Presentation given on #ehsaldmc on 7 March 2013. Talks about what a community is, why to build one, how to start and nurture a community and measure success.

1. Community building
beyond social
Koen Delvaux
@kodel

2. DEFINE A COMMUNITY
@kodel

3. Social Media is easy
Community building is hard
a decent online course
costs $8000 USD
‘community management’=
moderating a social media presence =
not what this is about
@kodel

4. values
community
activity interest
@kodel

5. MECHANISM BEHIND COMMUNITIES
@kodel

6. • network • force of like
• learn minded people
• make friends • get project done
• find work • influence
• get access • defend interest
YOU WIN/WIN COMMUNITY
When you provide value to others,
it will reflect positively on you
@kodel

7. The pyramid of influence
source: Alex de Carvalho, @alexdc
@kodel

8. source:
Alex de Carvalho, @alexdc @kodel

9. source:
Alex de Carvalho, @alexdc @kodel

10. source:
Alex de Carvalho, @alexdc @kodel

11. source:
Alex de Carvalho, @alexdc @kodel

12. source:
Alex de Carvalho, @alexdc @kodel

13. source:
Alex de Carvalho, @alexdc @kodel

14. WHY BUILD A COMMUNITY?
@kodel

15. Companies want communities to
• Do marketing for them (wrong!)
• Learn how they can become better
• Delegate work to people outside
• Do market research
• Develop a product or service
• Lower support cost
• Decrease churn
@kodel

16. EXAMPLES
@kodel

17. Lego
@kodel

18. RC Groups
@kodel

19. Banana Hobby
(vendor of RC stuff, subforum on RC Groups)
@kodel

20. Zappy Baby
@kodel

21. Natuurpunt
@kodel

22. Patients Like Me
@kodel

23. HR community Belgium
@kodel

24. ‘Samen Groener’
(initiative by Lampiris & Natuurpunt)
@kodel

25. Cocreation group
(initiative by Lampiris)
@kodel

26. Internal community
(based on the Yammer platform)
@kodel

27. HOW TO BUILD A COMMUNITY?
@kodel

28. The first steps (how to start)
• Select people (start with common interest)
• Propose what to do together
• Get exposure for the work, even if small
• Talk about goals (eliminate on values)
• Define membership
• Give active people a higher status
• Attract new people from network of existing
• Create core group to steer the initiative
• Get together physically (show the activity)
@kodel

29. Critical Success Factors
Membership: a feeling of belonging
Purpose: goals of members match those of the
community
Identity: members have a way to express that
they are part of the community
Influence: members feel they can influence and
be influenced by the community
Attachment: members share an emotional
connection
@kodel

30. Roles in community building
source: Forrester, online community best practices
@kodel

31. COMMUNITY LIFECYCLE
@kodel

32. Phase 1: Inception
• Focus on growth
• Develop relationships with potential
members
• Nurture an active core group
• Foster tone and style
The community reaches critical mass when
>50% of growth and activity is generated by
members.
source: the pillar summit
@kodel

33. Phase 2: Establishment
• Focus on activity
• Deepen sense of community
• Broaden outreach
• Create content for and about the
community
50 to 90% of growth and activity is
generated by members.
source: the pillar summit
@kodel

34. Phase 3: Maturity
• Focus on scaling the community
• Maintain sense of community
• Assess and opimize processes
• Co-create content and develop collective
value
More than 90% of growth and activity is
generated by members.
source: the pillar summit
@kodel

35. Phase 4: Mitosis
• Focus on division and expansion
• Monitor for subcommunity developments
• Consult community
• Conceive and establish new community
Repeat life cycle process for each new
community.
source: the pillar summit
@kodel

36. HOW TO MEASURE
@kodel

37. Measuring success: quantitative
• Number of interactions versus number of
members (=activity)
• How many people communicate externally
about their membership?
• (if applicable) growth
or requests for membership
• Value in $, e.g. number of ideas
generated x value per idea + number of
times mentioned on internet + value per
mention
@kodel

38. Measuring success: qualitative
Set KPI’s for the previous parameters, but
don’t forget to also define your goals:
• retention
• acquisition
• customer care
• lowering development cost
• increasing product to market fit
@kodel