1. Building and growing
your online community
@derekjrice
Social Media Breakfast Maine
28 October 2011
#SMBME

2. What are we talking about?
Online communities are bodies of people
joined together by a common interest.
- Jeremiah Owyang

3. The evolution of online communities
In the beginning …
Today…

4. Common building blocks

5. Why do you need one?
 Build trust, which helps build brand
recognition, loyalty and affinity
 Obtain a deeper understanding of your
audience’s needs and wants
 Create personal, one-to-one
relationships with potential customers
 People want and expect it

6. Who influences you?

7. Your opportunity
 Build relationships and trust with your
target audience
 They can be your best allies, sharing
your information with others who trust
them
 Social media allows them to pass that
along to hundreds more people

8. Draw up a plan

9. Goals
 What do you hope to accomplish?
(Think concrete, tangible and
quantifiable)
 How will you measure results against
your goals?
 What benchmarks will define success?
 Be prepared for these to evolve and
change.

10. A few things that matter …
 Number/percentage of members who
participate regularly
 How many discussions are started by
members
 Amount of growth that is member-
driven
 Quality of ideas and feedback the
community generates

11. … and not so much
 Number of members
 Page views
 Ad clicks

12. Have a purpose
 What matters to the people you’re
trying to reach?
 Find it, don’t force it
 Build your community around
something your target audience
cares about

13. Why people join communities
 For entertainment or enjoyment
 To connect with others
 To fix something
 To improve themselves
How can you satisfy one of these desires?

14. A business-centric approach
 Restrains communities to benefit
your business
 Puts your interests ahead of your
audience’s interests
 Kills participation and growth
If you’re only interested in moving
product, an online community won’t
work for you.

15. Complete this sentence:
“People will join and participate in
my community because ______.”
(The more specific, the better)

16. Identify your community manager(s)
 If no one is responsible for
management, then no one is
responsible for a lack of management.
 Besides, someone has to take on all
this work.

17. Your community manager is:
 The party host
 An active and high-profile community
member
 Community advocate
 Brand evangelist
 The “voice” of your brand

18. He or she should be:
 Friendly
 Smart
 Patient
 Creative
 Proactive
 Funny
 Articulate
 An excellent writer
 Knowledgeable about your brand

20. Lay a strong foundation

21. Research and discover
 Audience
 Relevant topics and issues
 Influencers
 Technologies and platforms
 Interests
 Motivations
 Personalities

22. Tools
 Google Alerts
 Twitter Search
 TweetBeep
 Socialmention
 Google+
 Technorati
 LinkedIn Answers and Groups
 WeFollow
 Google Keywords and Insights

23. Where is your audience?
 Social media
 Blogs
 Forums
 Video
 Photos
 Review sites
Find them.
Follow them.
Listen to them.

24. Listen carefully
 What topics generate the most
discussion?
 Use this information to shape your
messaging strategy

25. Why listening matters
 They may be interested in your
company, product or industry (your
target audience)
 Helps define and refine your target
audience
 They may not be who you expected

26. Influencers
 Recognizable
 Greater than average reach or impact
through word of mouth
 Their opinions matter to others
 Engaged in conversations with
hundreds or thousands of people

27. Why do you need influencers?
 When they talk, people listen
 They may talk about – or to – you
 More people will be aware of you
 More people will join your community

28. Celebrity not required
 Industry bloggers
 Trade publications
 Local personalities

29. Identifying influencers
 Where do you find information that’s
relevant to your industry or niche?
 These are some of your influencers
 They’re talking to your influencers.
 They’re talking about your influencers.

30. Your messaging toolbox
 Key words
 Key messages
 Protocol
 Engaging
 Responding
 Escalating

31. What is good content?
 Speaks to audience’s interests
 Is community driven
 Fills a need
 Sparks discussion
 Establishes you as an expert in your field
 Positions you as a valuable resource
 Tells a story

32. Content delivery

33. What’s a good content strategy?
 Focus on the goals of your audience and
your company
 Find a unique angle
 Don’t try to be everything to everyone
 Drive traffic to other pages and channels
 Mix it up
 Less about you, more about your
audience

34. Ask yourself:
 What value does this bring to my
community?
 Why would my community members
care?
 What kind of conversation could this
generate?

35. Seed initial content
 No one wants to be first
 We all want to be part of something
bigger than ourselves
 People don’t come back to an empty
party twice

36. Welcome to the party!

37. Pre-launch checklist
 Goals and metrics to measure
 Purpose
 Manager
 Target audience
 Influencers
 Relevant topics and issues
 Messaging strategy/voice
 Set up social media and other
necessary accounts
 Seed initial content

38. Let ‘em in

39. Launch
 “Officially” activate channels
 Reach out to and interact with your
target audience and influencers
 Invite them to join your community

40. Remember:
A polite, effective invitation
doesn’t include a sales pitch

41. Engagement matters
 Promote
community and
attract new
members
 Attract people
with shared
interests
 Foster honest
conversation

42. Wallflowers need not apply
 Ask open-ended, thought-provoking
questions
 Conduct polls
 Offer incentives
 Join in others’ conversations
 Become a trusted friend

43. Responding and interacting
 Communication is a two-way street
 People want to know they matter
 Immediacy is key: respond quickly to
complaints, endorsements or any kind
of mentions.
 A response, especially a fast response,
will build or strengthen trust

44. Response/escalation protocol

45. When responding…
 Be positive
 Be transparent
 Be honest
 Be timely
 Be helpful
 When in doubt, revert to real life

46. Negative feedback
 Balance between moderating (reactive)
and managing (proactive)
 Often the best course of action is no
action
 Know when (if ever) to delete a post
 ALWAYS save a screenshot before
deleting a post
 Never get defensive

47. The hardest word to say
 If you make a mistake, own up to it
 Swallow your pride
 Be helpful
 Make it right

48. Maintaining and expanding

49. Trial and error
 Who your audience is
 What content resonates with your
audience
 When and how often to share and
interact
 Where your audience hangs out
 Response time
 Escalation (as necessary)

50. Change happens
 Tools, services and networks are
constantly evolving, which means your
community will evolve too
 Expect and be prepared for change,
especially community-driven change
 If something isn’t working, don’t be
afraid to ask the community what
they’d like to see

51. If you remember nothing else …
 Be respectful
 Be genuine
 Be helpful
 Step outside your comfort zone
 Don’t fear funny
 Take risks (within reason)
 Give up control
 Be human

52. talking about yourself
any preconceived notions
with the changes.

53. Thank you!
Derek Rice
derek@derekrice.com
derekrice.com
twitter.com/derekjrice
linkedin.com/in/derekrice