essentials of online community management

ESSENTIALS OF ONLINE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

Maddie Grant, CAEmaddie@socialfish.org

www.socialfish.org

AGENDA1. PLANNING YOUR COMMUNITY

2. LAUNCH

3. REPORTING

4. CONTENT STRATEGY

5. MANAGING RISK

6. DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM

7. DEFINING SUCCESS

LESSON 1: Planning Your Private Online Community

PURPOSE

WRONG: WE NEED

• We need to get more members engaged.

• We need to generate non-dues revenue.

• We need to draw members to the website.

• We need to collect content from members.

RIGHT: MEMBERS NEED

• Members need a trusted environment to collaborate.

• Members need a place to find trusted experts who can help them.

• Members need a way to comment on technical information.

MEMBER PERSPECTIVE IS CRITICAL.

But wait…do they REALLY need that?

Examples of Business Purpose• Replace an outdated system with a

platform that includes community functionality.

• Provide a new way for members to participate in the association online.

• Generate new revenue.

BUSINESS PURPOSE MUST BE ALIGNED TO MEMBER PURPOSE.

• Community for member networking (because members should be posting on our site instead of LinkedIn.)

• Community to build more member-generated content (because we’ve had trouble getting members to contribute content in the past.)

EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS PURPOSENOT ALIGNING TO MEMBER PURPOSE

FAIL

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

1. Open vs closed2. Group management3. Community rules4. Moderation and staff involvement5. Champion involvement6. Content and engagement planning

SIX IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

RESOURCE PLANNING

• Administrative

• Monitoring and responding

• Content and engagement

• Managing the platform

• Training members

• Training and strategizing with staff

• Reporting community progress to stakeholders

DEFINE THE WORK AND DELEGATE APPROPRIATELY

PROMOTION

Did our new board member just say he’s

never used the community?

PROMOTING YOUR COMMUNITY IS A PROCESS THAT NEVER ENDS.

PROMOTIONTWO-PRONGED APPROACH TO ONGOING PROMOTION

MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING

• Membership marketing and new member onboarding

• Email newsletters

• Features in magazine

• Conference marketing and on-site activities

• Promotion on website homepage and house ads

• Platform email notifications for announcements, digests

CHAMPION AND INFLUENCER MARKETING

• Training and guidance for volunteer group leaders

• Training and guidance for staff

• Outreach to champions to keep the site active

• Outreach to influencers to brainstorm ways they might like to use the community

Questions?

LESSON 2: Launching Your New Private Online Community

SOFT LAUNCH - MEMBERS

ARCHETYPES OF USEFUL BETA GROUPSArchetype Size Activity Privac

y Example

Small and good

10-15 High Private Board, working group, event volunteers

Large and social-media-savvy

50-150

Medium Public Technology special interest group, communications special interest group

Up and coming

50-150

Medium Public Young professionals or student leaders

Content creators

10-15 High Public Bloggers, authors, speakers, volunteer leaders

Location-based

50-150

Medium Public An active chapter

PICK THE RIGHT PEOPLE, AND MAKE YOUR FIRST MISTAKES AMONG FRIENDS.

• Tech-savvy volunteer group leaders.• Active listserv users who are asking

for updated functionality.• Social members who

may not be active in any of the other beta groups you’ve identified.

BETA TESTERS WILL FEEL MORE INVESTED. SO WHO DO YOU NEED ON YOUR SIDE?

• Set expectations low.

• Explain the vision for the future.

• Be specific about what to test. For example: – Set up a profile with a picture.

– Add a colleague and send a message.

– Join a group/post to a discussion/comment

• Tell them how to share feedback.– Set up a feedback group for beta testers.

• Prepare them for technical glitches.

SENDING A BASIC INVITE TO YOUR BETA TESTERS ISN’T ENOUGH

SOFT LAUNCH - STAFF

• Have staff beta testers set up their profiles.

• Create a private group to serve as the sandbox.

• Be specific about what to test.

• Use the group to share community-related information with staff.– Updates on technical progress

– Launch plans

– Staff policies, roles, responsibilities.

• Tell them how to share feedback.

• Prepare them for tech glitches.

BUILD A SANDBOX AND USE IT.

JUMPSTARTING WORKSET YOUR PRIORITIES FOR LAUNCH. EVERYTHINGIS IMPORTANT. SOME THINGS ARE CRITICAL.

