Online Community Best Practices Final

Agenda • Start with an Objective • Developing a Plan • Getting Your Company Ready • Staff you will need • How to pick a Vendor • Kick-Starting • Growing And Maintaining • Widgets and OpenSocial 4 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examples •A discussion forum where conversations develop •A custom application with profiles and connections •A group within an existing social networking site or email service. •A network of blogs. •Comments on a rating site. •Anywhere conversations and people connect and share. 6 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Usage of Social Networks are High • 2/3 of Teens use Social Networking sites at least monthly • 1/5 of teens use social networks daily • 1/3 of Adults use at least monthly Source: North American Technographics Retail and Marketing Online Youth Survey, Q4 2007 North American Social Technographics Online Survey, Q2, 2007 7 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Communication and Self-Expression important Activity Frequency See what my friends are up to: 86% Sent a message to someone: 79% Posted/updated my profile: 70% Looked at profiles of people I didn’t know: 65% Searched for someone that I used to know: 59% Send a friend/connection request: 53% Listened to music: 47% Read a blog or journal: 51% Wrote on someone’s profile page (e.g., wrote on a wall, posted a 55% testimonial): Watched a video: 40% Sources: North American Technographics Retail And Marketing Online Youth Survey, Q4 2007 8 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

…but who’s in charge? • Control is in the hands of the participants, often yielding seemingly unpredictable results. • Marketers must relinquish control or risk ending up with an empty community or — worse yet — brand backlash. 9 Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

The four step approach to the groundswell P People Assess your customers’ Social Technographics profile O Objectives Decide what you want to accomplish S Strategy Plan for how relationships with customers will change T Technology Decide which social technologies to use 11 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Agenda • Start with an Objective • Developing a Plan • Getting Your Company Ready • Staff you will need • How to pick a Vendor • Kick-Starting • Growing And Maintaining • Widgets and OpenSocial 12 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Objectives: Define deployment Goal Contribution Example Direct customer insight •Insight Communities Listening New product ideas •Scan and monitor existing communities Beta testing Create an emotional •Marketing campaigns attachment. (interactive) Speaking Advertising based on •Advertisements network •Applications, Widgets Excite your biggest fans. Energizing •Media Word of mouth •Customer-created groups Supporting Peer-to-peer support Members become •Ideastorm, SalesForce Embracing contributors 13 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Anatomy of an Effective Plan • Flexibility • One Objective • Needs of Members are put first –not marketers • Policy Creation • Prepare for costs and benefits • Select Success metrics 15 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Flexibility • Adidas created an online community on MySpace.com, the brand developed a six- to 12- month road map that included a design refresh for every three months. 16 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Remember the needs of the community and prepare to participate • Success depends on interests of members first • Valuable Content is defined by what’s valuable to the community — which means most traditional advertising and marketing materials don’t count. » Help docs » Behind-the-scenes videos » Sneak previews 17 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Figure 2: A Taxonomy Of Detractors Why they What you Type of detractor make trouble should do How to recognize Legitimate complainer Needs help with Raises legitimate issue; Solve problems or explain products or may use strong language policies, publicly if services or but seems open to reason possible wants to warn others Competitor Want to promote Continues to mention Engage rationally and competing products other brands; parrots their respectfully with your marketing messages company’s perspective Engaged critic Think they can make Makes suggestions, not Create forum to things better just complaints; responds encourage discussion; intelligently to others’ recognize good ideas criticisms publicly Flamer Like to argue with other Tend to participate in Refocus discussion on members “flame wars” and may higher goals of community have specific other members they target Troublemaker Have a grudge against Complains continuously Address individually and company; hope to create and cannot be satisfied; privately, if complaints problems uses incendiary language continue in face of attempts to resolve, remove from community 18 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Create a community policy, focusing on the desired behavior • Set the tone by developing community guidelines that outline the expected behavior of the community. • Prominently publish desired guidelines “Be Fun, Friendly, and focusing on the positive, Informational.” rather than create a long list of prohibited actions. 19 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Prepare for costs and benefits. • Don’t run out of steam, prepare for all costs: • Hidden costs » Kick-Start Labor » Internal Education » Ongoing Management • Develop a ROI and total cost model • (see online community best practices report) 20 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Build the internal teams first • Part educator, part evangelist, and all customer advocate. • Focus on tangible benefits to company. • Create internal training sessions, call in experts. • Start by connecting with important decision-makers one at a time. 22 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Get an Executive Champion • They often say the word “Customers.” • Your advocate — and defender — as you initiate discussions with other internal stakeholders. 23 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Establish clear lines of responsibility and ongoing processes • Nearly every department is impacted: » Marketing » Product teams » Account teams » Support » Client teams • Setup mock simulations using internal versions of the tools • Develop internal guidelines • Create a rapid response team 24 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Social Media Strategist: Internal Leader • The community strategist who organizes internal resources and supports the program. • This experienced business manager: » Is able to maneuver within the organization » Leans on relationships with many business teams » Manages the business program Ed Terpening » Leads the internal charge VP, Social Media, Wells Fargo » Develops the objectives and obtain resources » Creates policy, deals with internal stakeholders, and provides ongoing reports to management 27 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Community Manager: Member Champion • The community manager or moderator who interacts with members. • As a primary advocate of the community, the community manager: » Balances the needs of the community with corporate objectives » Is a customer advocate » Is a brand evangelist Lionel Menchca » May create editorial content Digital Media Manager Dell Computers » Harvests customer needs for market intelligence • Skills. » possess strong online communication skills, is approachable and conversational, and has the ability to relate to members online and offline 28 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

