Community Breakfast May 2012 - Structured vs Organic Community-Building

Hosted by UserVoice

Building Upon Structured Communities
 * Research your customer- know why they are there
 * Need a rally cry (ex. forum for mothers who have lost a child)
 * Wikipedia’s Student Ambassador Program
 * Two different groups, Online Help & Offline
 * Offline Group was built from nothing, reached out to staff, grad students, faculty members
 * Evaluations given at the end of the term
 * Feedback of the program
 * Tweaking of description to make volunteer position more attractive
 * Incentives:
 * Resume: Brought volunteers in but wasn’t enough to make them stay
 * Need to find volunteers with a passion for teaching- the role itself was the incentive
 * CLASH: Offline vs. Online, New vs. Existing
 * Realized BOTH new and old needed to be trained on new program, norms, and protocol
 * Orientation (Better term than training)
 * Top Contributors/Advocate Programs
 * Keep them motivated- offer them a first peak at new product launches, provide “exclusive” information
 * Train on FAQ, provide tools they need, including a private forum where they can contact the CM and other volunteers for more info
 * Find people who love and will advocate for your product
 * Make sure you have a great balance of people- no extremes
 * Invite for IRL meet-ups, even if you cannot connect with entire program
 * Personal connection
 * Gives a face to your corporation/organization
 * Allow Regional Leaders to host meet-ups, in places you cannot reach
 * Creates brand awareness, may not see initial ROI
 * Must have a GOAL in bringing in community, to IRL events

Keeping your Supply and Demand with the Company

(ex. Rabbits and Tasks, Chefs and Diners)- preventing them from going around your product


 * Be strategic about information given to both sides and when it is given


 * Structure the mode of communication you give them
 * Forum or place for them to interact
 * Embed messaging into the site?
 * Be sure to answer the questions of why they need to communicate? What value do they gain from this? What relationship do they want?


 * Provide them with something, besides the service, they would not get otherwise
 * Press Attention
 * Blog Posts
 * Branded Twitter Accounts


 * Promise and provide them a unique experience

Building a Community Organically


 * User Engagement Cycle- engage on a personal level


 * Personalize the company (Example from Livefyre team)
 * Talk with users, both online and off
 * Don’t focus on ROIs
 * Find those who love your product, will be a brand advocate
 * Give them things to do! They want to help, let them know how they can
 * Structure a program for them
 * Personalize, personalize, personalize!