What Community Managers at Scale Really Need to Succeed

Community managers are no longer just engagement specialists. In enterprise organizations, they are strategic operators responsible for driving measurable business value across global communities. Yet despite the growing importance of the role, many community managers still lack the structure, tools, and support they need to succeed at scale.

As communities grow, so do their complexities. Localized chapters, multi-region teams, cross-functional collaboration, and real-time engagement all require more than just enthusiasm. They require systems.

This blog breaks down the skills, frameworks, and technology community managers need to operate at enterprise scale, based on insights from leading platforms and community experts.

The Evolving Role of the Community Manager

According to Commsor, community managers today function across a wide range of disciplines including marketing, support, customer success, product, and data. At scale, this diversity of responsibility only increases.

Higher Logic reports that 47 percent of community professionals are directly responsible for strategic planning and that number rises in enterprise settings. The role is less about daily posts and more about aligning community goals with business KPIs like retention, expansion, and brand affinity.

The expectations are high and so are the challenges.

Key Challenges Enterprise Community Managers Face

Managing a local chapter or single-region initiative is fundamentally different from orchestrating a global community. Here are the top operational challenges community managers face at scale:

• Fragmented tools and workflows
• Difficulty accessing engagement analytics across chapters
• Manual reporting and repetitive tasks
• Limited access to product or marketing teams
• Burnout from constant context-switching
• Unclear executive alignment or support

When community programs scale without systems, community managers are left with disconnected platforms and invisible outcomes.

What They Really Need to Succeed

After analyzing insights from Commsor, Circle, Higher Logic, and Community-Led Growth, the success of enterprise-level community managers comes down to five core categories.

1. Centralized Technology Infrastructure

Fragmented tools limit efficiency and visibility. Community managers need a centralized platform that combines:

• Event management
• Forums and discussions
• Analytics and reporting
• Organizer communications
• Member insights

Bevy’s all-in-one infrastructure eliminates the need for third-party stitching, allowing community managers to operate from a single source of truth. When workflows live in one place, teams can scale what works and fix what doesn’t, faster.

2. Actionable Analytics and Reporting

Circle’s data shows that community managers struggle to measure impact. At the enterprise level, reporting must go beyond vanity metrics.

They need:

• Real-time attendance and engagement tracking
• Chapter performance dashboards
• Member journey and behavior analytics
• Feedback loops to inform programming

Bevy provides prebuilt and customizable dashboards that give community managers visibility into performance across chapters and time zones. With access to the right data, they can make strategic decisions instead of reactive ones.

3. Automation of Repetitive Workflows

According to BetterMode, administrative overload is a top reason for burnout. At scale, the most successful community managers automate repetitive tasks so they can focus on strategy.

This includes:

• Automated event reminders and RSVPs
• Standardized onboarding for new members and organizers
• Approval workflows for events and content
• Reengagement sequences for inactive members

Bevy’s AI Copilot automates key workflows like these across the community ecosystem, reducing manual burden and increasing operational speed.

4. Clear Career Path and Cross-Team Access

A report by Higher Logic found that nearly 30 percent of community managers have no formal access to marketing, support, or product teams. This silos their impact and diminishes morale.

Enterprise teams should ensure that community managers:

• Have clear access to product feedback channels
• Are looped into campaign planning and go-to-market initiatives
• Report to leadership that understands community value
• Receive mentorship and promotion opportunities

When community managers are seen as strategic collaborators instead of operational executors, the community delivers greater business impact.

5. Peer Support and Professional Development

Community-led growth is not a solo job. Enterprise managers thrive when they have:

• Access to peer learning from other community leaders
• Training on platform features and analytics tools
• Opportunities to showcase their community wins
• Support networks that understand the demands of the role

At Bevy, we’ve seen firsthand how community manager education accelerates success. Our own Community Manager Academy and in-platform knowledge base were designed with this purpose in mind.

The Role of AI in Community Manager Success

AI is quickly becoming a force multiplier for community teams. With Bevy’s AI Copilot, managers can automate event summaries, content recaps, and engagement nudges without manual oversight.

Here’s what AI enables:

• Auto-generated post-event insights
• Predictive recommendations for event topics
• Personalized outreach based on member behavior
• Summarized community health updates for stakeholders

AI doesn't replace the community manager. It amplifies them.

What Enterprise Leaders Should Do

If your company wants community programs to scale, you need to invest in the humans running them. Here’s how to enable your community managers:

• Adopt a unified platform like Bevy to centralize workflows
• Train teams on using data to inform programming
• Automate low-value tasks with AI tools
• Break down silos between marketing, support, and community
• Define community goals tied to business metrics
• Promote from within and support professional growth

This investment translates to stronger communities, more engaged members, and better business outcomes.

Final Thoughts

At scale, community success is not just about active forums or high event turnout. It’s about enabling the people who make it happen. Community managers need infrastructure, automation, data, and support.

They need to be seen as strategic leaders, not just channel owners.

With Bevy, enterprise organizations can give community teams what they need to drive global success — and build communities that are sustainable, measurable, and aligned with business goals.
Is your enterprise community team ready to scale? Talk to our team and see how Bevy’s platform helps community managers succeed across every stage of growth.