asae tech 2011 private online community challenges and the secrets to overcoming them
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The Biggest Challenges with Private Online Communities and the Secrets to Overcoming Them
December 7 1:30 - 2:45 H u b Ta g : # Te c h 1 1 x y z Paul Schneider
Co-Founder Socious
Chris Bonney VP of Client Experience Vanguard Technology
Primary Areas of Challenge
• Planning
• Implementation
• Launch
• Ongoing Management
• Mapping to strategy
• Realistic goals and expectations
• Aligning staff
• Recruiting champions and influences
Planning
• Change management
• Execution of implementation
Implementation
• Starting small and specific
• How to launch
Launch
• Content plan
• Is it worth it?
Ongoing Management
Challenge: Mapping the Online
Community to the Org. Strategy
WHY are we doing this?
You can think of
your online
community as
an extra burden
for your staff.
Or…..
Mapping The Online Community
to the Org. Strategy
You can integrate your online
community into how you do business to
create something better!
Mapping The Online Community to the Org. Strategy
Secret: I t Takes as Long as It Takes
How much
MORE work is
an online
community
going to take?
Secret: I t Doesn’t Have to be for
Something New
How can an Online
Community help me do what I am already doing--
BETTER?
Initially our staff saw online networking as something that was an extension to our website and therefore not something that would affect their daily responsibilities. As they came to understand the toolset, it was the staff themselves who recognized new ways to do their job through online networking. To put it more succinctly, the product sold itself!
While there were concerns about it being a “time drain”
or “just one more thing” for staff to think about, everyone
appreciated that the additional time and energy required
to learn the new system and assist in the development of
content would ultimately lead to an improved member
experience, which is everyone’s goal in the office.
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Mapping The Online Community to
the Org. Strategy – Part 2
Why would members come to your site?
• If Facebook as a country, it would
be the third largest in the world.
• Users: 18-29 86%, 30-49 61%,
50-64 47%
• Companies: 71% use Facebook,
59% use Twitter, 50% Blogger,
33% YouTube, 33% Message
Boards.
• Assns: 91% on Facebook, 71%
on Twitter, 53% in LinkedIn, 27%
blog, 18% private SN.
• Google+ was the fastest social
network to reach 10 million users
at 16 days (Twitter took 780 days
and Facebook 852 days)
Secret: Must be One-of-a-Kind
To get members to participate, you have to
give them something they cannot get anywhere else.
“AADE did have a vision which AADE members would feel that they are part of the AADE family whether they are participating in the local, state or national level. We wanted all members to have access in their local area to other AADE members (something that the current chapter structure could not always provide) and we wanted to provide a strong foundation for the future of the profession which supports AADE's Strategic Goal for Membership” Nadine Merkur
Director, Member and Volunteer Services
AADE
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Secret: How They Did It
• Facilitating member networking across geographies within the industry.
• Supporting the development and dissemination of child life education and research in one useful place.
• Encouraging membership connections and engagement between members.
• Increasing public awareness of CLC and the child life profession
Mapping The Online Community to
the Org. Strategy
WHY? = Technology
Secrets Overview: Mapping The
Online Community to the Org.
Strategy Secrets to Success:
• Answer the question “Why?”
• Be sure community goals map to existing association goals.
• Answering non technology questions, drives technology solutions.
Challenge: Realistic Goals and Objectives
Will they come?
Creating Realistic Goals and Objective
• It will take time to get people engaged in your online community (3 months to 1 year.)
• You may need to hire a community manager.
• Make it a PRIORITY.
Creating Realistic Goals and Objective • It is going to take effort to
change the way members interact with your org and use the site.
• An online community needs to
be marketed.
• Adoption will be incremental, not monumental.
1%
Influencers
Thought leaders
Experts
Create content
Comment
9%
Actives
Contribute
Comment
Consumer
90%
Members
Rate
Rank
Read
?
Disconnected
Not connected
Not active
Secret: The Wikipedia Rule
Consumers Commenters Creators Total Profiles
Consumers Commenters Creators
client 1 5477 1661 548 7686 71% 22% 7%
client 2 837 52 16 905 92% 6% 2%
client 3 1174 520 286 1980 59% 26% 14%
client 4 1213 150 40 1403 86% 11% 3%
client 5 1597 319 138 2054 78% 16% 7%
client 6 269 41 24 334 81% 12% 7%
client 7 11095 4064 1803 16962 65% 24% 11%
client 8 268 97 34 399 67% 24% 9%
client 9 3208 685 275 4168 77% 16% 7%
client 10 255 73 30 358 71% 20% 8%
client 11 329 65 20 414 79% 16% 5%
client 12 314 74 25 413 76% 18% 6%
client 13 824 395 212 1431 58% 28% 15%
client 14 2980 692 130 3802 78% 18% 3%
client 15 296 170 98 564 52% 30% 17%
Totals 73% 19% 8%
Secret: It Won’t be a Blow Out
Average online community
participation is 8.7%.
-Marketing General 2011 Association Benchmarking Report
Secret: But It’s Still a Good Thing
Organizations that have a private
online community are tending to
increase in membership.
-Marketing General 2011 Association Benchmarking Report
You will never be Facebook, so don’t try. Building a successful online community is not magic, and it is not
rocket science, but it does take work.
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Know that volunteer leaders never move as fast as you do, so set realistic milestone dates for the implementation. Recognize that all current chapters may not embrace/transition to your new model- and that’s ok- but leave the door open for them to return.
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Challenge: Aligning Staff
Challenge:
How do I get my staff excited about and using the new online community?
Secret: No Unilateral Decisions
Get staff involved in the selection process.
A staff team was selected to help design the platform and another internal team was created to work on the service support- so that we could foster staff support and also their ownership of the initiative.
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Secret: How Can We Help?
