoom and Google Meets calls, getting your photos and videos from Figma, the list continues.
Being online for 8-12 hours a day can be stressful and exhausting. This is no 9-5 job, the concept of work-life balance is situational based on how much you can handle. And in 99% of cases, you don’t know what that balance looks like (until you do).
Scams, Phishing, and Personal Safety
Community Managers are the ones that take care of all of the precautions to ensure that your wallet isn’t drained because some stupid link was posted in discord.
They are also responsible for making sure that their social media or announcements channels aren’t compromised.
At the same time, community managers are one of the roles that tend to be the most targeted when it comes to impersonation or even having their accounts hacked, so the community could be emotionally and financially manipulated by the hackers.
Balancing Community Interests with Organizational Goals
This one is never easy. As a CM, you want to do more community-focused efforts; but the team has other ideas on what takes priority, and if that is even operable with the community’s interests.
Out of the negatives I’ve mentioned so far, this is one that has some of the most amount of friction.
Which transitions into my last point…
Incompetent Team
This is probably one of the more difficult ones to talk about. The reality of the situation is, there is only so much you can do as a community manager. If your team is uncooperative, it will make your life significantly more difficult.
You can have the coolest people on your team, but if they fail to communicate with you and provide you with the resources that you need, it makes it extremely tough to be on the front-lines of the community.
The community will be constantly asking for information from you, and you won’t be able to provide them with the information that you need, because (1) you have your hands tied behind your back, and (2) the team doesn’t value the community enough to be transparent / provide continuous updates.
Testimonials
That said, I don't want you to get all your information solely from me — I'm just one individual.
Curious to hear from others, I asked a few community managers from different companies / projects across our crypto space, to share their stories about the highs and lows in this dynamic role.
Click on the arrow to read the full story.
I started working at PROOF a couple of weeks before Moonbirds minted, and have been there every single day for more than 2 years. There has been SO much good that has come from my experience as a community manager. It's been an honor watching people come into our community and find a home here. There was nothing like the first few months post-mint. It felt so damn good to be all that everyone’s talking about on the timeline, and watching people who’ve never been part of a “blue chip” pfp project get the incredible sense of pride by rocking their pfp. From Jimmy Fallon creating a Twitter account for his bird, to record-breaking sales volume, the peaks were a once-in-a-lifetime experience. My favorite part of the journey was the 10-day European tour to Lisbon, Paris, Berlin and London. There were a ton of “non-scalable” moments like this, where we took the time to connect irl with our community. Very few teams were traveling to Europe at that time, and I know how valuable it was for those community members to get facetime with the team. It made me realize how important being a truly global community is for the success of this space.
In general, the downsides of being a community manager are what makes us so valuable. When something doesn’t ship successfully, or if there’s conflict between the team and holders, community managers are on the front lines and have to absorb the negativity and relay it to the team. The emotional toll it takes, especially in a long period of negativity, is often overlooked. While I’ve had life-changing positive experiences as community manager, there are times where things have been very difficult, especially when things get personal. There have been times where my voice/face has been modified using AI to say horrific things, or I’ve had to prioritize work over family, or I’ve had to watch people say straight out lies about my team members. I’m here every single day because of the value I see in web3 communities, and how much I enjoy facilitating connection.
Web3 would be nothing without its engaged communities, and teams would be nothing without their community managers. I’m so grateful for my team for always supporting me and respecting the importance of my role. I know not all CMs have that luxury, and I’m so lucky to work with some of the best team members in the space.
I joined the web3 space in late 2021 through ETH NFTs, and loved the way that crypto projects were able to connect users from around the world. A few months after buying my first NFT, I wanted to see what it was like to work on a web3 project. I moved up through moderation positions, to consultancy, then began my first role as a full-time Community Manager. Something I’ve learned is that being a CM in web3 is more similar to being a project manager - you need to have your finger on the pulse of everything that is happening within the core team, in the community, and in the larger crypto space. A strong CM should know what the sentiment is amongst their members at all times, what tensions exist, and what the currently trending metas are - and you should be able to relay that effectively to the rest of the team.
