community playbook - h&r block · cofidetia: do ot distribute hr bock commuit pabook big...

STRUCTURE ENGAGEMENT

CONFIDENTIAL: DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

COMMUNITY PLAYBOOK

CONFIDENTIAL: DO NOT DISTRIBUTE H&R BLOCK COMMUNITY PLAYBOOK

BIG PICTURE STRUCTURE ENGAGEMENT

CONTENTS

BIG PICTURE: Why the H&R Block Community is important ............................... 1.1

H&R Block – Why Community ...............................................1.1

H&R Block – From Seasonal to Always On .............................1.2

H&R Block – Community in Action ........................................1.3

Where does the H&R Block Community fit into the H&R Block online landscape? .....................................1.4

Representing H&R Block on the Community ............................1.5

Community Roles & Governance ............................................1.6

STRUCTURE: Strategies for the Community’s Functioning ................................ 2.1

The Anatomy of an Online Community ...................................2.1

H&R Block Forums .................................................................2.2

Responding to 411 “How can I…?” Posts ...............................2.3

Responding to 511 “Did you know…” Posts ...........................2.4

Responding to 911 “I need help now” Posts ...........................2.5

ENGAGEMENT: Eight Tips for Interacting with Users ............................................ 3.1

Navigating the H&R Block Community ....................................3.2

Step Sheet: Writing a Post on the Community .........................3.3

Quick Start Sheet- Tax Pro ......................................................3.4



1.1

BIG PICTURE:Why the H&R Block Community is Important

H&R BLOCK – WHY COMMUNITYAt H&R Block, listening to our customers is in our DNA. We

strive to understand what they have experienced in the last year

to best meet their needs. We want to know about their goals and

aspirations to better support their path to get there. We need to

know their lives through their taxes and find ways to help. This

desire to strengthen our relationship does not begin and end in

tax season, but rather is a year-round process for H&R Block.

Social media has fundamentally changed how customers interact

with brands. Consumers increasingly trust and rely on the

feedback of their peers when making decisions. For our clientele,

that could mean voicing some anxiety over the implications of

a life event or simply asking a neighbor’s recommendation for a

tax preparer. Our vision is to create a place online where people

can talk to each other and our H&R Block experts about the life

events that impact their taxes and beyond.

The H&R Block community is a place to deepen our relationships

with prospective and existing clients. For prospective

customers, the community is a digital destination for asking

questions and finding information from people like themselves

and our experts. For our existing clients, the community is a

place to share their experiences and create deeper relationships

with H&R Block Tax Pros.

By listening to our clients, we have the ability to connect them

to other people who may have gone through similar experiences

and engage in real-time. H&R Block will not only win people’s

business, but also instill the confidence in our brand that will

make them life-long advocates of H&R Block. To accomplish this

we need your help. By using this playbook to help guide your

participation in the community, you are not only helping the

public, but also our company as a whole.

Thanks,

Jerry Green

Community Manager



1.2

H&R BLOCK – FROM SEASONAL TO ALWAYS ONTraditional marketing campaigns at H&R Block start and stop, which creates fluctuations

in client acquisition and retention. Community-driven campaigns build sustained, ongoing

relationships with clients and amplify your work. That’s how companies win in

social engagement.

Today’s consumers are asking brands to engage them more directly, more often, and more

deeply. Consumers also want more benefits, value and relevancy that comes from two-way

communication. As a result, consumers are rewarding brands with greater loyalty

and advocacy.

Brands that have adapted to this new playing field increase customer satisfaction while

creating an ever-expanding platform for building relationships, improving sales and creating

long-term loyalty and referrals.

Traditional marketingCyclical campaigns and press announcements yield transactional relationships

TIME

INTEREST

TAX SEASON TAX SEASON TAX SEASON

Social-driven marketingValue-add products/services, supported by communities and consistent social interaction, yield sustained relationships, helping to inspire loyalty and advocacy

TIME

INTEREST

TAX SEASON



1.3

H&R BLOCK COMMUNITY IN ACTIONThe H&R Block community has one main purpose, to add value to our current and future

clients by giving them a place online learn about the tax implications of life events year-round.

