5. Platforms
Tip: If you try to establish your
presence in too many places, you
can quickly wear yourself thin.
Review several to find
what works best for you.
7. Platforms
Tip: Use your platforms to
complement each other, and you’ll
build deeper relationships with your
audience.
8. An Online Community IS
A messaging channel
Conversational
Community-driven
Interactive
Customer service
An opportunity to build one-to-one
relationships
Free research
9. An Online Community IS NOT
Traditional marketing
Advertising
A billboard
Formal
Self-centered
Sales-driven
10. Why Do I Need an Online
Community?
Build trust, which in turn helps build
brand recognition, loyalty and affinity
Obtain a deeper understanding of your
audience’s needs and wants
Create one-to-one relationships with
customers and prospects
It’s what people want and expect
13. Tip: Trust
Your online community is your
opportunity build relationships and
trust with your members.
When you provide information to them,
they become your best allies by
passing it along to others who trust
them.
Through social media, they may
passing it to hundreds of people.
14. “The Participatory Web”
People use the web to:
Browse
Interact
Personalize
Talk about and connect with what and
who they’re browsing
Share those interactions and
experiences with others
15. Characteristics of an Unhealthy
Community
No response to member questions or
posts
Arguments dwarf other participation
Members are leaving – and announcing
their departure
Spam
No clear purpose
Tumbleweeds
16. Characteristics of a Healthy
Community
Active discussion
Interesting, relevant content and
conversation
Attracts and retains the right kind of
people
No spam
Respect and civility
Clear purpose
Provides value for members
19. Goals
What is the purpose of your
community?
What do you want your community
accomplish?
What’s more important to you:
qualitative or quantitative results?
20. Goals
Client example:
Develop an active community that is
interested in sleep and sleep issues
Build awareness of new product
Targeted communication to specific
areas
Gain entry into large warehouse chain
through demonstrated sales
22. Management
Your manager is:
The party host
An active and high-profile community
member
Accountable to everyone
Company
Community
The “voice” of your brand
Sets the tone for the community
Becomes your brand’s online persona
23. Management
Your manager should be:
Friendly (the Golden Rule)
Patient
Creative
Proactive
Fun
Articulate
An excellent writer
Knowledgeable about your brand
25. Management
Find the best fit
Do you want a “face” behind the brand,
or will your manager act as the brand
itself?
26. Management
Considerations
Time-consuming
Can be a full-time job, at least in the
beginning
Community may eventually take some of
the load, but may not
Creating a page or profile takes days, but
success takes time – and hard work
Time-sensitive
Online community members expect
responses in hours (or less)
29. Listening
Find out if people are talking about:
Your company
Your competition
Your industry
Other factors that impact your business
30. Listening
Who’s doing the talking?
They may be interested in your
company, product or industry (your
target audience)
Your target audience may not be who
you think they are
Helps define and refine your target
audience
31. Listening
What are people saying?
Figure out what the most popular
topics are
This is what your audience is interested
in
Helps you determine your messaging
38. Tip: Listening
Tip: Compiling listening results can be
as simple as a checklist, as involved
as a Word document where
individual conversations are
catalogued, or anything in-between.
41. Influencers
As you identify your audience, also
identify influencers
Recognizable
Greater than average reach or impact
through word of mouth in a relevant
marketplace
Their opinions matter to others
Engaged in conversations with
hundreds or thousands of people
42. Influencers
Why influencers?
When they talk, people listen
They may talk about you
More people will join your community
47. 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.
50. Content
Content drives participation and
growth
The Content Loop
Good content = return visits = word
of mouth = new members = more
content (community-generated)
51. Content
The right kind of content:
Is high-quality, relevant to community
Addresses members’ interests
Sparks discussion
Provides a sense of purpose and
direction
Establishes your company as an expert
in your field
Positions your company as a valuable
resource
52. Tip: Content
Start by focusing on a small number
of topics that speak to your
community members’ shared
interests. You can build on
these topics later, using your
community as a guide.
53. Content
People are looking for:
Useful information on a topic they find
interesting or attractive
Engagement in experiences to improve
their personal or professional life
Examples: How to improve job
performance or be a better parent
54. Content
They are not looking for:
Information on how to buy more of
your product
Calls to action
Communication that’s mostly brand-
specific
55. Content
Ask yourself:
What value am I bringing to my
community?