The way I see it, the main product for most web3 companies actually isn’t anything technical. It’s the community. A living, breathing set of individuals who all joined your ecosystem for their own reasons, with their own ambitions. One of the greatest struggles is figuring out how to cater to all of your members through various aspects of the project. An event that appeals to you may not appeal to me, just like a technical feature I love may be one that you don’t! It’s been equally challenging and rewarding to test out different activations and features to see what engages and excites web3 participants the most.
The best part of working in community is being able to connect with your members, and I love meeting people face-to-face after months (or even years!) spent hanging out together online. The connectivity in web3 is on a different level compared to traditional sectors, and the amount of knowledge share and collaboration between project teams and our community members always blows my mind. Imagine KITH calling you up to ask if you liked the way your newest tee fit, or how the experience shopping at that location could be improved. Picture Instagram sending you a DM to see if you like the latest update to their UI/UX… but then they genuinely listen to and implement your feedback to improve. While all project teams should have a long term vision, the CMs actively engaging with their community greatly help to shape the road to get there.
There will of course be stressful moments and periods of fud. This is web3. New launches won’t go to plan, features will bug, members won’t get along, Crypto Twitter will decide your project is this week’s punching bag - and you as CM will have to step in to mediate things. But you have a unique opportunity to ensure that your community members are enjoying their experience, and to help push them and the project forward. If you’re lucky, you’ll end up with a couple thousand new friends, and countless opportunities to learn something from every single one.
I still remember my first Azuki mint clearly. Technically, I wasn't even part of the team yet; I was just a contractor, midway through a four-week contract to train the mod team. However, the experience was nothing short of amazing. During that mint, I was on a call with Dem and the mod team, while Dem was physically present with the core team in the office. Through his mic, I could hear the team working like a well-oiled machine.
It was the first time I had encountered a team launching something together in the same room. Whenever we on the mod team spotted an issue or had a question, we’d flag Dem, who would then relay it to the team. The efficiency was incredible; problems were fixed within seconds, and answers were immediate. It was then I knew I wanted to work with this team long-term if given the chance.
Since that first mint, I've participated in several others with the Azuki team. Our preparation is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. We anticipate community questions and have answers ready. The mod team is equipped with the answers ahead of time, enabling them to respond immediately, rather than needing to consult me and wait for my response to relay the answer to the person who asked. This approach streamlines the process, allowing us to address community concerns and questions efficiently.
Being a community manager is incredibly rewarding but also demanding. It's a role I couldn't fulfill without the unwavering support of my mod team. Their hard work and passion for Azuki allow me to focus on internal tasks while they handle day-to-day interactions on Discord and Twitter. A good community manager trains a good team and ensures mutual support.
Early on, when I was still the lead mod and not yet the community manager, I admired how Dem handled difficult situations. When facing FUD or other challenges, Dem was always on the front line, shielding the rest of the mod team. He didn't retreat and leave us to struggle alone. When I became the community manager, I adopted the same approach, standing in front of the mods during tough times. They are there for support, not as scapegoats, a stark contrast to how I’ve seen other projects treat their mods, including some others I’ve been a part of.
One of the most important aspects of being a community manager is truly being part of the community. This means getting to know people on a personal level, joining their spaces, and participating in their memes and shenanigans. This involvement builds trust and rapport, allowing me to see beyond the PFPs and understand the people behind them. This is what real community building is all about. Not only that, but if I know people on a deeper level, it’s much easier for me to be able to assess community sentiment as a whole. If I know where people are coming from, especially our most loyal holders, I’m able to then communicate more clearly to the rest of the team their thoughts and feelings, both positive and negative.
My journey as a community manager has been filled with incredible experiences, challenges, and growth. From the adrenaline of mints to the day-to-day interactions, every moment has reinforced my passion for this role. It's not just about managing a community; it's about being an integral part of it, building genuine relationships, and fostering a supportive environment where everyone can thrive.
