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How do you connect? 09
Webinar: Managing Online Communities
July 28, 2009

Imagination Publishing
 Founded in 1994, Chicago-based
 55 full-time custom media and integrated marketing
communications professionals
 Award-winning, account-dedicated editors and designers
 Turnkey services, print & digital media, community
engagement, advertising sales, marketing, production &
channel distribution experts, translations
 Original, never re-purposed editorial
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Imagination Publishing works with clients to develop
powerful content that helps them connect with their
audience at a deeper level:
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AGP (a division of Imagination) works with associations
to develop powerful content that helps them connect
with their members at a deeper level:
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Print
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Digital
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Social Media Case Studies
 Social Media
Strategy
 Content Distribution
 Twitter/Facebook
 Best Practices
 Library Usage  Small Business Consultants
Campaign Campaigns
 Twitter/Facebook  External Listening/
 External Seeding Seeding
 PPC Campaigns
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 Community Management for
Pillsbury & Betty Crocker  Two Blogs
 External Listening  External Seeding
 External Seeding  External Listening
 Twitter/Facebook/Flickr  Brand Management

Associations & Community
 #1 Reason to join: NETWORKING!
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Social Media Landscape
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Source: Gary Hayes & Laurel Papworth 2006

Why Manage a Community
 No activity without activity
 Need to listen and respond
 Liability
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 User-generated content
 Priorities and resources

Be Social
 Practice “Power Friending”
 Be where your members are
 Join the conversation
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 Add value
 Turn the bull horn toward you

What & Why
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Engagement Strategy
Distribution
Content
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ROI Awareness
Reach

Sample Engagement Strategy – Content
Outreach/Acquisition
Social Media Blogging & Events Find, Follow, Listen,
Marketing Microblogging Learn, Engage
Viral Awareness
Guest/Featured Web 2.0 Features SEO & Social Media Profiles
Bloggers (Ratings and Link Building
Comments)
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Content Plan
 Content buckets
 Extensions, Exclusives and Expansions to populate
digital properties
 Content and media types: text, rich media, audio, video
 Calls for user-generated content 15
 Frequency and timing

Best Practices
 Content: Use high quality, targeted content that is varied
and interesting to add value, engage users and create a
connection between them and the brand.
 Frequency: Establish a good frequency of updates, (too
many = noise, too few = forgotten), with a casual yet
informative tone that engages your core audience with
content.
 Integration: Leverage the traffic from multiple channels by 16
connecting multiple social platforms and a hub from the
website to help funnel consumers throughout the network.

Marketing & Distribution Plan
 Push/Pull with print, digital and event content
 Consistent blogs/microblogs for timeliness and
immediacy
 User personas and user paths
 Seed, moderate and generate conversations 17
 Content tagging and linkbacks
 Rewrite/edit existing content for maximum SEO

Sample Engagement Strategy – Distribution
Push Distribution
Email Conferences & Blogging & Content Seeding Social Media
Virtual Events Microblogging & Syndication Marketing
Pull Distribution
Community Events & Blogging & SEO & Social Media
Virtual Events Microblogging Link Building Marketing
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Managing the Change
Targeted print Targeted Email Internal Press Releases Social Media
mailing, invitation invitation Marketing and Marketing
to new website Communication

Community Best Practices
 Develop a Plan Frequency, Requirements, Content types,
Success measures
 Prepare Organization Communicate, Set policies, Rapid
response planning
 Integrate Leverage multi-channel content to drive activity,
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align messaging
 Identify Key Influencers Recruit members, evangelists
 Grow & Maintain Engage community, Extend reach
 Gather, Report & Act Information, Trends, Feedback

Outcomes
 More activity
 Responsiveness
 SMM goals
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 Member benefit goals
 Member intelligence

Measuring Success
Qualitative
 Measure reputation, conversations, customer relationships
 Benchmarks:
– What is our product/industry social involvement?
– How are we currently talked about? Versus our competitors?
 Measure Change:
– Appearing new places, in new ways?
– Moved from monologue to a meaningful dialogue with
customers?
 Find, follow, listen, learn and engage 21
Quantitative
 Measure traffic, sales or SEO ranking
 Membership, participation and engagement
 Reach, response, brand awareness

Success Measures
Awareness Metrics
 Log ins
 Visits and visitors
 Social network mentions, views, seeding
 Content share, print and bookmarks
Engagement Metrics
 Comments/discussions
 Site duration
 Downloads/postings
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 Searches
Value Metrics
 Business intelligence
 Memberships
 Event sign-ups

Sample ROI & Measurement
Site Metrics
Visits/Visitors Site Duration Trending Content Views
Content Reach
Email Print/Download RSS & Social Event Registrations
Bookmarks
User Engagement 23
Email Questions & Comments Community Polls & Surveys
Requests & Ratings Involvement
Business Intelligence
User‐generated Social Media Monitoring Community Activity Brand Value
Content & Equity

Management Imperatives
 Transformation to a bottom-up culture requires
support from the top
 The best uses come from users—but they need help
to scale
 What’s in the workflow is what gets used
 Appeal to participants’ egos and needs
 The right solution comes from the right participants
 Balance the top-down and self-management of risk 24
 Leverage partnerships to extend reach, share content
and drive conversation

How do you connect?
Rebecca Rolfes
EVP, Association Growth Partners
(a division of Imagination Publishing)
600 West Fulton Street, Suite 600
Chicago, IL 60661
(312) 887-1000 ext. 113
rrolfes@imaginepub.com