How to become a DISCORD MANAGER ?
AUGUST 7TH, 2022
Hakim Bendada (#Baliddir8653) is a freelance discord manager with a gaming background. He has also studied information systems. Quiet a techie profile, you might think!
He claims you don’t need to have any technical/gaming background to become a discord manager.
As a matter of fact, he stumbled upon this career choice by accident, he jumped in to help a graphic designer friend who was working on a web3 project which required his expertise of Discord to set up their server.
Discord management is one of the new roles in web3 that are full of potential to help host and grow communities around projects. As a community platform, Discord is accessible, safe, and easy to use.
This article has been written following his interview for FLEET podcast. Thanks to Hakim Bendada for answering our questions.
So, what does the Discord Manager do?
A Discord Manager (DM) is the person behind creating, structuring and monitoring discord servers. As Baliddir puts it creating a Discord is like building a video game, implementing all the rules and ensuring all members play fairly, that there is no cheating and that everyone is having fun.
An interesting part is the possibility for the D.M. to gamify the different roles on the server and encourage members to improve their status in the community: you can create various roles, reward different levels of engagement, and use it to send your community on different quests as well. Very much like role-playing in the gaming world, you can set up deadlines and have winners.
Why has Discord become a crucial platform in web3?
Discord has one quality over other existing platforms: it is very accessible and allows you to structure all info about your projects seamlessly. In the web3 world, « it serves as a bridge between the project and the community it is targeting.»
The UX/ UI makes Discord a platform that is smooth to navigate. As a community platform destined to reunite members, the accessibility aspect plays a crucial part. The Discord Manager is here to structure the space, monitor the activity, guarantee a safe experience and build it to reflect the community’s ambitions.
Another element that sets Discord apart is the possibility of integrating bots.
Bots work like mini-assistants to ease interactions between the server and the external world. They are pretty helpful when it comes to automating time-consuming tasks (file sharing via google drive or sharing Twitter threads, for example). Bots also help you verify that users are real humans, which is critical for security.
In NFT/ Web3, there are well-known bots such as MEE6 or Dyno (for moderation) and some others dedicated to adding analytics to the servers, more integrations… there are endless possibilities.
Which skills are required to become a Discord Manager?
Even though it is heavily influenced by the gaming industry, it is not necessary to have a gamer background. Instead, Discord Managers often have a developer or a community builder background, and their most important skillsets are:
Great sense of observation: they should be on the hunt for what the community is looking for and educate on this specific point. It needs to be relevant to that particular community. There is a vast difference between an Adidas sneaker project and a service provision platform. It needs to be catered to what the community wishes for
Research & Strategy: it is not enough to create the Discord server; it also needs structure. For example, Gucci opened a Discord but failed to retain members because of a lack of strategy to get retention.
A lot of organisation: especially if you divide your time between different projects (with many events, and many other teams involved)
What are the benefits of becoming a Discord Manager?
For Baliddir, the main advantage has been working on various projects (corporate, artistic, animation studios…). And the diversity of projects will only be exponential as web 3 goes mainstream: many brands are joining the party and for now Discord is most convenient to reach the Cryptophiles audience: they all have an account on it already.
How do you organiZe yourself as a Discord Manager?
First of all, when onboarding on a new project, you need to make sure to be integrated to the team and have well established processes to collaborate together. This is particularly important when your assignments are across different time zones, making sure the members’ questions will get answered - even when it is 2 AM at yours. The Discord Manager works closely to the social media manager and moderators.
When it comes to the number of projects to take simultaneously, it depends on your level of investment and the nature of the project, size of server / community… For NFT projects, Baliddir recommends no more than 5 at once otherwise you risk getting confused between too many different universes: for him it is crucial to keep things separated.
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL DAY AS A discord manager ?
A typical day in a Discord Manager’s shoes could look somehow like this:
Monitoring and structuring the servers activities (planning) for the week or the month
Communicate with the Discord team (coordination of graphic material, handling tickets and making sure all members get an answer…)
Research: check for what’s new on web3, about Discord security and functionalities, in NFTs in order to propose something fresh and optimal for clients on a consistent basis.
The research part is something not to underestimate as this world is still very new. Baliddir dedicates at least 50% of his time to research to stay relevant and top of mind.
How to transition to a Discord Manager role ?
If you’ve been working with Discord in the past you will have no trouble making it as a Discord Managers in web 3. Note that if you have developer skills, it would be interesting to do discord management, adding a technical edge (getting more into the heavy structuring part of setting the server and community, developing personalized bots…)
If you’ve been a community manager in web 2, you can learn the technical aspect of discord management and get started pretty quick. The most difficult part is always to get started. To that regard, Baliddir’s number #1 advice is to start small: craft your own Discord server and invite your friends to post your vacation pictures, for example :) or just use it for yourself to follow various servers and see how they are ran, what inspires you !
Any other advice & Best practices for the newbies?
Yes, here are some other key tasks to have on your to-do list:
Before transitioning, start researching how your current job and skills could be useful in a discord manager role. You certainly have your place in the Web 3 space, and not all Discord managers had the same path.
As you create your own Discord server, play with the voice channels and bot integrations, to get familiar with the way they work and the possibilities they offer
Learning about security settings is crucial in Web 3. Discord servers tend to get hacked when their focus is on NFTs, scammers target their members to try and get them to compromise their wallets ! Discord allows you to set up specific access levels to your server: you can restrict access to certain channels, data, and files if people do not have a specific role.
The most important KPIs for a Discord Manager?
Key elements to look at include:
The retention of new users. You should aim to have at least 15% retention rate.
The activity of the servers. You can measure that via the number of messages per min. To give you an idea, the most successful Discord servers in web 3 have between 200 and 2000 messages / minute.
To get to that kind of performance, how you set up your server and how you get your community engaged, interested and involved will be something you need to address working on your community strategy.
How to take on new projects as a freelance Discord Manager?
As a beginner, it will perhaps be tricky to negotiate the best rates, and identify the most reliable clients. That’s why getting a mentor who already has a foot in the sector can be very helpful. They can help you check the traceability of projects to recognize what is legit and what might be a scam.
As a general rule, you’ll need background checks before hopping on any project: especially if you get on an NFT project where founders are not doxxed / don’t have a reputation to rely on —pay special attention to their end goal, roadmap and vision, if they’re consistent when talking about it.
How about pricing your services and getting paid ?
Some will base their pricing on the number of members of the server, but Baliddir does not think it’s wise. Instead, focus on the user experience, security and proactivity as elements to consider for your pricing, since the community growth is not necessarily based on your work, depending on the team you work with and your skillsets.
When it comes to getting paid, what is best for you? Crypto or Fiat? Wouldn’t it be interesting to have crypto to invest? Ask yourself what is relevant for your specific case. For example, can you easily accept and work around crypto where you’re based? It might be trickier in some countries, so being paid in fiat would be a better option.
Another essential element is taxation. If NFTs are not very present where you’re located, it might be difficult to explain where your payment is coming from to the tax office.
Any other advice?
As a Discord Manager, we tend to identify ourselves with our community. If the project doesn’t take off, remind yourself that Discord is just one element of a whole system. Its success cannot be achieved only by Discord. Don’t forget that there needs to be an entire business plan and strategy supporting that.
Don’t stay alone. Tag along with your peers and start building your network. A great way to start doing so is to reach out to Baliddir! You can reach out to him:
On Fleet’s Discord server: Baliddir#8653 (apply to join us !)
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Baliddir