Forming a Community Strategy

forming a Community Strategy Jim Jacoby Carolyn Chandler

integrating community into your overall strategy

benefits of building a successful community
Insight into customer needs and perceptions
Ability to respond and innovate
Increasing brand awareness
Increasing loyalty
IF you start an authentic conversation and sustain it according to expectations

Q: what can happen if you don’t have a community strategy ?

crickets target audience and need do not match right audience, weak need poor execution ineffective marketing

junk yards
[email_address]
non-friends
unfriends
lack of spam filters insufficient privacy options stale value

Flame Wars and Spam war zones insufficient moderation lack of self-monitoring tools Flame Warriors by Mike Reed http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/

angry mobs rules instead of guidelines censorship personal data violations unfair/unclear business practices poorly communicated changes

You just sent invitations to 328 Google contacts asking them to join. Thank you for joining the Britney Spears fan club! Including that Director you interviewed with yesterday. social embarassments

risks/considerations when building a community
You relinquish some control of brand presentation
It brings out customer opinions, which can be negative
If you don’t meet expectations, community members may revolt
Moderation, security, support and response is an ongoing need

Q: how do you determine whether or not to build your own community ?

the decision to build your own community
Is it a key element of a supported strategic objective ?
Is there enough compelling value to break through the competition for attention? Be realistic!
Is the company committed and able to support and nurture the community?
Can existing channels be used to meet your objectives, instead?

Q: still want to build your own? let’s talk planning

community development model Reach people Focus understanding Motivate activity Protect integrity Reveal patterns Nurture community

creating a mnemonic for R F M P R N Acronomics.com by Erick Robertson

personal favorites
R emote F riendships M ade... P urposeful R elationships N egotiated
R egretfully F orums M ay P romote R epugnant N etiquette R edheads F or M eeting P rofessional R ich N eurosurgeons

R emote F riends M ake P retty R eal N etworks

reach people

social network

Understand and define potential members
Learn from their current community behavior
Define a statement that speaks to them
reach people

value proposition what our product or service can do for you aspiration what we can do together

Opp example
Reach people

Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Commitment
Sign Up
Repeated Use
Advocacy
reach people

focus understanding focus understanding

focus understanding
What is this?
What’s in it for me?
What can I do here?
What can’t I do here? (guidelines, seeding)
Are there different roles involved?

motivate activity

motivate activity
Understand common motivations
Consider at least 3 levels
personal (important!)
group
community
Create Motivators that align with motivations and facilitate activity

greeting card moments

relationships self close friends/family strong removed ties weak ties general public Interest groups, most friends, close colleagues Complete strangers Acquaintances. professional connections Almost extensions of self

connection motivations: youtube self weak ties general public emulate closeness teaching/ learning entertainment celebrity/ strong removed ties close friends/family

protect integrity

protect integrity
Overall site security
Protecting member information
Ensuring appropriate interactions
Moderating
Spam prevention
Community self-monitoring

Q: is it a still a community if the members can’t interact with each other directly ?

donation motivations: OptINnow self weak ties general public unified action solidarity trust trendiness strong removed ties close friends/family personal impact

participation motivations: OptINnow self weak ties general public unified action strong removed ties close friends/family personal impact visibility visibility visibility interaction solidarity trust trendiness

reveal patterns

reveal patterns
Reveal patterns internally to allow for better understanding and reaction
If appropriate, use patterns for powerful crowd features including motivators
Encourage crowd filtering for good content
Anticipate gaming; create “dials” if needed

Amazon example
?

nurture community

nurture community
Ensure a solid, open platform
Listen, listen, listen
Have ideas on features and communication
Consider milestones by size of community
Be prepared to react to feedback – and the unexpected

NEC case study

Questions?
thank you

results of speaking at Business to Buttons
400 attendees overall
34 at the presentation
33 pieces of green paper
4 new potential partners
3 mad dashes in the airport
2 lost bags
25 herrings eating

Forming a Community Strategy

by cchandler73 on Aug 07, 2008

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