PRIORITY WORK

AdministrativeX Monitoring and

respondingX Content and engagement

Managing the platformX Training members

Training and strategizing with staff

Reporting community progress to stakeholders

Especially engaging

champions!

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

1. How do we monitor most efficiently and effectively?

2. Who should respond?– Can they respond fast enough?– Are they set up on the platform to

respond?

3. Can we streamline response for certain types of information?

JUMPSTARTING WORKPRACTICING THE ART OF MONITORING AND RESPONDING

• Volunteer leaders

• Speakers

• Writers

• Industry influencers (consultants?)

• Digital extroverts from other social spaces

JUMPSTARTING WORKENGAGING CHAMPIONS STARTS WITH KNOWING WHO THEY ARE

• Direct and specific asks work better than blast emails (which hardly work at all.)

• Try the phone. *gasp*

• Meet them face-to-face.

• Find ways to reward champion involvement.– Game mechanics– Promote content from champions– Create a volunteer role for champions

CHAMPIONS NEED EXTRA CARE AND FEEDING

GETTING PEOPLE IN

NO ONE CARES• Have your own profile.• Add colleagues.• Post

blogs/discussions/comments.

• Access the resource library.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE TOOLS. IT’S ABOUT WHAT MEMBERS CAN BUILD WITH THEM.

MESSAGING SHOULD FOCUS ON WIIFM (WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME)

EVERYONE CARES• Showcase your accomplishments. (profile)• Connect with people who are solving the same

challenges you face. (Or connect with your next employer, if they’re in transition.) (Add colleagues)

• Get specific advice from industry experts who can answer your questions. (post blogs/discussions/comments.)

• Share your perspectives on the latest (standards/regulations/effective practices) that are impacting the way you do business. (access the resource library).

Look what you can build!

WHEN IT COMES TO INVITATIONS, KEEP IT SIMPLE

• Focus on easy tasks in the right order.

• Initial tasks: login for the first time and create a profile.

• Follow up tasks: join a group, connect with colleagues. – Even better: suggest which groups or

colleagues!

• Follow up tasks: Read and comment on a recent discussion.– Even better: suggest active discussions to

comment on.

ONBOARDING IS A MULTI-STEP PROCESS.FOLLOW UP IS KEY.

• Thank folks who are active.

• Thank folks who have created a profile...remind them of next steps they can take to get more out of the community.

• Remind folks who have not yet logged in or completed their profile. Ask if they had a technical glitch, if they need a walkthrough, or if they just need more information about WIIFM.

Questions?

LESSON 3: Reporting Engagement Activity

WHY ENGAGEMENT?ENGAGEMENT IS A MEANS TO AN END. WHAT DO YOUR STAKEHOLDERS REALLY WANT?

• Support member retention?• Support commerce and revenue

goals?• Recruit potential volunteer leaders

and content creators?• Capture member knowledge?

2. TYPES OF ENGAGEMENT

Social Technographics Ladder(Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research, 2010.)

ENGAGEMENT IS NOTONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL.

CREATORS

CONVERSATIONALISTSCRITICS

COLLECTORSJOINERS

SPECTATORSINACTIVES

TYPES OF ENGAGEMENTMEASURE DIFFERENT ENGAGEMENT TYPES

TYPE WHAT TO MEASURE

Creator Post blogs, discussions, documents

Conver-sationalist

Post discussions, comments; send messages

Critic Comment, rate/review

Collector Add contacts, bookmark

Joiner Join groups

Spectator Sign in regularly, spend time on the site

Inactive Sign in rarely or never

TAILORING REPORTSGENERAL GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING TO DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS.STAKEHOLDER DETAIL PRESENTATION FREQUENCY

Board High level Visual Annual

Volunteer leaders

Group-specific

Visual Annual

ED/CEO High level Visual Quarterly

Staff group managers

Group-specific

Spreadsheet

Quarterly

Your boss Comprehen-sive

Spreadsheet

Monthly

Yourself Comprehen-sive

Spreadsheet

As needed

QUALITATIVE REPORTING

1. LISTENING REPORTS– Provide links to top discussions, most

active groups, unique use cases

2. FEEDBACK AND TESTIMONIALS– Share feedback you receive from

members by email, face-to-face, or even on the platform.

– Share feedback from staff who are finding the community useful.

TWO IMPORTANT WAYS TO SHOWCASE ENGAGEMENT BEYOND THE NUMBERS.

BENCHMARKING AND VISUALIZING

Well…we’ve got data. I have no idea what it means, but we’ve got

data.