People who visit the community interact not only with H&R Block professionals but also, and

more importantly, other people with similar experiences.

There are three main types of conversations held in the community. Those conversations are

broken down into:

411: LEARN AND IMPROVE

Additional knowledge/assistance can help a client to optimize his/her current task and expand value from the product, and can drive awareness, consideration and intent for consumers.

“DRIVE CONNECTIONS“

511: EXPLORE AND DISCOVER

Understanding of how others are using the product resulting in change of client’s perceptions and utilization of the product in new/interesting ways.

“DRIVE RELATIONSHIPS“

911: BREAK/FIX

Something is keepint the client from completing his/her current task.

“DRIVE ANSWERS“

411911

511

The H&R Block Community is primarily comprised of three audiences: Clients, Potential

Clients, and Tax Pros.

AUDIENCE MEMBER DESCRIPTION COMMON COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Calvin Client:

Subscribes to the H&R Block Facebook page

Starts threads in the future community site

Engages other H&R Block consumers & clients in

the community

Runs into problems tinkering with own taxes and uses the community for answers.

[911] Looks for tips and strategies to handle taxes, browses articles across topics.

[411] For every new life event, checks the community to find advantages and

experiences of others and shares same. [511]

Karla Consumer:

Lives on her smartphone

Relies on online searches to answers questions

Connects to Tax Pro both online and in real life

Needs an answer and is interested in other taxpayers in similar time-sensitive

situations. [911] Finds timely help from others when addressing a life event or tax

question, and makes connections with others at a similar life stage. [411] Improves

own skills through learning from others. [511]

Tammy Tax Pro:

Using the community to build her own personal brand (offline

and online)

Actively answering questions in the community

Adding H&R Block value to the community via her posts

Sought out by others for immediate answers and expertise. [911] Also helps others

figure out long term strategies or new approaches to personal finance management

both tax related and otherwise. [411] Takes time to also share successful client

stories with the community. [511]

Community users:

• remain customers 50% longer than non-community users (ATT)

• spend 54% more than non-community users (eBay)

• visit site 9x more than non-community users (McKinsey)

• have 4x as many page views as non-community users (McKinsey)

• report good experiences in forums twice as often as they do via calls or mail (Jupiter)

Community Team

Tax Pros

?

“

DID YOU KNOW?

AUDIENCE



1.4

WHERE DOES THE H&R BLOCK COMMUNITY FIT INTO H&R BLOCK ONLINE LANDSCAPE?Social media has changed the way consumers interact with each other and brands. With the

renewed emphasis on creating engagement, brands must think about where and how they want

to engage with consumers.

HOME BASE

H&R Block digital presence, community, official social tools, hosted on own domain.

OUTPOSTS

Third party tools where H&R Block owns the experience, but the tool itself is owned and controlled by a third party.

PASSPORTS

Third party sites and events that allow H&R Block to participate, but there is no official permanent presence.

COMMUNITY

THIRD PARTY BLOGS

H&R BLOCK FACEBOOKH&R BLOCK DOLLARS & SENSE FACEBOOK

THIRD PARTY FORUMS

H&R BLOCK TWITTER

H&R BLOCK YOUTUBE

H&R BLOCK LINKEDIN

H&R BLOCK GOOGLE+

H&R BLOCK FOURSQUARE

H&R BLOCK PINTEREST

THIRD PARTY TWITTER

THIRD PARTY FACEBOOK

EVENTS

MAIN WEBSITE

BLOCK TALKBLOG

TAX EXPERTBLOG

TAX ANSWERS

MOBILE

HRBLOCK.COM

H&R Block has a full ecosystem of online properties designed to create meaningful dialog with

current and potential clients.



1.5

REPRESENTING H&R BLOCK ON THE COMMUNITYWho can represent H&R Block on the community?

RECOGNIZED ASSOCIATES (TAX PROS)

AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES

(CSO, PRODUCT MARKETERS, LEGAL/COMPLIANCE)

COMMUNTY STAFF

(COMMUNITY MANAGER, MODERATORS, AND

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT TEAM)

BEING AN H&R BLOCK ASSOCIATE IN THE COMMUNITY.