Why would my community members
care?
What kind of conversation could this
generate?
56. Content
Sources for finding content:
Google Alerts (set up during Listening)
Blogs
News outlets
The web
Community members
Influencers
57. Tip: Content
YOU can be the best source
of the valuable content you
share with your community.
59. Tip: Content
Whatever content you share with
your community, keep it bite-sized.
This makes for a quick read and it
can easily be passed on to others.
60. Content
Before launching, quietly build your
online presence (social networking,
blog, etc.) and seed those channels
with content
Helps with attraction
Nobody wants to be the first
Nobody wants to join a barren or
inactive community (which isn’t a
community at all)
62. Launch
Activate your channels
Reach out to the audience and
influencers you identified during the
listening process
Invite them to join your community
Members select themselves based on
common interests
63. Launch
Questions to consider before
launching:
Where will you communicate with your
community?
Use those tools and platforms you’ve
identified as the best fit for you
When will you communicate?
Experiment to find the days and times
when your community is most active
How often will you communicate?
Experiment, knowing the community will
help you find a balance between too much
and too little
64. Tip: Launch
Remember: You’re inviting people
to join and participate in your
community, and an effective
invitation does not
include a sales pitch.
66. Engaging
Engagement is a way to promote your
community and attract new members
Communities are driven by relationship
building, not by the sales cycle
Communicate with people as members or
potential members, not as prospects
People seek out those communities
that share their interests
Allow your community to be a platform
for open, honest conversation
67. Engaging
Participate
Ask open-ended, thought-provoking
questions
Conduct polls
Offer incentives
Contests
Reward good content and/or participation
Join in others’ conversations
Provide thoughtful, expert answers to
questions
Become a trusted friend
68. Engaging
Engaging influencers
Re-tweet something they’ve said on
Twitter (add an interesting comment)
Post on their Facebook wall or tag in
one of your wall posts
Comment on a blog post
Comment on YouTube video
Mention them in a blog post
Link to their website or blog
Be memorable!
69. Engaging
Participate in your community at least
once a day
Use more than one of the platforms
you’ve decided to use
Make your participation constant and
consistent
Participation doesn’t have to be
starting a conversation
Don’t drown out everyone else
71. Responding
Why respond?
Community is about two-way
interaction
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
72. Tip: Responding
Rule of thumb:
Work day: respond within 1 hour
Overnight/weekends: respond within
12 hours
Do your best
73. Responding
Negative feedback
Find a balance between moderating
(reactive) and managing (proactive)
Often the best course of action is no
action
Know when (if ever) to delete a post
If you must respond, avoid being
defensive
Respond kindly, as quickly as possible
77. Monitoring
Use your listening tools and tactics as
you continue to monitor and participate
in the conversation
Use aggregation tools like TweetDeck,
Seesmic, RSS feeds and email alerts
for instant notification of updates to
your community.
79. Tip: Change
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
80. The Family Handyman
Website
Interesting,
informative content
Forum
Advice blog
Social networking
logos link to profiles
Newsletter signup
“My Project Binder”
to personalize
experience
Magazine
subscription info
81. The Family Handyman
Twitter
Engaging content
Directs traffic to
Facebook, website,
forum, blog
Regular schedule –
at least once a day
82. The Family Handyman
Facebook
Engaging content
Active discussion
and participation
Community
Family
Handyman
Link to website
prominent
Posts direct traffic
to forums, blog
83. The Family Handyman
E-Newsletters
Interesting content
Articles link to website
Specific links to blog and
forum included in every
issue
Recognition for
community members
Social networking logos
link to profiles
Magazine subscription info
84. Homework
ASAP
Identify your manager
Set up your listening tools
85. Homework
7-14 days
Gather and compile information
Identify your audience and influencers
Set up at least a Facebook page and/or
Twitter account
Seed your platforms with content
Determine your messaging and content
86. Homework
14 days on
Launch
Follow
Invite members
Engage
Respond as much as possible
Make the time!
87. Homework
30 days
Evaluate your efforts
Change what needs to be changed