Crossing the Chasm and community manager – are they together?

Crossing The Chasm

I borrowed this picture “Technology Adoption Lifecycle” from Wikipedia.

If you haven’t read the book “Crossing the Chasm” by Geoffrey A. Moore – you absolutely should. Even if you are not with technology company! Certain stages of technology development lifecycle are applicable to almost any product area and the corresponding marketing strategies as well.

Why would you think I decided to put this book in a discussion focused on a role of community manager? – Because I think there is a tight connection between a role and skill sets of a community manager and the stage your company is in.

If your company is a start-up trying to get its first set of customers or a company with limited brand awareness then your community manager becomes an extension of sales/marketing “hunting” group. He/she should have proven skills on building communities for unknown brands.

As your company grows, you most likely will need more “farmers” as your community’s manager – people who can manage, “farm”.

Anyway, just wanted to open this up for discussion – do you think there is a difference in skill sets for community manager roles based on a stage of the company’s development?