The great benefits of social media come with some risks such as exposing private information

to the public. Therefore, it is important for ANY associate who participates in the community

to understand how to participate in a way that maximizes value for users while minimizing

risk to the brand. It is critical to remember three main areas when participating on the

community on behalf of H&R Block.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Safeguard Client/User Data: The privacy of users is of the utmost importance. Avoid

asking for any sensitive information such as social security numbers and individual tax

return information. Additionally, quickly report any posting of this information by a user

to the community moderator via private message so it can be taken down.

2. Do the right thing: Adhere to the Code of Business Ethics & Conduct. Our reputation for

honesty and trustworthiness is a major brand attribute. Use Block’s values as guideposts

during interactions on the community.

3. Follow Social Media Guidelines & Online Communications Policy: Participation in the

Community falls under the Online Communication Policy and Social Media Guidelines.

Besides describing the H&R Block standards for participating in Social Media, the

guidelines also give helpful suggestions on how to get the most out of

your interactions.

The exposure of certain types

of user data is illegal and can

subject companies to serious

risk. In March 2012, Netflix

paid $9 million to settle a class

action lawsuit over exposing

personal identifiable information

about subscribers.

Community Team

Tax Pros

Designated H&R Block Users

H&R Block Code of Business Ethics & Conduct

Social Media Guidelines

Safeguarding Client Data

Digital Communications Policy

?

“

+

DID YOU KNOW?

AUDIENCE

LEARN MORE



1.6

COMMUNITY ROLES & GOVERNANCETo run a successful community there has to be a lot of teamwork that goes on behind

the scenes. The roles listed below describe the people who will represent H&R Block in the

community. Some of these roles may be handled by one person or broken up amongst a team.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

Community Manager • Crafts and disseminates messages and action items to the Community

Moderators, CSO representatives, and other groups

• Help coordinate community activities with other activity on

social channels

• Engage with users on questions/issues on a 1:1 basis when necessary

• Escalates community issues to CSO representatives

• Monitors the community for qualitative and quantitative data

H&R Block

Moderator(s)

• Monitors and observes community activity, verifies all within the scope of

terms of service

• Partners with and enables the most active users to promote

healthy discussion

• Monitors conversations for trends and specific issues

CSO • Identifies and helps resolve customer service specific issues

from forums

• Helps locating experts from TTI and local Tax Pros

Tax Pro • Participates in community as a trusted advisor by guiding conversations,

not simply delivering answers

• Establishes rapport with community members

Other H&R Block

Departments

• Participate with the knowledge of the community team

• Gathers information via digital focus groups, community chatter, and

community metrics

Plan Administrator(s) • Builds platform custom features and filters for the community

• Maintains permissions and user capabilities

• Addresses technical issues with the community

• Assists community manager with metric and activity reporting,

including violations

The first modern online

community, The WELL, was

founded in 1985. One of the

core distinctions of The WELL

was the use of community

managers and moderators to

stimulate activity and

manage issues.

Community Team

Tax Pros

Designated H&R Block Users

The H&R Block Social Media

team has created a quick

resource to explain the social

media activities conducted on

behalf of H&R Block.

Visit the H&R Block Social Media

page on the Intranet

?

“

+

DID YOU KNOW?

AUDIENCE

LEARN MORE



2.1

STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE:Strategies for the Community’s Functioning

THE ANATOMY OF AN ONLINE COMMUNITY

Forum Boards are discussions grouped by theme. Community Managers and Moderators might move a post from one board to another if it belongs in a different place.

Topics are individual forum discussions. They can be created by anyone and open to responses. These replies are listed below the topic chronologically.

If a user is looking for information about specific topics, they can use the search function to find discussions or other types of content on the community.

The community has more than just forum discussions. Tags help users find discussions, videos, events, and other content about issues important to them.

The community also links to other H&R Block properties online.

The vast majority of the content from the community comes from our users. Users contribute content by creating topics and replying to existing topics.

BIG PICTURE


ENGAGEMENT

2.2

STRUCTUREBIG PICTURE

H&R BLOCK FORUMS

FORUM ICON FORUM BOARD DESCRIPTION

Health Care Get help navigating the complexities of the new health care legislation, Medicare, Medicaid and any

health-related deductions.