VISUAL DATA HAS MORE IMPACT THAN SPREADSHEETS.

1. Charts and graphs don’t have to be fancy to add meaning.

2. Don’t create visualizations for every data point—just the ones you need to impress high-level stakeholders.

3. Visual data can be CRITICAL for communicating with the board.

Questions?

LESSON 4: Content Strategy for Your Community

COMMUNITY CONTENT IS DIFFERENT

STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL CONTENT AND MEMBER-GENERATED CONTENT

TRADITIONAL MEMBER-GENERATED

sharing links and articles

blogging

Commenting, rating, reviewing

Peer-to-peer discussion

promotions

news updates

announcements

DEVELOPING CONTENT FOR COMMUNITY

Build a team

• SMEs (staff and members)

• Group leaders

• Marketing/communications

• Education/conferences (staff and speakers)

• Government relations

• Owners and volunteers for other programs

STOP DEVELOPING CONTENT—STARTDEVELOPING CONTENT CREATORS.

• How might you present the content to generate an active discussion?

• How might you build community activity around education content or a conference?

• How might you help groups use the community to talk amongst themselves?

• What’s coming up (not finished yet) that warrants asking the community a question?

ACT AS ADVISOR, EDITOR, AND CURATOR

CURATING CONTENT

Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme.

(Beth Kanter, Content Curation Primer, Beth’s Blog | http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/)

THREE UNIQUE WAYS COMMUNITY MANAGERS CURATE

1. CURATE IN CONTEXTEnrich peer-to-peer discussions.

2. CURATE FOR GROUPSTarget content to groups based on special interests.

3. CURATE FOR ENGAGEMENTLeave no question unanswered.

HAVE YOU ASKED YOUR CHAMPIONS FOR HELP TODAY?

1. ASK DIRECTLY

2. BE SPECIFIC

3. SET A DEADLINE

4. FOLLOW UP

WORKING WITH CHAMPIONS

THREE IDEAS FOR GETTING CHAMPIONS TO CONTRIBUTE

1. Make them the leader of a group.

2. Reply to unanswered questions.– Send a link to the specific unanswered

thread when you need their help.

3. Write about a hot topic.– Do an email “interview” then ask them

to post their reply.

PLOT YOUR CONTENT AND CHECK THE BALANCE.

1. Plan editorial as well as ENGAGEMENT.

2. Brainstorm posts and topics a month ahead.

3. Assign content to your team, track deadlines, track follow-up.

4. Leave resources and flexibility for “pop up” content.

USING A CONTENT CALENDAR

Questions?

LESSON 5: MANAGING RISK IN YOUR COMMUNITY

REFRAMING RISKTHREE SIMPLE STEPS

1. Identify

2. Analyze

3. Prioritize

REFRAMING RISK

1. Identify

2. Analyze

3. Prioritize

THREE SIMPLE STEPS

•What are the common risks for a private online community?•What additional risks concern your staff and leadership?

REFRAMING RISK

1. Identify

2. Analyze

3. Prioritize

THREE SIMPLE STEPS

•What are some actual scenarios in the community that illustrate each risk?• How likely is that risk to happen?• How much could it cost the association?

TOP PRIORITY:COSTLY AND LIKELY

MIDDLE PRIORITY:COSTLY BUT NOT LIKELY

MIDDLE PRIORITY:NOT COSTLY BUT LIKELY

LOW PRIORITY:NEITHER COSTLY

NOR LIKELY

3. Prioritize

LIKELY NOT LIKELY

NO

T CO

STLY

COST

LY

POLICIES & MORE POLICIESWEBSITE TERMS OF USE

• Welcome• Purpose & Use (what you

can/can’t do)• Properties (trademarks,

service marks, designs, logos, etc.)

• Content, Information & materials

• Licensing for user-generated content

• Copyright & Trademark Ownership, Notices & Infringement

• No professional advice

• Privacy• Security• No Warranties• Other sites (linking)• Members only area• Reporting content violations• Termination of access• Disclaimers, exclusion of

damages, & limitation of liability

• Indemnification• Governing law• Changes to terms• Contact us

POLICIES & MORE POLICIESSPECIAL POLICIES FOR YOUR PRIVATE COMMUNITY

• Social media policy (for staff and volunteers)

• Community rules and moderation policy

• Policy for blog authors

WHO OWNS THE CONTENT?