Survey staff on what they would hope this new tool would help them do.
We surveyed the volunteer staff at the time on what they needed to do their jobs better and what tools they would find useful. This gave them a voice in the process, but also gave us insight into what technology we needed to look at.
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Secret: Does Bruce approve?
Get top-down support.
We involved our entire staff in early discussions of the direction we were heading with our online community, how it would serve our members and meet the goals that were outlined in the organization’s overarching strategic plan. Our executive director was always very invested in the project, and his support and direction were key in ensuring that all of the staff were on board and committed to making it a success.
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Secret: Don’t Let Things Slide
Update early and often.
Challenge: Champions and Influencers
No one person can make an online community successful.
It's about how your members feel about it, not about how you feel about it.
Champions and Influencers
Creators Critics Collectors Joiners Spectators Inactives
Secret: Know Your Audience First
Secret: Know Your Audience First
• Board
• Members
• Staff
• Who else?
• How will they be involved?
Champions and Influencers
• Select carefully
• Don’t have too many
• Provide incentives and rewards
• Get them involved early
• Provide means for sharing
Secret: Champions and Influencers
I would recommend two things: 1) Transition your membership and educate its members about what the private community means and can mean to them. 2) Educate the membership in regards to all the features that the community can bring and the advantages over the public communities and social networks
Secret: From Orgs Just Like You
Secret: Ask Them
Survey members to see who is using online tools and what they are doing on them.
Recruiting Champions and Influencers
Don't underestimate the resources required to facilitate the community. Whether a staff person or a member (ideally the latter, or several of them), that person needs ongoing development and must commit the time to foster the community.
Challenge: Change
“While the association may want the community to succeed and is willing to put unlimited resources
towards it, ultimately the members must REALLY want it (to the point of being willing to openly engage and
keep the community vibrant) in order for it to be truly successful.”
• Young membership
• Vibrant conversations online
• Organizational buy-in for change
• Potential for future growth
• People dedicated to managing community
• Great ideas for points of engagement
Change Management – Case Study
AND THEN THEY LAUNCHED….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news
Don’t
– assume change is needed/wanted
– assume new is better
– launch without notice
– act unilaterally without member buy-in
– exclude champions
– think a few voices aren’t important
How to Avoid Disaster
• Early buy-in
• Find evangelists/sponsors/champions
• Over-communicate
• Listen
• Make success easy
• Reward participation
• Sell your wins
Secret: You Must Facilitate Change
Challenge: Planning for the Implementation
Your implementation can be a nightmare or a great experience. The better you plan, the more effective your implementation will be.
Secret: Have a Process
• The Process- What to Expect
– Plan for the implementation to take 30-90 days.
– Plan for many people from the organization to be involved.
– Take time to DREAM.
– Roll out doesn’t need to be all at once-have a plan.
Secret: Know Your Resources
Resources-What to Plan for
• Project Lead
• Functional Area Leads
• Technical Leads
• Domain Contact
• Testers
Planning for the Implementation
Pitfall #1: Launching at Your Conference
Avoid Pitfall #1:
Launch after conference
Planning for the Implementation
Pitfall #2:
Assuming Your Users Are Going to be Just as Excited as You Are
Avoid Pitfall #2:
Launching is a process
Planning for the Implementation
Pitfall #3:
Planning to Launch Over a Major Holiday
Avoid Pitfall #3:
Launching during an average week
Planning for the Implementation
Pitfall #4: Only One or Two Staff Members Know How to Use the Software
Avoid Pitfall #4:
Train the whole staff
Planning for the Implementation
Pitfall #5:
You Have No Strategic Plan Moving Forward
Avoid Pitfall #5:
Create a content plan
Challenge: Defining Community
It’s This
Neither are the Goal
This is
It’s brick. It has 10 rooms. It has a basement. Why don’t you move in today?
Classic Georgian with huge family room and updated kitchen, including granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Fully finished basement , perfect for a game room or home theater. Blocks from downtown, best school district in the county. Must see.
Secret: Selling a House
Our new community is up and running. Come network with other members, share best practices and discuss hot topics.
Will the new tax laws affect your business? You might be surprised to find out what bad news some members have received recently. Chime in or learn more. Share your best business advice for newbies in our industry. Highest ranked submission gets $100 off annual event registration. Help a newbie today. 11 people have commented on our most recent blog post about TARP. Incredible insights from people just like you. Read more.
Secret: Selling an Online Community
DIRTY LITTLE SECRET: NEVER LAUNCH
• Don’t have a major promotion around it
• Call it “Beta”
• Fill it up with content
• Get 1% involved first and early
• Facilitate word of mouth
• Don’t be perfect, just be good
Secret: Elements of a Soft Launch
Challenge: Ongoing Management
What is a content plan?
Secret: Content Plan Creation
Content Plan Narrative
Secret: Content Plan Creation
Download the plan for the
Socious website at:
www.socious.com/tech11
7 Secrets to a Successful Social Networking
LAUNCH
www.vtcus.com/sociallaunch.aspx
On Demand Webinar
Is it Worth it?
The RWA mission states that: "Romance Writers of America is dedicated to advancing the professional interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy." With our online community we can now - finally- provide the kind of networking and advocacy that our mission demands. The online community has given us a platform for education and a vehicle for advocacy that has, heretofore not been available or affordable for us. Now we can offer more....much more....to our members.
Is it Worth it?
The biggest benefit is "connections-" to one another, to AADE, and to a one stop professional resource.
In Closing
The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. -Vince Lombardi
Contact Information Paul Schneider
Co-Founder
Socious
602-734-5353
www.socious.com
@SociousSuccess
Chris Bonney
VP of Client Experience
Vanguard Technology
312-263-1322 x 505
www.vtcus.com
@vanguardtech