L E A D E R NETWORKS LIVING LARGE: Creating Online Communities for Collaboration & Commerce Vanessa DiMauro CEO Leader Networks www.leadernetworks.com [email protected]
May 10, 2015
L E A D E R NETWORKS
LIVING LARGE: Creating Online Communities for
Collaboration & Commerce
Vanessa DiMauroCEO
Leader Networkswww.leadernetworks.com
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The New Communications Challenge
Social media is not well understood – new demands are being placed on communications…
• Why is no one blogging about my company? Can you promote my company to these 500 bloggers?
• OH NO! someone is blogging about my company! – I need online crisis management
• A client asked me to “get him one of those online communities.”• “We need a myspace/facebook account”• Wikipedia has wrong/bad/no info about my company – can you fix it?• Can you do some Web 2.0 marketing because we have no budget?
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The Puzzle of Now
PR [and Marketing] professionals face the challenge of regaining credibility for themselves and for their clients. The old, reliable media processes no longer are effective. At the very least, they are not enough. You don’t see a lot of people reading press releases on YouTube. …Two challenges are particularly severe. First, what’s the role for intermediaries in the disintermediated world of the Web? Second, who’s going to believe paid partisans when we can now talk with other customers like us?
-- David Weinberger 2007
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There is a Need For Understanding
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These Were the Best of Times, These Were the Worst of Times
Good intentions gone bad Loctite & the ballpoint pen
Bad intentions got caught WholeFoods vs. Wild Oats
Hurray for the longtail + social media! Microbrews, specialty products, travel sites, consumer health
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Online Communities are The Centerfold of Social Media
Online communities are the centerfold of social media because they bring together all social media efforts into a thriving organic ecosystem of collaboration
Processes: Digital Marketing, Online Customer Care, E-Marketplace, Net Promoter (NP score)
Tools: Blogs, WiKis, Polls, Ranking, Social Networks, Podcasting and Webcasting, Mashups, forums
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What are Online Communities?
• What is an online community?– Any group of people who purposefully use telecommunications to
discussion issues, questions, solve problems, share information, develop trust and communicate with a degree of frequency. (DiMauro and Gal, 1992)
– FAST FACT: Online community can take place in a discussion forum, a wiki, a social network, through a blog, and over e-mail
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Three General Models of Online Community
Small gated Public Hybrid
Select, narrow target audience
Acceptance criteria
Protected dialog
Managed topical agenda
Sponsor supported
Open call, all interested
Member directed
Public forum
Big bang
Ad generated support
Tiered membership
Consensus/Trend driven
Public forum w/ private area
Thought leadership (responsive)
Hybrid Revenues
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© LeaderNetworks 2008
Typical Community Programs
Member-Generated Content• Profiles / home pages• Product ratings• Product reviews• Interviews and high-value content
creation
Member-To-Member Interaction• Discussion Forums• Blogs, Wikis and social media entries• Member created podcasts• Phone calls
Events• Guest events• Expert Seminars• Virtual meetings / Trade Shows
Outreach • Newsletters• Volunteer / Leader programs• Polls / surveys
Driving Participation: Discussion group management and facilitation. (Only 10% of membership will participate in discussion groups)
Driving Conversion: All other site interaction. IE: polls / surveys, answering specific questions, rating content, participating in events…etc
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Online Communities are Good Business
Attract new and different audience/clients/prospects/users Shorten product development cycles Get the message right the first time! Build trust relationships with clients Yield two-sided competitive analysis Learn what your customers are talking about
When was the last time you were able to talk to 2,000 of your clients?
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Community Business Model in Action
1. Member has an idea
2. Member seeks advice
3. Member evaluates options
4. Member builds plan & budget
5. Member makes purchase
Goes to discussions or content
Buys research or advisory service
Joins buying pack
Leverages discounts
Orders from partners
Create valueget benefit
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What is different about social media engagement?… (*Not* everything)
• Ownership and power– Freelance journalists, bloggers, consumers, Citizen Journalism
• Costs– Monitoring and outreach mainly manual and expensive
• Demographics– Traditionally overlooked constituents now have a voice
• New rules of engagements– New ethics and codes of conduct– O’Reily Blogger Rules
• Changing roles for PR and Marketing– New responsibility & need to innovate
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A Key Question
• Do you want to start the conversation with a formalized community plan or join the conversation of ongoing efforts?– Too often companies think they need to build or create in order to
participate– There are many ways to leverage social media– The social media model must fit the goals, resources, and needs
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Build: Community Creation Cycle
• Create Vision• Target & Segment Audience• Query Potential Members• Build Value Proposition• Architect Business Value Justification & Measurements• Benchmark Competition & Best of Breed• Determine Brand Positioning• Design Features & Functionality
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Participate: Practical Examples
Quarterly blogger cadre program
Find relevant online communities and be a participatory sponsor◦ Not just banner ads but join the conversation long-term
Use interactive media on website to create a community
Launch a customer care forum online/extend in-person events to 24X7
Enter new market segments through interactive media◦ BigCo does SMB
WOMM program to serve sponsors and users
Use More UGC
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© LeaderNetworks 2008Confidential
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Managing (client/company) Expectations
Online Community takes time◦ Roadmaps and process exposure is key
Online Community takes planning◦ Clients need to know where they want to go
Online Community takes effort◦ Executives and key spokespeople need to be more involved than with traditional
PR and Marketing
Online Community is less structured ◦ Embrace serendipity
Online Community outcomes CAN be measured◦ Buzzmetrics, ROI, customer retention, revenue generation, cross-sell/up sell,
competitive information value, new client acquisition
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Top 10 Rules of Online Community Engagement
1) No gaming, no scheming, no fake people 2) No one-night stands (cultivate relationships) 3) Observe, enculturate then act4) Be responsive and brave5) Be trustworthy and aware6) No tools for the sake of tools7) No blog litter8) Thought leadership over marketing9) Return what you learn10) Match plans with metrics
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Guiding Principals for Community Programs
• It is important to integrate interactivity into the traditional PR and Marcomm model– Companies need to examine how to bring interactivity into their
business models in ways that serve the business and the customer goals alike.
– People’s expectations are changing.. They no longer want to be passive recipients of information and experiences.
• The human process & trust factor can not be overlooked– What works in the face world will work in an online environment– Need clear definition about what are the behaviors the business
wants to support before launching a tool to support it.
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© LeaderNetworks 2008Confidential
THANK YOU!
Vanessa DiMauro
President, Leader Networks
617-484-0778