metia - building buzzing communities

Building CommunitiesPresented by Mark Pinsent, Alex Skelton

15 April 2023 1

This is us…

15 April 2023

Alex Skelton@alexdskelton

Mark Pinsent@markpinsent

Our current client list

Personal presentation rule no.1:Use quotations.

“Study the past if you are to define the future.”Confucius

Com·mu·ni·ty/kəˈmyo@onədē/

1. A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

2. A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

Personal presentation rule no.2:Use definitions.

Communities are never defined by numbers

15 April 2023

Pop. 1.39bn

Pop. 1.35bn

Business and community is nothing new.

Every business is part of a number of communities

Every business has communities attached to it

Communities and business

Conversations are taking place about and around the business

No barriers between customers, employees, suppliers

Reality is perception: customer experience is key

Today, there are different commonalities between members

There is no B2B in community, just P2P

Technology means that geography and physical proximity are no longer the primary drivers of communities around business.

But many of the same rules still apply.

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”

Cesar Chavez, farm worker and civil rights activist

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.”

Rollo May, psychologist

“Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.”

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

The explosion in social technologies hasn’t been 100% positive(!)

It has created a fallacy, and broad misuse of the term “community”.

Most online communities, aren’t. What might look like a community to a business doesn’t feel like one to its members.

Fans and followers ≠ community.

Communities are only communities if its members talk to each other.

An exchange of value is essential.

However…

15 April 2023© Metia

Different shapes of online brand ‘communities’

Company

The temptation for companies in communities (often the starting point). Lots of broadcast from the centre, relatively low feedback, limited interaction between members (if any).

Company

Evolution…company is less central, but still only interaction between the company and individual members.

Company

The first signs of genuine community activity, as members start to interact with each other. Company’s role is still significant.

Company

Moving towards the ideal. ‘Power’ members grow into equal (or greater) significance as the company and recruit new members from their own networks.

Setting up for success

Asking and answering some fundamental questions.

Recommended reading

1. Should you?Objectives & Purpose

“The things you own end up owning you.”Tyler Durden, Fight Club

ActionPlace

Practice Interest

HybridCircumstance

Different types of community

© FeverBee

Brand communities must serve two purposes (in the correct order)

Articulate the community’s statement of purpose and use in its marketing

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Members

Business

• A unifying interest for the audience

• Information, skills, help, networking, career

• Aligning to commercial objectives

• Insight, ideas, leads, customer service, sales

2. Can you?Getting buy-in & sponsorship

The tools and technology might be free…but running a community is anything but.

• Essential to build the business value case

• What does success look like?

• Gain commitment for the long-term, not the next quarter

• Don’t be distracted by membership numbers as a measure

• Executive sponsorship is great. Executive involvement in the community is better

ROI should be measured in the same way as any other business activity…

15 April 2023

Revenue Costs

Customer retentionIncremental purchases

New sales

Customer serviceMarketing

R&DRecruitment

3. Where?Location(s)


30

Fish where the fish are.


31

Before building an aquarium.

Individual Company

Ownership isn’t an imperative. Whether initially to listen, test content and engage or as an on-going strategy, involvement in existing communities can reap benefits with less commitment.

4. Who and how?Community Management

This is what a community manager looks like

The Community Manager is the hub of activity. Data is the foundation of the role.

A dedicated Community Manager is essential.

However, community management is not solely undertaken by the Community Manager.

The more successful a community, the more elements of its management are undertaken by its members.

15 April 2023

Community Management

Strategy

Growth

Content

Moderation

Events & Activities

Relationships & Influence

Business Integration

User Experience

© FeverBee

6. Where will your members come from?Recruitment

150 – Dunbar’s number: the number of stable social relationships a person can maintain (between 100 – 250 depending on study)

Among adult Facebook users, the average (mean) number of friends is 338, and the median (midpoint) number of friends is 200. In other words, half of all Facebook users have more than 200 friends, and half have less than 200.

Small is beautiful

Member ‘pipeline’

Visitors

Registered Members

Participants

Regulars

Volunteer Managers

Via email, social, search, WoM

Reduce barriers to registration

Welcome, reminders, content

Connections, status, events

Gold!

© FeverBee

• The first members of your community will be known to you• Customers, partners, employees

• Invite directly and personally. Make it exclusive. Use the early members to define the community’s focus, objectives and content

• Don’t chase raw numbers: quality beats quantity and smaller communities are more (inter)active

• Encourage members to recruit

• Build personal relationships with the most active members

• Influencers aren’t always obvious

• Actively manage membership: don’t be afraid to shed inactive members

Member strategy

“Focus on quality of member and level of engagement, not raw numbers. In fact, we pruned a third of our list last year to weed out people who are members but hadn’t engaged in at least a year. We came to the conclusion that if someone didn’t come back after seeing at least 12 e-newsletters and countless alerts on everything from new content and conversations in groups to which they subscribe, they really weren’t interested in being a member.”

Alan Alper, senior director of corporate marketing, Cognizant

7. What will you say?Content Strategy and Process

Establishing a Process and Rhythm

Plan

Produce

PublishPromote

Performance

Regular ‘editorial’ planning meetings, business agenda, external input, event calendar, commissioning, etc.

Copywriting, design, video, etc.

Into community and through other owned channels.

Earned and paid media promotion to recruit new members.

Web and social analytics

• The best content for a community is content about the community

• Let members lead you where possible; amplify and participate in their content

• Test and analyse in other existing communities

• Encourage (healthy) debate

• Use data!• Initiate discussions on topics you know are of interest to

members• Prompt members to participate

• Market the content beyond the community’s walls• Regular email updates and newsletters

Content Strategy

News

Features

Guest Columns

Discussion Threads

Event Reports

Customer Stories

Q&As

Types of content

Young et al. found that offline events can increase online community page views by 60.4% and participation by 27.2%

Relationships and bonds between members become stronger

Solidify and celebrate the community identity

Help recruit volunteer managers

Create opportunities for content pre-, during- and post-event

Bringing the online offline

8. How to evaluate?Measuring Success

ROI should be measured in the same way as any other business activity…


Revenue Costs

Customer retentionIncremental purchases

New sales

Customer serviceMarketing

R&DRecruitment

Measuring what matters: within the community

• Average time in the community

• Engagement with content

• How many members are actively participating once a week

• Members meeting new people who can help them

• Whether the debates are positive/constructive or negative/destructive

• Members are volunteering to help you out

• How many of the discussions are generated by you, and how many by the community

• The community is recruiting new members itself

• Offline events and real-world meetings

To sum up:7 steps to success

•Research• Test•Commit for the long-term•Dedicate resource• Invest in content•Online and offline•Use the data


metia - building buzzing communities

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