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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Kick Starting Online Communities: Best Practices to Engage Audiences Through the Power of Community Case Study: Con Edison
May 22, 2013
Sandra Fathi President, Affect [email protected] @sandrafathi
WOMM-U, Chicago
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
OVERVIEW KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
1. Is a Community Right for You? 2. Choosing Your Technology 3. Planning & Launch 4. Driving Membership & Participation 5. Maintaining & Measuring Engagement 6. Case Study: Con Edison’s Power of Giving Online Community
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• Is your target audience active online? (e.g. social networks, forums, blogs etc.)
• Is your brand active online? Do your followers regularly engage with you?
• Do you have a steady stream of unique content to communicate?
• Does your brand have customer/employee advocates that are eager to engage?
• Do you have the internal resources to manage a community on a daily basis?
IS IT RIGHT FOR YOUR BRAND? KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Before deciding to launch a new community, remember to : • Look Before You Leap • Define Goals & Objectives / Desired Business Impact • Experiment With Engagement Through Social • Assign Internal Resources • Understand Your Technology Options • Think About the Future (Long-term vs. short-term impact)
IS IT RIGHT FOR YOUR BRAND? KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
CHOOSING YOUR TECHNOLOGY
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
1. Build It
2. Buy It
3. Rent It
4. Hybrid
1. Analytics
2. Cost
3. Time-to-Market
4. Resources
5. CRM
Tech Options Requirements
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
EXAMPLE: NING vs. LITHIUM
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
1. Simple Customization
2. No CRM Integration
3. Fast and Easy Launch
4. Standard UI
5. Lower Cost/No Cost
1. High-Level of Customization
2. Integration w/ Salesforce
3. Time Consuming Build
4. Customizable UI
5. Higher Cost (based on requirements)
Ning Lithium
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
EXAMPLE: NING KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
EXAMPLE: LITHIUM KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
If you build it, will they come?
PLANNING & LAUNCH KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
LAUNCH TOOLKIT KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
1. Community Usage Policy 2. Administrator Workflow Plan 3. Content Strategy 4. Community Response Map/FAQ 5. Technical Recommendations 6. Internal/External Communications Launch Program
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• Utilize a well-designed, easy-to-use interface • Create a content plan/editorial calendar • Identify and train internal community admins • Identify and train customers, partners, influencers
(exclusivity sells) • Schedule launch promotion – hit users on their preferred
channels (e.g. social media, traditional marketing, PR) • Pre-populate the community with content • Determine KPI’s to measure success
PRE-LAUNCH TIPS KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Once you’ve built it, how do you keep them coming back?
DRIVING MEMBERSHIP & PARTICIPATION
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
DRIVING MEMBERSHIP & PARTICIPATION
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• 6 Month Promotion Plan that includes: • Weekly communication with current users • Monthly promotion to non-users • Ambassador activation strategy • Employee engagement strategy • Offline promotion strategy (e.g. marketing collateral) • Content refresh schedule • Weekly measurement/KPI’s
ENGAGEMENT TOOLKIT KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• Be consistent and creative with promotion efforts, don’t give up!
• Promote new community content externally to drive traffic
• Ask ambassadors to share expertise on topics of their choice, use incentives/contests to drive participation
• Include a call-to-action in posted content to drive conversation and engagement
• Hold back on over-promoting your brand and services – focus on third-party content (e.g. articles, infographics and statistics) – use the 80/20 rule
MEMBERSHIP & PARTICIPATION TIPS
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
You built it, they came. But did it impact your business?
MAINTAINING & MEASURING ENGAGEMENT
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
MAINTENANCE & MEASUREMENT TOOLKIT
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
1. Community Engagement KPIs 2. Technical Tripwires 3. Formalized Measurement Template 4. Expansion Strategy (to be implemented aer 6 months) 5. Communicate Success to Leadership 6. Big Ideas to Maintain Engagement
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• Keep the community fresh by incorporating multimedia (e.g. videos, photos, executive insights)
• Consistently identify new prospects to join the community, ask current members to recruit their network
• Promote the community across all marketing channels, online and offline (e.g. tradeshows/events, social media)
• Track qualitative and quantitative metrics on a monthly basis to see community growth and value. Examine business impact (e.g. web traffic + quality of conversion)
MAINTENANCE & MEASUREMENT
KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
SAMPLE METRICS KICK STARTING COMMUNITIES
1. # of New Visitors
2. # of Returning Visitors
3. # of Registered Users
4. % of Active Members
5. # of Engagements
6. # of Member Posts
7. # Leads Generated
1. Content Popularity
2. Language & Tone
3. Sense of Community
4. Quality of Engagement
5. Relevancy of Content
6. Speed of Replies
7. Influencers/Ambassadors
Quantitative Qualitative
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Case Study: Con Edison Power of Giving Online Community
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Con Edison operates one of the most complex electrical power systems in the world, serving New York City and
Westchester County. • 3.3 million customers
• Population of over 9 million people • 660 square mile service territory • Hundreds of strategic partners
POWER OF GIVING ONLINE COMMUNITY
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Con Edison’s Power of Giving Program provides financial or in-kind support to hundreds of organizations whose activities
advance strong, vibrant and stable communities.
The program extends beyond cash grants and is enhanced by a strong and loyal corps of employees, a robust board
participation program, partnerships and collaborations and an education matching gi program.
POWER OF GIVING ONLINE COMMUNITY
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
STRATEGIC PARTNERS CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• Enhance non-profit partners’ access to Con Edison and strengthen communication
• Build and improve partner support and satisfaction • Strengthen connections and communication between Con
Edison partners, empower them to share resources to promote collaboration
• Reputation management during times of crisis (e.g. natural disaster, power outages etc.)
POG ONLINE COMMUNITY GOALS & OBJECTIVES
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• 30-day launch • Simple customization • Easy-to-use technology, must support Google Analytics • Ability to manage community with 1-2 team members • Ability to access community from mobile devices • Ability to send communications directly to members • Forums/discussion boards for users • Ability to upgrade UI/customization as community grows
POG ONLINE COMMUNITY REQUIREMENTS
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• Customized email invitation to ‘Insiders’ (invited first) • Customized email invitation to partners by area of interest
(e.g. arts & culture, education etc.) • Insiders invited to contribute content and receive
administrative permissions • Official launch at Power of Giving forum event (partners
invited to sign-up onsite) • Weekly email communication to users from Con Edison
highlighting new posted content • Con Edison Program Managers trained to invite partner
contacts
POG ONLINE COMMUNITY LAUNCH STRATEGY
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
550 Members
1 Year Post-Launch New Members Every
Week
145 Blog Posts Posted by Users
300+ photos and
videos
8-10 Average Minutes On
Site
POWER OF GIVING ONLINE COMMUNITY
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
POG ONLINE COMMUNITY BLOG
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
POG ONLINE COMMUNITY EVENT BOARD
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
The events board is used weekly by members to
promote events that are happening within their
organizations.
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
• Social Impact Measurement Group: 34 active members • PR & Media Relations Best Practices Group: 32 active members • Arts & Culture Group: 28 active members • Social Media Bootcamp: 22 active members
POG ONLINE COMMUNITY GROUPS
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
POG ONLINE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SNAPSHOT
CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
Members ask Con Edison for input and
feedback on hot topics.
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
REPUTATION MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY: CON EDISON
Hurricane Sandy updates received over 250 views by members
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PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
WOMM-U Kick Starting Online Communities: Best Practices to Engage Audiences Through the Power of Community
May 22, 2013
Sandra Fathi President, Affect [email protected] @sandrafathi