Your Life Getting married? Divorced? Having a baby? Buying a car? Your family’s milestones affect your taxes.

Make sense of it all here.

Your Job A discussion about your work: tax-deductible job search expenses, decoding your benefits package or

navigating the tax world as a small business owner.

Your Home A discussion about the tax implications of buying, selling, renting or improving your home.

Your Savings Questions about investments, long-term savings, Roth IRAs or capital gains? Connect with experts and

peers about your wealth-building strategy.

Education Saving for college? Wondering how a scholarship might impact your taxes? Confused about tax breaks

available to students? Start here.

Your Taxes The tax nitty-gritty: discuss policy changes, tax law updates, the filing process or specific forms.

The Block Experience Wondering what to bring to your tax office appointment? Curious about other clients’ H&R Block

experiences? Ask and share here.

Community Lounge News and information about the community, events and technical support. The Community Lounge vs

Community Information


ENGAGEMENT

2.3


RESPONDING TO 411 “HOW CAN I…?” POSTSWhen people are looking for knowledge around a subject they post “How can I….”. These posts

are part of their process to gather information to accomplish a specific task. At first, this may

appear to be a perfect opportunity for an H&R Block expert to step in and deliver answers,

but to build a vibrant community these questions are actually the time to drive connections to

other users and content.

Example Post:

How do I account for mileage for a business and a side business?

How do my taxes change after I get married?

Response by role:

Community Moderators:

Monitor thread to ensure question is answered. Suggested other threads if discussion

exists. Move thread if placed in wrong forums.

Tax Pro:

Wait 24 hours before making response to give other community members a chance

to weigh in. The best response is linked to an existing post that contains an answer

following up with the poster to make sure their question was answered. If no other post

matches their needs, respond factually and include any links that support the answer.

Remember to always follow up to make sure the response was helpful.

Learn & Improve Post Decision Tree

CO

MM

UN

ITY

M

EMBE

RH

RB

MO

DER

ATO

RC

OM

MU

NIT

Y

MA

NA

GER

CSO

User posts question

Read all posts for content

and TOS

Platform Automated

Filter

Question is Answered by a

post

Escalate to CSO: Connect user with Tax Pro, SME, or communicate privately for

offline assistance.

Answer is accepted by community

Alert Community Member and remove post

Monitor conversation for answer by community

Share answer

If community does not answer in 48 hours: 1) Check existing content for answer 2)

Engage superuser for answer

Pass filters?

Violate TOS?

Answer satifies

question?

Does post as for specific HRB Help?

NO

NO

NOYES

YES NO

YES

YES


ENGAGEMENT

2.4


RESPONDING TO 511 “DID YOU KNOW…” POSTSCommunity members not only look for answers to specific questions, but also like to share

their experiences. These types of posts add valuable content to the community and help

foster connections between people with similar experiences. “Did you know…” posts allow

community members to explore and discover ways to better understand their tax situation and

how H&R Block can add value.

Example Post:

What I learned about saving with my Retirement Account.

Three things I learned when I bought my house.

Response by role:


Make sure the post is in the right place. If it must be moved, explain to the poster why

and where the post will now reside. Direct traffic to the post or feature the post on the

front page if it might resonate with other members.

Tax Pro:

Give kudos to great content and contributions. Feel free to reply with additional

questions or links that will add value to the exchange. If there are factual inaccuracies

in the post, address them delicately. If there is factual inaccuracy with a Tax Pro’s post,

please address that with the Tax Pro via private message. If you get no response from

the Tax Pro, contact a moderator.

Explore & Discover Post Decision Tree

CO

MM

UN

ITY

M

EMBE

RH

RB

MO

DER

ATO

RPL

ATF

ORM

A

DM

INC

OM

MU

NIT

Y

MA

NA

GER

User registers for community

and accepts TOS

User creates a post

Read post for content and

TOS complianceNo action

Review user for multiple offenses, consider

additional steps

Add user to list of violators and

violations

Communication with Legal on banned users as necessary

Consider for active

participant listBan User

Praise and/or share with

community and other social

channels

Inform user of violations, continue to

monitor content

Does post pass

automated filters?

