Social Communities
A simple explanation of the Holy Grail of
Social Media
Mark Parker
Smart Social Media
mparker@smartselling.com

Introduction
• This presentation is an extract of a presentation we developed to
present to TEC groups (The Executive Connection)
present to TEC groups (The Executive Connection)
• The master presentation is titled
Social Media Explained – A CEO to CEO Perspective
• The basic premise of the presentation is that social media is not
about tools or marketing

Communities
• A Social Community is an online space where users can
interact and communicate around ideas, tasks, concepts,
interact and communicate around ideas tasks concepts
or goals
• A Social Community brings together the many tools of
social media into a single, branded presence
• Blogs
• Social networks
• Forums
• Content sharing, Ratings and rankings
h d k
• Ideas management

What Communities are Around Us?
Known Content
Social Content
S i lC
Social
networking

Communities – Key Points
• Communities are the Holy Grail of social media
• With the right strategy, resources, tools, and execution
they will underpin sustainable business growth and
competitive advantage
• Whilst the represent the Holy Grail, they are also the
p y , y
toughest challenge – a sustained investment of
resources, time, and money

Communities Comprise Neighbourhoods

Communities – A TEC Example
• TEC Comprises natural neighbourhoods and categories
• For example – TEC Members interested in direct
l b d d
marketing policy and compliance would share/contribute
to a category
to a category

Communities – An Australian Example
• EDNA – a social community for teachers and educators
• http://www.edna.edu.au
• Built on the Ning platform it includes all the popular tools
Built on the Ning platform it includes all the popular tools
in a co‐ordinated way
• Blogs
Bl
• Social networks
• Forums
• Content sharing, Ratings and rankings
Content sharing Ratings and rankings
• Ideas management

Communities – The EDNA Example

What Did You See?

What Did You See?
The
The
Community

What Did You See?
The
The
Community
Neighbourhoods

What Did You See?
The
The
Community
Categories Neighbourhoods

What Did You See?
My profile
The
The
Community
Categories Neighbourhoods

What Did You See?
My profile
The
The
Community
Categories Neighbourhoods
Help me get
somewhere fast

What Did You See?
My profile
The
The
Community
Useful Tools Neighbourhoods
Help me get Categories
somewhere fast

Communities ‐ in context
; y
1. Time Loss Risk – Low; because the community becomes
a source of knowledge
2. Business Relevance – Extremely high
3. Potential for Reputation Damage – Low to medium
3 Potential for Reputation Damage – Low to medium
4. Business Investment – Medium to high
g
5. Upside – Extremely High
6. Thoughts – Has incredible potential. Can be deployed in
a variety of ways
a variety of ways

Background
Smart Social Media
• We’re a special business unit of Smart Selling International Pty Ltd
• We’re not a marketing or PR agency.
• Our goal is to become Australia’s leading social business design
company.
Contact Us
Mark Parker
M: +61 (414) 72 5549
E: mparker@smartsocialmedia.com.au or mparker@smartselling.com
W: Smart Social Media
Acknowledgements
Images used in this presentation:
1. Slide 2 – Dave Wilkins, formerly of Mzinga
2. Slide 4 – Mike Lewis & Awareness Networks