My story of entering and working in web3 is always a fun one to tell. I started "early" with NBA Top Shot before they added queues and had fun with some ZED RUN horses and a bunch of other random things before I ultimately took a break to focus on the Bar exam. It didn't take me too long to come back after seeing Cool Cats. I didn't mint any but ended up minting Pudgy Penguins and was brought in as a moderator by the original founders back in the day. From there, I actively became a part of most of the communities I minted, like 0N1 Force and BYOPills. Of course, everything changed once Doodles showed up.
Upon seeing the art by Burnt Toast, I knew the project had the potential to become a "forever pfp" for me and got involved as soon as I could. I was the 420th member of the Discord, supporting the vibes by making random emotes, stickers, and gifs for the community. Then I woke up to a moderator role one day. I had no idea what the founders expected of me, but I figured I'd run with it and give it my all just in case. Mint came along and soon after, I got a random DM from one of the founders telling me to fly out to NFTNYC 2021 to meet them. My only hesitancy was that I had no plans or events, but they assured me they had me covered (they're definitely more well-off than me, so no way was I getting robbed). That outing became my onboarding, and I became the Mushy of Doodles.
Although originally just the community manager, my time at Doodles was always much more than that as one of the first full-time hires. While there were moments I felt like I could have been doing more, it was more often that I didn't have enough time to do it all. At Doodles, I wore many different hats throughout the startup experience. There were times I was solely focused on the community, pulled into helping with partnerships, handling a bit of marketing, running the online shop, supporting our events, troubleshooting our launches, or just being the (good) ideas guy. As the team grew, some of those hats were passed along, but one thing that always stuck with me the whole way through was the community. Community was always first for me. Whether it be simple thoughts like "would they like this?" or "how do we make it better for them?" the goal was always to keep them in mind every step of the way.
Many times, we community managers feel the energy from both the community and team, driving us to do as much as we can for everyone. We spread ourselves thin and are constantly on the front lines for both sides. It sounds horrible, and it is horrible sometimes, but we put ourselves in here because we want to be the ones asking "why" for you. Some of the times that it feels horrible generally tend to be when we feel like we can't help. There's nothing worse than seeing the frustrations of the community or the team and not being able to do something or say something that would ease the concerns. Other times, it may feel horrible simply because people are forgetful; people forget that others in the community, the team, and myself are real people. It shouldn't be an ask for people to be personable, but it unfortunately is.
On the other hand, the role is (usually) much more rewarding than it is painful. I've had my face plastered on Twitter by bad actors, threats in the DMs and in public, and have had to battle all types of random problems. Despite all of this, being the Mushy of Doodles for my community was (almost) always worth it. Throughout my time in web3, I've met many people I'd always looked up to and some others I fully intend to invite to my wedding one day. The biggest perk of being one of the front-facing employees of the team is that these relationships come naturally. And of course, I've learned a ton.
One thing I've always thought about the "community manager" role is that it is completely different for everyone. But as cliché as it is, I believe that's how it should be. There is no one way to lead your community and it genuinely becomes what you make of it. For those looking to get into it, I've always advised to be yourself and rise up to the role within the community you want to help grow. Once you get there, decide how you want to lead your community.
For me, the goal was and is always not to "manage" my community, but more so to be their person, be someone they can respect while still being welcoming enough for them to comfortably reach out to. Something I've said often is that my role is to establish and provide a safe space and tools for them to flourish; to create a breeding ground for genuine community members and relationships. And I'm always happy to see it working out.
Azuki: A Helping Hand
Unlike other crypto-native projects, Azuki stands out for its exceptional support system, setting a benchmark for how a community manager should be treated and valued.
By delegating certain tasks to different roles and allowing for an easy streamline of communication, the community department is able to get things done a lot more quickly and efficiently.
