Web developers and designers for huge companies and niche sites alike are all jumping on the social media bandwagon, realizing that social networking, user-generated content, video-sharing and Widgets are more than just ways to kill time in the office; they can be incredibly effective in growing and increasing audience engagement.
While it’s easier than ever to create and deploy social media, for many, the effort stops there. Kevin Costner’s famous line in Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come”, does not apply to making these online communities come alive. It’s futile to just dip your toe into the world of social media and hope it works. On the contrary, there needs to be a commitment to making the online community not just exist, but thrive. Marketing and promotion, programming, and community leadership are some of the factors that must be considered, whether you are a Fortune 500 company looking to extend your brand online, or a creative developer designing a personal site.
To get you on your way, here are nine steps to consider as you embark on your online community journey:
1) Start by defining your community’s purpose and audience.
Matt Haughey, founder of the legendary online community MetaFilter, said: “There are lots of possible reasons to start a community, but generally it’s good to focus on a specific topic. Having a specific topic means you’ll have an easier time explaining your site’s purpose, and quickly finding like-minded people to contribute their thoughts and content….”
If you already have a website and an audience, you probably have a good head start. But if you don’t, pick a topic and get to know the people for whom you’ll be building the community. If it’s for chefs, spend some time where chefs hang out—both online and off. Talk to people and cultivate relationships. The better you understand what drives your audience, the more likely you’ll build a community they find valuable.
2) Managing your community can be a full time job.
Every party needs a host or hostess. Your Community Manager should be your most active, high-profile member—accountable to everyone and responsible for setting the tone for the community experience. He or she needs to be patient, well spoken and inspiring. The goal isn’t for this person to control the community, but to curate it- the work done up front will pay off later in spades. For many large communities this can be a full time job, but as your community flourishes, other hosts will emerge from your member base to absorb part of the load.
3) Choose the technology that’s right for you.
New technologies have put robust community-building functionality within everyone’s reach. When considering a platform, ask yourself the following questions:
· What social media features map to my specific objectives?
· How will my goals evolve over time? Is this a solution that will scale with me?
· What tech expertise/resources will it require to launch and maintain?
· How long will it take to implement?
· What are the solution’s community management and reporting capabilities?
· How much will it cost?
4) Seed your community with great content.
Prior to launch (and for as long as it takes to gain momentum) seed your community with high-quality, relevant content. Consider inviting a core group of people to help. When you launch, this seed content will spark discussions, give visitors a sense of what your community is all about, and send the message that it’s a happening place to be.
5) Appearances matter.
Almost everyone who joins your community will evaluate it before becoming a member, so it’s important to make a good first impression. In addition to great content, your community’s look and feel will heavily influence a potential member’s decision. Tailor the aesthetic to match your brand and appeal to your audience. If you’re integrating your community into an existing website, keep your design and navigation consistent throughout. Not only will this increase the flow of traffic between your site and community, but it will show visitors that your community is an important part of your website.
Here are a few great examples of brands that have built online communities with an eye towards style and usability:
DIY Network’s My Projects: www.diynetworks.com
Autobytel’s MyRide community: http://community.myride.com
SkiNet.com: http://community.skinet.com
6) Promote your community.
As we mentioned above, just because you’ve built your community doesn’t mean people will come. You’ll need to market your community as you would any other product. This can include raising awareness in your website’s existing audience, reaching out to bloggers and traditional media, creating incentives for people to join through contests and promotions, inviting influential people to become members, and even purchasing advertising.
7) Encourage active participation.
The most active and passionate members are your community’s lifeblood. Recruit and reward them immediately—it’s as much their community as it is yours. Highlight their contributions wherever possible, and ask for their help and feedback. Contests and promotions are also great for driving ongoing participation – people LOVE to win stuff. Radio stations have done this with great success for decades!
8) Manage your community with fair-minded consistency.
Part of community management is keeping the site free of trouble-makers and offensive content; as a wise man once said, “every party has a pooper.” The trick is to strike a balance between order and openness. Stay active and lead by example and most people will follow. If you do run into a jerk, speak with them as quickly and as nicely as possible, telling them what they did wrong and why it’s something you don’t allow, but making sure to keep your tone courteous and professional. In the words of Kathy Sierra, the most successful communities are single-mindedly committed to enforcing one rule: “Be Friendly.”
Also, consider posting a plain-language set of community guidelines (like these from CaféMom) and invite your members to make suggestions about how to improve them. Lastly, if you’re building your community around a company website, don’t get defensive when members make negative comments about your products or services. They’re going to do it somewhere, so it might as well be in your community. Allowing them to do it there indicates confidence, which members will respect.
9) Listen and optimize.
Listen to what your community says, both directly and indirectly. Don’t just pay attention to members’ words (i.e. comments and posts); you should also keep an eye on the highest-rated and most-viewed content to get a better picture of what your members want. Also, have a place in the community where people can talk about the community itself, like a message board (another gem from Mr. Haughey). This is a great opportunity to see what people are thinking and to test out your ideas. Lastly, measure your community’s traffic and statistics from the beginning, so you can judge your progress as you go.
Building a community site can take days, but building a successful, engaged community requires more effort. Dedicating a little time and focus will make it extremely rewarding for both your company and your community.