Is the post helpful,

exceptional, or notable?

Violate TOS?

Final offense?

NO

NO

YES NO

NO

YES

YES

YES

Post is live on

community

Add user to list of violators.

Automate notifaction of violations to

users


ENGAGEMENT

2.5


RESPONDING TO 911 “I NEED HELP NOW” POSTSSome of the posts on the community will be urgent, time sensitive issues. These posts must be

addressed quickly and professionally. “I need help now” posts can be about technical issues

the user is experiencing or a critical tax issue.

Example Post:

I forgot to file my taxes what should I do?

I lost all my tax information, help!

Response by role:


Bring the post to the attention of the appropriate group: Tax Pro if it is a filing problem,

CSO if it is a product issue. Follow up with the poster to make sure the issue is resolved.

Tax Pro/CSO:

Post a public post to acknowledge reading the post and then send a private message

to ask for an email address or phone number to address the issue in private. Take all

precautions to ensure that the user does not expose any sensitive information on public

pages during the exchange.

Fix Post Decision Tree

CO

MM

UN

ITY

M

EMBE

RH

RB

MO

DER

ATO

RPL

ATF

ORM

A

DM

INC

SO

User posts and urgent request

Address the validity of

the issue and impact to the

brand

Acknowledge post and

monitor while getting more information

Question is answered by post/private

message

Coordinate other social channels for

potential issue; proceed with

caution

Identify expert from TTI or TP that can assist

Answer is accepted by community/

user

Connect expert with user to develop

resolution to issue

Does issue impact the

brand?

Escalate issue?

Pass automated filters and

TOS

Answer satisfies issue?

Is issue known in the community?

Is issue in the CSO

database?

Does issue need to be

resolved privately?

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

YES

NO YES

YES

YES

YES NO

NO

Alert Community Member and remove post

Share answer

Escalate to CSO and inform Communications



3.1

ENGAGEMENT

ENGAGEMENT:Eight Tips for Interacting with Users

In online communities, engagement is the biggest indicator of health. Users don’t

automatically know how to interact with one another, so lead by example. Here are eight tips

for effective engagement.

1. Acknowledge and greet newcomers. In real life, it’s considered good manners to introduce

yourself to a new neighbor with a warm welcome. Use the same approach online.

2. Avoid jumping immediately to solutions. You may be an expert, but to new members

online, you are a stranger. Instead, guide users to existing resources and conversations.

That builds trust and authority.

3. Tone and grammar count more than you think. If a green square is next to your name, you

are respresenting the H&R Block brand. As such, community members expect you to be

professional in your communications.

4. Be consistent in handling issues. Community members dislike the appearance of

favoritism. Avoid that perception by ensuring you provide everyone with the same level of

diligence and courtesy.

5. Follow through on all promises. In an online community, your promises are visible to

everyone. A broken promise destroys trust in the eyes of community members. Do what

you say you’re going to do.

6. Follow up on interactions. Every interaction with a community member is a feedback loop.

Following up with the user helps prevents user frustration.

7. Learn from interactions. Every engagement is a chance to learn something. Keep track of

posts and reactions to them. Learn which techniques work and which ones don’t.

8. Say “Thank you.” As an expert, sometimes it’s easy to forget that user contributions

are extremely valuable to the health and vitality of the community. Acknowledge the

contributions of the community by giving kudos and thanking them for their efforts.

BIG PICTURE

CONFIDENTIAL: DO NOT DISTRIBUTE H&R BLOCK COMMUNITY PLAYBOOK3.2

ENGAGEMENTSTRUCTUREBIG PICTURE

NAVIGATING THE H&R BLOCK COMMUNITY

BIO PAGEView information about a user or yourself.

PRIVATE MESSAGES:Internal community email that can be sent from user to user

FORUM BOARDS:Nine forum boards are organized by theme of topics

TOPICSA topic is an individual discussion in the forum

HOME PAGE:Quick links to discussion forums, private messages (when signed in), author information, and community news/announcements.



STEP SHEET: WRITING A POST ON THE COMMUNITY 1. Log in. You can access the community via links on myBlock and hrblock.com. Sign in to

the community using your H&R Block Assoicate single-sign username and password.