Their system is broken into multiple parts:
Dem: Head of Community
Rose: Community Manager
Aez: Community Lead / Support
Community Mods (Discord)
Dem leads the community department, serving as the primary decision-maker on all community-related matters. While he handles a variety of responsibilities, his main role is to communicate directly with the founders (though others can also reach out to them, this is his specific duty). Additionally, he channels feedback, helps develop community strategies, and conducts one-on-one calls with community members.
Rose and Aez manage a diverse portfolio of projects, prioritizing community engagement on both Twitter and Discord. They offer valuable insights into current sentiments, advise on launch strategies to ensure positive feedback, lead and participate in Twitter Spaces and Discord stages, and create engaging dialogues for community members. Additionally, they develop comprehensive sentiment reports and community strategies.
Rose oversees the entire moderation team, which is structured and managed by the lead moderator, Hana. Along with a global team providing 24/7 coverage, the community moderators are trained under Rose's guidance. Their responsibilities include ensuring the security of the Discord server, assisting with support tickets, maintaining order to prevent excessive FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), directing content through the appropriate channels, and being on standby during the team's off hours. Additionally, the moderation team actively engages on Twitter to interact with the community and gather sentiment.
Chiru Labs, the parent company of Azuki, is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, where most of the team operates. This central location facilitates seamless communication. For team members across various time zones, the company employs Slack, video calls, and other communication tools to ensure effective alignment and coordination.
If other companies and projects (that could afford to build out a bigger support system) followed this trajectory, it would catapult their community to the next level.
Want to be a CM? Here's What to Expect
If you’re looking to become a Community Manager, this section is definitely worth reading.
Understand the Crypto Ecosystem + Current Market Trends
You need to be in tune with what is going on in crypto on a daily basis, because crypto is a very fast moving industry with hundreds of things happening per week. If you’ve been in this industry, you understand that missing a day feels like missing a week, missing a week feels like missing a month, etc.
The more you are knowledgeable about the foundation of crypto, the better. If you understand other branches (DeFi, NFTs, Memecoins, Leverage, etc.), you give yourself a major advantage over both competition and your daily work-life.
Usually a couple of years experience in the crypto space is what is required on resumes (as it should be since most applications are for start-ups).
Identifying the Target Audience
This is a given. Know who your community is, and if they align as also being a target audience for the product that your company is building. Research and analyze to get an idea of the community’s needs and interests, and see if that lines up with your target audience. The more you understand your community, the easier it is to streamline communications between the two parties.
Defining Clear and Achievable Goals for the Community
This isn’t the company’s job, this is for YOU to take the initiative on. Brainstorm, outline, rough draft. Build it out, take it to the team for review, and then finalize it.
Setting these clear guidelines will help strengthen the communications with your co-workers on what you need.
Know How to Manage Different Platforms
Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Telegram, Warpcast, etc. Whatever the job role consists of, know those social platforms from the back of your hand.
If you’re more of a Social Media Manager like Twitter, Instagram and Warpcast, know how to be a reply guy, answer DMs and communicate messages to the team, understand memes, have an approval process for drafting up official posts all the way to actually sending them out, etc.
If you’re more of a Discord, Telegram or Reddit moderator, be quick to responses, understand how support tickets work for receiving feedback or ensuring users can get the proper assistance, make sure to have a security auditor to ensure that the servers / socials cannot get compromised, know how to post announcements and not spam users with the @everyone tag, etc.
You should familiarize yourself with business platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Suites, Zoom, etc. This is important when communicating with your team. Understand the basic features so you don’t waste extra time on the job. Being educated on design and editing softwares like Figma, Adobe Suite, ProCreate, FCPX, etc. is good to have in your pockets.
Creative Thinking Skills and Multitasking Aficionado
Pretty self-explanatory, don’t need to say much more than that.
Under Pressure & Ability to Adapt and Improve Quickly
In the crypto space, you need this. You have to be light on your feet, being able to be flexible and spontaneous if necessary, to wing it, and to do things on the fly if requested.