• Spell out a licensing agreement for user-generated content in the Website Terms of Use.– Users favor non-exclusive licenses.

• Spell out how you will be able to use the content.– Promotion of the site?

– Reuse in free member resources?

– Reuse in publications or other products that will be sold?

– Right to modify and reuse?

– Will you give attribution to the content creator?

SPELL IT OUT, BUT DON’T BE EVIL

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PRIVACY RISKS ARE A COMMUNITY MANAGER’S TOP PRIORITY

Intellectual

Property

Privacy (And HIPAA)

Maybe

Anti-Trust,

too.

TIPS FOR MANAGING RISK IN YOUR COMMUNITY

• Post community rules and policies where they are easy to access from any page in the community.

– Train staff and content creators on the policies.

• Monitor and respond

– Have backup when you’re away

• Work with senior staff team and legal council on risk assessment

– Use that team as a resource when something comes up.

Questions?

LESSON 6: Private Communities in the Digital Ecosystem

• Public sites (FB, T, LI, G+, P) are important because that’s where your people already spend time.

• A private community is never a replacement for public social media platforms and a strategy for using them.

REMEMBER THIS: A COMMUNITY IS DEFINED BY PEOPLE, NOT PLATFORM. And…

people win by a

landslide!

• People engage with your association in public sites, too.

• If you only measure engagement in your private community, you risk undervaluing engagement in public social media sites.

MEASURE ENGAGEMENT ACROSS THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM.

WHO OWNS WHAT?PRIVATE COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA OFTENLEAD SEPARATE LIVES IN DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.

BEING PURPOSEFUL

Components of a good, site-specific plan:

EVERY SITE NEEDS A PLAN.

• Background• Goals• What does success

look like? • Defining the

audience• Growing the

audience

• Content Plan• Promoting

association products, services, and membership

• Moderation• Member

involvement

PROVIDE CLARITY FOR BOTH STAFF AND MEMBERS

How is the private platform any different

from what we’re already doing on

LinkedIn?

CROSS-PLATFORM CONTENT STRATEGYWALLED GARDENS NEED WINDOWS.

1. TEASER CONTENT– Executive summaries (lead to full report)– Blog post summarizing a hot-topic discussion (lead to

full, ongoing discussion)– Infographic of research (lead to full research report).

2. TRIAL MEMBERSHIP– Could also create a free, online-only membership– Helps generate leads for full membership

3. POST PASSWORD-PROTECTED CONTENT AS-IS– Lead with “FOR MEMBERS” and end with “Login

Required”

THREE CONTENT TACTICS TO ENTICE PEOPLE TO YOUR PRIVATE ONLINE COMMUNITY.

Questions?

LESSON 7: What Does Success Look Like?

GAUGING SUCCESS

1. At what stage is your community in its development?

2. How many people are in the community?

3. How many interactions does your community generate?

4. Are members exhibiting a sense of community in the way they interact?

5. Is the community generating ROI for the organization?

FIVE IMPORTANT LENSES TO CONSIDER. HINT: THE FIRST ONE IMPACTS ALL THE REST.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDERDIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS DEFINE SUCCESS DIFFERENTLY.

• Board• Executive

Director• Staff who “own”

the community• Other staff

• Other volunteers/volunteer leaders

• Champions of the community

• Active members• Outside world

TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU MUST RECONCILE DIFFERENT VISIONS OF SUCCESS.

The board wants business results. Staff

is all about their department and their process. Now what?

• Well known throughout the membership

• Recognized as an important benefit

• Accessed by a significant number of members

• Used regularly by a smaller (but still significant) number of members

SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES ARE…

1. How many members know about the community?

2. How many members access the community?

3. How many members are active in the community?

4. What contributions are active members making to the community?

5. How does staff use the community?

6. How does the board use

the community?

7. How do other volunteer groups use the community?

8. How do new members use the community?

9. How do members perceive the community?

10. How do prospective members perceive the community?

VISIONING EXERCISE: IMAGINE THE COMMUNITY IS A HUGE SUCCESS IN [XX] MONTHS.

DEMYSTIFYING SUCCESSTHE MORE TRUSTED THE COMMUNITY MANAGER,THE MORE SUCCESSFUL THE COMMUNITY

1. FORMAL STRUCTURE – lucky community managers are empowered.

2. GOING GUERILLA – most community managers find another way.

Questions?

Thank you!

Maddie Grant, CAEmaddie@socialfish.org