Why communi+es are forever changing
How we work, live, advocate, buy & believe
2009 Community Conference
Copenhagen, Denmark
ly
ois Kel , 2009
L
31
March
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Stories
Stats: TribalizaDon of Business Study
Successes
“Social” business planning
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1992:
AOL miscarriage community
(simple message boards)
June 1995: success!
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1998: entrepreneur, consul+ng community
(forums)
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2001: “Save the bridge” community
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What the community accomplished!
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2005
Easy‐to‐use, inexpensive plaUorm is “+pping point”
• 900,000 communi+es: Feb. 2009
• 4,000 new communi+es a day
• 60% US/40% outside US
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2009: plaUorm, culture of par+cipa+on
Employees, customers all have power to
behave how they’re hardwired to behave:
humanly, tribally.
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GREATEST CHALLENGES: PARTICIPATION, INTEREST
Early results 2009 Tribaliza,on of Business Study
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WHAT MAKES COMMUNITIES SUCCESSFUL
• Clear purpose
• Deeply‐felt and/or widely felt issue
• Help and get help: people you trust
“People eagerly engage when they
want something to improve.
Seth Godin, Tribes
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..TRUST ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN DENMARK
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FEATURES THAT MAKE COMMUNITIES EFFECTIVE
Early results 2009 Tribaliza,on of Business Study
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VALUE OF COMMUNITIES TO BUSINESS, NON‐PROFITS
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2
3
5
4
Early results 2009 Tribaliza,on of Business Study
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SUCCESS: UNEXPECTED VALUE OF COMMUNITIES
INSIGHTS & IDEAS
• We're just 3 months old but already member suggesDons are opening
development ideas not imagined day one. Unlimited source of R&D and
product development
SALES
• Higher sales average per community member ($1,200) compared to
typical customer ($500)
• Sales were not part of the iniDal metrics, but we got an unexpected
number of sales that originated from the community.
MARKETING
• Customers are creaDng their own markeDng in the community
PUBLIC RELATIONS
• The community is replacing our public relaDons
Early results 2009 Tribaliza,on of Business Study
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SOCIAL BUSINESS PLANNING
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Ask 5 simple ques+ons
1. Why are we doing this?
2. How will people benefit?
3. Do they care enough?
4. What do we expect to get?
5. How will we measure?
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BE CUSTOMER‐CENTRIC VS. PRODUCT‐CENTRIC
Two communi+es for small businesses: Do you want to talk
about finance, markeDng, management or office products?
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FOCUS ON BEHAVIORAL TRIBES VS. DEMOGRAPHIC
SEGMENTS
Scrapbooking
Mothers
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THINK NETWORKS VS. CHANNELS
Research results:
IBM Employee Network
ConnecDng
Campaigning
Climbing
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MEASURE AGAINST BUSINESS PURPOSE…
New product ideas?
Earn customer confidence?
Reduce customer service
costs?
Awareness in category?
Reduce training, educaDon
costs?
Change percepDons? …AND DESIGN FOR BUSINESS PURPOSE
Get votes, get sales?
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Is the juice worth the squeeze?
“CommuniDes can be a huge Dme suck.
You need to determine if the investment
in the hard costs and the sol costs
(Dme, etc) are worth the results that you
hope to gain. Many are just winging it
and hoping to see a lil.”
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Do you need more “social” but not a community?
Customer Reviews:
Panasonic.com
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ARE YOU USING OTHER SOCIAL STRATEGIES?
Cost, Complexity Business Value
Social sharing sites low low
Badges, widgets low low
Tagging low moderate
Ecosystem mapping low moderate
Twitter low moderate
Monitoring low/moderate moderate
Social “mediafying” content moderate high
YouTube moderate moderate
Blogging up level moderate moderate/high
Ambassadors moderate Moderate/high
Webstorming Moderate/high Moderate/high
Communities Moderate/high Moderate/high
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LEARN FROM UNION ORGANIZERS
1. Organize around issues people
really care about and/or want to
change.
2. To uncover issues, ask good
quesDon, focusing on how people
feel.
3. Get people involved by focusing
on Anger, Hope, AcDon.
4. Keep people moDvated and
involved: inclusion, control,
appreciaDon.
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Resources
Blogs: www.foghound.com
www.beelinelabs.com
www.emergencemarketing.com
Email: lkelly@beelinelabs.com
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