A lot of times, you might feel under pressure. You need to be able to operate under that pressure in a start-up environment.
Good Writing, PR, and Reviewing Skills
You’ll be typing a lot in this role. You’ll need to be good at writing for sure, or at the very least have the basics down and rapidly improve.
Positive Attitude
Always need to have a positive attitude (and mindset) in this line of work. A lot of things can break or completely flip a 180 when you last expect it to. And because you’re talking to many people, you need to have a smile on your face even if you don’t feel like it at times.
Setting Boundaries
One of the biggest issues that Community Managers fall on is that they don’t know how to set boundaries. So I’m going to teach you how.
Be Competitive with Salary
In the last couple of years, even getting a high 5-figure salary as a CM position was mind-blowing. Companies back then did not value positions like these as much, as community management was still a newer role in the crypto space.
Now, we’re seeing companies begin to ramp up the salary by two, maybe three fold.
Know your worth. Don’t settle for less. Understand the tasks of what the company wants and if the price is an under-ball, negotiate.
I can’t help you with the negotiations though, that is something you’ll have to learn on your own.
Request for Help & Delegate Tasks
As mentioned with Azuki, the company that you’re working for needs a strong foundation when handing over tasks to the community department.
Ideally, you should have another person in the community dept that can help you with things that you cannot get done on your own, or an appointed higher-up that can take certain issues to the executives and ensure that things that are out of your control can be handled.
At the same time, do not overwhelm yourself with more tasks than you are given. In a start-up world, you have to be multifaceted; but that does NOT mean you have to push yourself to do the extra mile every time. You can help with partnerships, you can help with social media management, you can do this and that. But you should not add those to your role if that’s not what you’re being paid for. Communicate to the higher-ups that while you may be able to assist, you will not do their work for them.
Furthermore, if you have community members who truly align with how you execute, don't hesitate to promote them to a moderator position (paid or unpaid) and delegate them tasks as well; they would be honored to help be a part of that journey and understand that you are not a robot, you need rest.
Take Breaks to Prevent Burnout
Being on Twitter, Discord, and other platforms 8-12 hours a day non-stop staring at a screen is unhealthy for you.
Learn to set timers and get up every 20-30 minutes, stay hydrated, go on a daily walk and clear your head, and do other activities in between work.
The last thing you want to do is ruin your mental and physical health for the sake of a job. Your eyes need rest, give it to them.
Don't Get Too Emotional
This is one of the harder things to maintain, because we reside in a very emotional ecosystem. But you need to keep your head on straight, trying to stay as unbiased as possible and not allowing people to anger you.
Breaks really do help with this boundary.
But we also have the next section to help prevent this.
Establish Clear Guidelines: Moderation
As a CM, you (and community moderators you delegate tasks to) have a ban hammer for a reason. Discord gives you multiple options: timeout, kick, or ban.
Use a 3 strike rule to warn members and keep track of their behavior. As the person in charge, it is up to you on how you set those rules.
Stick by those rules and try to be as unbiased as you can.
Be Mindful of What You Write Online
This is pretty obvious. You (as not just a CM, but individually) have a reputation to uphold. Whatever you put on the internet stays on there forever, and can sometimes come back to bite you in the butt.
Treat everyone with respect, and try your best not to lose your temper when things are heating up between you and another party.
DO NOT SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION
This is a major key alert right here. It is none of the community’s business to know about what goes on in your personal life more than what you feel comfortable sharing.
Do not be quick to trust anyone. Keep yourself on guard at all times. Not much more needs to be said on this.
Conclusion
Wow. This was a long article to write, if I’m being honest. Took days. Was about to yeet myself off a cliff.
I wanted to make sure I covered as much as I could so you could get all the education you need in one place. If you know of anyone who wants to learn more about Community Management and might even be potentially interested in pursuing this role, please share this article with them.
And if you become a Community Manager, just know:
I’M PROUD OF YOU.
