Making Support Social: Microsoft Answers and Community Support

Making Support SocialMicrosoft Answers & Community Support

Steve AlterSocial Business StrategistAnt’s Eye View

www.antseyeview.com@stevealter

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December 14, 2008

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Newsgroups are online threaded discussion groupsIn which people converse asynchronously

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December 15, 2008

15 months later…

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211,363 23,991Unique Visitors/Day Returning Visitors/Day

568Validated Answers200, 829 77%

Answered in 7 days

31% of answers from MVPs

80 13forums in languages

Views/Answer

35% of answers from general users

114,044,046Page Views

250,073Visits/Day

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What business are you in?

Deflect De*flect”, v.1. Prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening.2. Turn from a straight course, fixed direction, or line of interest. 3. Turn aside and away from an initial or intended course.  4. Draw someone's attention away from something.5. Impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball).

Engage  En*gage”, v.    6. To attract and hold the attention of; engross.7. To gain for service; to bring in as associate or aid; to enlist; as,

to engage friends to aid in a cause. 8. To gain over; to win and attach; to attract and hold..9. To draw into; involve: engage a shy person in conversation.

What Business Should You Be In?

A huge number of consumers come looking for help…

…but 75% leave without finding any!

Self-help…doesn’t always

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If you don’t build it they will come anyway…

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…and be pretty pissed that you didn’t.

If you build it, but don’t really know why, they will come once…

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…and never come back again.

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What problems are you trying to solve?

Empower consumers to easily discover and use trusted content to solve problems and extend their capabilities with our software and services through rich, online communities supported by Microsoft experts.

Goals

Vision

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Steve’s 7-Step Checklist

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6 Must Haves for Community Success

1. Surface quality content2. Create a rewarding space for

influencers3. Expose expertise, increase trust4. Create an invested customer

relationship5. Reach people with their own

language6. Provide clear sense of community

vitality

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Iterate Early, Iterate Often

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Rule of Thumb

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Rules of Reality Will Vary

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5 Truths About Community Support

1. One answer goes a long way.2. Hundreds will make extraordinary

contributions.3. Hundreds of thousands will make

ordinary contributions.4. People will take help wherever – and

from whoever - they can find it.5. A post is forever.

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5 Myths About Community Support

1. “It’s the same as phone support, just online”

2. The community does all the work now3. Assisted support is going away4. Traffic = Success

(or Volume > Quality)5. People will just talk about how much they

hate us

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Who We Are

Who We Work With

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For More Information

For additional information, please contact:

Steve [email protected]

@stevealter

www.antseyeview.com