This presentation is about building engagement within online communities. It will be particularly apt to niche professional or B2B communities but could be applied to any social network. More on my blog at www.benfowlerworks.com We will look at group-dynamic theories, the science of human nature, the psychology around motivation, and habituating desired community behavior. We will also consider the effect cupcakes and other “carrots” can have when trying to motivate community members.

1. The Cupcake Conundrum
…Turning Lurkers into Contributors
Little boxes like this will
add some context that you
would only get from the live
presentation.
@benfowler, NEEA
Photo courtesy of zigazou76 on Flickr

2. This Is About Engagement
๏ Define it
๏ Tie it to business
goals
In other words, why is
online engagement
important for your
organization?
Reference: http://benfowlerworks.com/2011/10/07/determining-your-metric-for-engagement Photo courtesy of mahler711 on flickr

3. The 1% Rule
• Heavy
1% Contributors
• Intermittent
9% Contributors
If you’re starting an
online community, set
the engagement bar
low… 90% • Lurkers

4. The Pareto Principle
80% of your content will
come from 20% of your
members. But can you
tweak this? Get a bit
more from your
community?
Photo courtesy of lessdoing on Flickr

5. Why Do Community Members Lurk?
๏ Not tied to
community
vision/goals
๏ Seeking but not
finding
๏ Uncomfortable
with technology
๏ Unsure of Social
Mores
Photo courtesy of Digital Sextant on Flickr

6. Understanding Group Dynamics
Stage 5: Esprit
Stage 4: Cooperation
Stage 3: Power Stage
I use Cog’s ladder Stage 2: Why We’re Here
theory to help me
develop communication
strategies to drive more
engagement
Stage 1: Polite Stage
Reference: http://www.customerthink.com/blog/use_cog_s_ladder_to_build_powerful_online_communities

7. Gamification
Gamification is the term
of the year for online
community
management

8. Components Of A Game
Intrigue
Challenge Reward
Engagement
Games can drive
engagement. But they
can become tricky
when trying to sustain Community Status
long term activity
Reference: http://blog.softwareinsider.org/2011/01/20/trends-5-engagement-factors-for-gamification-and-the-enterprise/

9. Extrinsic Rewards A No-No?
This guy thinks
cupcakes are a no-no
unless the activity is
uncreative
Credit: Drive, by Daniel Pink

10. Latest Research Says Otherwise
๏ Michael Wu, Lithium: “[The
Game] just has to work long
enough for the player to realize
the value he creates. The crucial
requirement for this strategy to
work is that the gamified activity
must create something that has
This guys doesn’t. He long term value to the player. ”
says cupcakes are
okay, so long as they
lead to intrinsic values
of the player
Reference: http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Gamification-Backlash-Two-Long-Term-Business-Strategies/ba-p/30891

11. What’s your Destination?
๏ As a community manager,
I’m helping users carve a
path to their intrinsic values
Photo courtesy of Scott Ableman on Flickr

12. The Cupcake Story
Goal: To increase information sharing and collaboration in order to
help the region achieve its energy efficiency targets.

13. The Conduit Cupcake Hour Contest
- Announcement a couple hours prior to contest
Intrigue
- Cupcakes
Reward
- Winners earned a customized desktop certificate
Status
My initial engagemen
Community - NEEA internal staff pilot for internal staff
Challenge - Incremental challenge at each quarterly contest

14. I gave away cupcakes
to site contributors that
day

15. The Status Symbol
๏ Cupcake Certificates linger
on desks, providing
constant reminder of
achievement, while
increasing brand
awareness

16. Diversify Your Rewards Portfolio
“There is no perfect spaghetti
sauce; there are only
perfect spaghetti sauces.” -
- Howard Moskowitz, psychophycisist, quoted
by Malcolm Gladwell during a TedTalk on
Choice and Happiness.
Your games must
provide rewards that
meet the unique needs
of each member
Reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

17. How Did Cupcakes Help?
% Engaged ๏ Huge (92%) increase in
60% engagement during
56% month of event.
50%
40%
30% Cupcake Event
20% Engagement
10% 17% 18% 18% spiked, but dropped
because there was no
0% tie to intrinsic values
July August September October

18. Cupcakes & Other Carrots
๏ Extrinsic rewards
definitely work in the short
term.
By just talking and
listening, we’re ๏ Now more keen on tying
discovering (and to intrinsic motivators
connecting to)
those intrinsic
values (like
thought-
leadership, altruis
m, the game
itself…)

19. Post Script
% Engaged - Total
๏ Overall Site Engagement
is up
Community
15.0%
๏ Now more explicitly
framing conversations 10.0%
around community goals
An example of the tie
between ๏ Tying extrinsic rewards to 5.0%
extrinsic/intrinsic: If intrinsic values
0.0%
someone values ๏ More consistently
thought- July August Sept Oct Nov
announcing community
leadership, make challenge updates
them a guest blogger.

20. Thanks!
@benfowler
Benfowlerworks.com
benf70@gmail.com