2. Posting. There are two options:

a. Find an existing topic. It is preferred that Tax Pros reply to topics rather than post

new ones. To reply to a topic, click on the “Reply” button next to the message. Here

are three options to find a topic:

Good: Search for a term that interests you and reply to the topic that best

matches your needs.

Better: From the community home page, click on the forum board that matches

where you want to post and select a topic that best matches your subject matter.

Best: Use the “Most Recent Topics” or “Top Topics” to find topics that are

new or popular. If a topic has no replies, wait 24 hours before replying to give the

community a chance to answer first.

b. Create a new topic. (Not preferred) To create a new topic, click on the board that

best fits the theme of your post. From there click the “New Message button.” Here are

three options on suggested topics:

Good: Informational posts that help community members understand timely or

topical information.

Better: Digest posts that contain links to various articles or other discussion that

are important to the topic.

Best: Engagement posts that are specifically designed to get member

interaction. To succeed, these posts must be timely, top-of-mind subjects so they

do not appear artificial.

3. Follow up. After posting your message, follow these additional steps:

a. Keep tabs on your posts and acknowledge replies in a timely fashion.

b. Engage in further discussion if appropriate.

c. Ask if the information you provided was helpful; assist them if they need more

information or help.

Every post has a button located

to the left of the “Reply” button

that looks like a star. This button

allows you to provide “Kudos”

to someone for their post.

Kudos acknowledge a good

post from community members

and encourages them to repeat

that behavior.

Community Team

Tax Pros

?

“

DID YOU KNOW?

AUDIENCE



QUICK START SHEET- TAX PRO To get up and running on the community, here are the most important pages for Tax Pros to

read along with some frequently asked question about the community.

The Anatomy of an Online Community ............................................. 2.2

Responding to 411 “How can I...?” Posts .......................................... 2.4

Responding to 511 “Did you know...” Posts...................................... 2.5

Responding to 911 “I need help now” Posts ..................................... 2.6

Step Sheet: Writing a Post on the Community ................................... 3.3

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM THE OLD “GET IT RIGHT” SITE?

Get it Right was a “ask an expert” site to help people quickly get answers from tax experts. The

community is a place for clients and potential consumers to talk with one another with help

from our tax pros and customer support staff.

WHY SHOULD I PARTICIPATE? WHAT IS IN IT FOR ME? WILL I GET PAID TO PARTICIPATE?

Unlike the Get it Right site, there is no direct compensation for participating in the community.

Instead, Tax Pros voluntarily participate to:

1. Establish their expertise and personal brand for potential clients

2. Connect with existing clients all year

3. Stay on top of trends and issues impacting clients and potential consumers

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO BE ACTIVE? HOW MUCH TIME DO I NEED?

To participate, register and create a user name using your H&R Block Associate single-sign-

on user name and password, read the community playbook, and voluntarily participate in the

community. Remember to use your first name and last initial for your community nickname.

If that nickname is unavailable use your first name and last name and a number after the last

initial. The more you participate and contribute the more you could potentially benefit.

WHAT IF I FIND A POST THAT IS INACCURATE?

If you find a post that contains factually inaccurate information, private message (PM)

the author to point out the issue and politely ask that they revise their post. If you get no

response, contact a Community Moderator or the Community Manager.

From a Tax Pro:

Private message (PM) the author to point out the issue and politely ask that they revise their

post. If you get no response, contact a Community Moderator or the Community Manager.

From a Non-Tax Pro:

Post a response including a link source material by replying to the topic. Keep your tone

friendly and helpful, for example “I understand how it may be confusing but the tax code says

that you actually can’t claim your dog as a dependent. Here’s a good article that talks about

the criteria for dependents.” Avoid terms like “wrong”, “error”, and “mistake”.

Jerry Green, Community Manager

[email protected]

There are multiple channels

for help. The first is the

community playbook, which

contains helpful information

about how to participate.

Second, is the Associate

forum on the community for

Tax Pros only to ask questions

or find answers.

»

+

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

WHERE DO I GO IF I NEED HELP?

community playbook - h&r block · cofidetia: do ot distribute hr bock commuit pabook big...

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