When selecting a vendor • Lead With Needs, Not Technology. • Based upon your objectives, determine the right technologies • First, develop your feature requirements. • There are many segments of social networks. » Organic (like Facebook, MySpace.com) » White Label – Insight – Collaboration – Widget – Media – Vertical 30 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Services • Rely on services and support from experienced vendors. » Consultation » Moderation/Listening » Moderating » Setup » Rebranding » Launching » Reporting • Caution: Stay engaged, don’t outsource your business strategy. 31 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

How to Kick-Start • First, find a creators and influencers • Consider creating an “embassy.” • Choose just a few features to launch with, and then add more as needed. • Integrate with other marketing activities. • Reward helpful members with recognition –not money 33 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Growing and Maintaining • Stay engaged with your community by monitoring and quickly responding. • Integrate your community with real-world events. • Extend the reach of your community by cross-pollinating on existing social networks. » Obama for America while also maintaining a presence on Facebook. Videos on YouTube, Facebook, and Obama’s own network 36 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Agenda • Start with an Objective • Developing a Plan • Getting Your Company Ready • Staff you will need • How to pick a Vendor • Kick-Starting • Widgets and Open Social 42 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Widgets and opportunity for marketers • Growth. » 13,083 applications on the platform » Top 10 apps have over 10 million installs • What works: User » Applications that have Direct friends robust functionality » Social features that Indirect friends connect users » Yet many are never Interested parties successful Source: Rodney Rumford, CEO Gravitational Media: FaceReviews.com 43 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Graphic Source: Rock You Entire

Widgets and Applications • Mini Applications. • Successful Attributes. » Interactive » Offer value, not just “Disposable” » Utilize social aspect 44 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Widgets and Applications • Recommended Deployment: » Sponsor or rebrand existing widget » Integrate brand as part of experience » Create own 45 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

OpenSocial • Google partnership. • Allows widgets to write once, run many. • Challenges. » Demographics are different in each community » Many APIs available » Still in Beta » Privacy issues with open data 47 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Recommendations • Act more like a host at a party, rather than a cop. • The power is in the hands of the community. • Traditional marketing tactics do not apply. • Develop your POST methodology. » People, Objectives, Strategy, Tools • Understand Objectives. » Listening » Talking » Energizing » Supporting » Embracing 48 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Related Research •Based off the report: Online Community Best Practices •Companies Interviewed: » ACDSee » Dogster » AirTran Airways » Intuit » Ant’s Eye View » Leverage Software » Avenue A | Razorfish » Microsoft » Carnival Cruise Lines » MySpace.com » Charles and Helen Schwab » Organic Foundation » Reuters AdvicePoint » Cnet TechRepublic » SATMetrics » Constant Contact » Telligent Systems 50 contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Entire

Online Community Best Practices Final

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