Customers and companies alike increasingly demand the most accurate data from the most authoritative sources. Companies are responding with a new role: Digital Knowledge Manager. In a broad sense, these new roles focus on five skills: investigation, negotiation, communication, thought leadership and building. Instead, the DKM investigates what consumers are demanding and then works to source the data within the organization. Because a DKM must work with many teams, he or she also needs to help arbitrate conflicts among data sources and people within the organization. As technology evolves, so does a brand's responsibilities and opportunities related to digital knowledge. For instance, the DKM should be the first in an organization to know about new intelligent-services features that will require a robust set of digital knowledge. It’s the DKM’s role to spot the opportunity and communicate it to appropriate teams. This is how companies source information and fully leverage that data to provide customer value. It can help attract more customers through an ever-increasing array of intelligent services.
DKMs use all the data a company has to determine what data it needs to solve problems and drive strategy.
The advent of today’s new intelligent services (Google Assistant/Home, Cortana, Siri and others) has created an accelerated curve. Google, Bing, Apple, Yahoo, Amazon and other increasingly intelligent services are driving a good deal of change, with more expected in the future.
This evolution needn’t be scary for search-engine optimization (SEO) managers, brand managers, social media managers or chief marketing officers. It’s actually an exciting opportunity that creates career options for those willing to take on new responsibilities.
In fact, today’s world of structured data needs professionals to provide context for maps, info cards and specific answers. Customers and companies alike increasingly demand the most accurate data from the most authoritative sources. After all, how can an intelligent service be intelligent if it’s wrong?
Companies are responding with a new role: Digital Knowledge Manager. Think of “manager” here as an action, not a title. Real-life examples include Sam Dresser, the Vice President of Knowledge Management and Engagement at School of Rock. Glenn May’s position at T-Mobile is called Senior Category Manager – Local Marketing. Other businesses actively are seeking to create similar positions. In a broad sense, these new roles focus on five skills: investigation, negotiation, communication, thought leadership and building.
Skill 1: Investigation.
A Digital Knowledge Manager, or DKM, is first and foremost someone who can track down all the authoritative sources of knowledge about your brand, people, products, events and locations from within your organization. This could be an easy job at a small company. But it could become a huge undertaking for large corporations. It likely would require conversations with departments such as Marketing, IT, Legal, Facilities, Store Operations and others. It’s no small feat to identify and find all the public facts about your business that you want in customers’ hands.
A good DKM doesn’t simply settle for data the organization says it has. Instead, the DKM investigates what consumers are demanding and then works to source the data within the organization. For instance, Google reports that 70 percent of hotel searches now include a specific type of amenity. A DKM digs into the specifics. What amenities — or granular details — do consumers seeking about your people, products, events and locations today? What will they be tomorrow? An investigative DKM is critically important in this stage.
Skill 2: Negotiation.
Because a DKM must work with many…
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