While there are huge benefits to an online community, at least 70 percent fail. Yet despite this failure rate, leading communities aren't just surviving; they are thriving. What sets these communities apart from the rest? How can you sustain an online community that provides a competitive edge?
Now you can learn the secrets of a successful community, including:
The most common fallacies of online communities
The importance of getting beyond the technology to strategy
The impact of the community life cycle
The benefits of harnessing user generated knowledge
Join Telligent founder and CTO Rob Howard for How to Build a Sustainable Online Community, and walk away with practical, action-oriented insights to help you transform your community from stale to effective.
2. Secrets to Building Sustainable Online Communities
Rob Howard
Founder & CTO, Telligent
rhoward@telligent.com
@robhoward
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4. 1. CREATE VALUE BY LISTENING
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5. Three types of Online Communities
Participating Managed Directed
Experimenting with technologies
Executing a business strategy
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6. What does “social” mean to you?
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7. Why are businesses using Social Technologies?
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10. 2. DEFINE A COMMUNITY STRATEGY
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11. Community Strategy
1. Audience 2. Goals and Objectives 3. Strategy
Prospects Customers to interact and share
• Authen9city Digital
New and existing experience. Crea9ng
customers • Awareness authen9city and trust. Marketing
Customers Customers and prospects ask
• Informa9on
Support current and answer ques9ons; typically Support
customers • Answers supported by organiza9on.
Market Provide a loca9on where
• Understanding
Perceptions and discussions about your product Reputation
coverage • Par9cipa9on and services can take place.
Community Facilitate groups of like‐minded
• Connec9ng
Fans, Followers, and people to get together and Networking
Friends • Community share common experiences.
Source: Telligent Community Planning Framework
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12. Community Strategy
3. Strategy 4. Solutions 5. Results
Platform Analytics
• Engagement Forums, Blogs, Where did the
Digital • Content Wikis, Email, activity take • Sales
Marketing • Moderation Profiles, etc. place? • Customers
Search, Single What was
Sign-on, and discussed?
• Q&A
integration Popular? • Support
Support • Defer Calls
• Customers
• Reuse
Moderation, How are
filters, SPAM people
tools collaborating?
• Sentiment
• Perception
Reputation • Influence
Workflow, Rules Who are the • Coverage
• Moderation & Policy, users and
Security, Privacy types?
• Profiles Widgets, APIs, Why are they • Sales
Networking • Engagement Extensibility, using the
• Coverage
• Identity 3rd Parties system?
Source: Telligent Community Planning Framework
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13. Common Use Cases for Internal Deployments
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14. Examples of Community Strategy in Action
Use Case Problem Solu/on Results Customers
Ability to deliver
Collabora9ve support
quality, 9mely, and • 100% community
Customer community that differen9ates
relevant customer managed support
Support the firm and creates a posi9ve
support while • Cut support issues in ½
experience for customers
allevia9ng costs
• 20% increase in
Need to increase brand Connect with and market to
Digital dura9on
awareness and prospects and customers using
Marke9ng • 450,000 site referrals
customer loyalty branded communi9es
• 20,000 votes in 8 hours
• 13% increase in
Cannot connect directly Connect with members directly
dona9ons
Networking with members and using online communi9es for 2‐
• 43% increase in visits
increase service levels way conversa9ons and support
Legacy systems lack A common plaorm to meet,
• Reduced workgroup
Enterprise social func9onality and share knowledge, and work
lead 9me from 12
Collabora9on collabora9on is 9ed to interac9vely regardless of
months to 2 months
documents geography or firm affilia9on
• R&D expenditures 9%
Business silos prevent Intranet with analy9cs that
Knowledge compared to industry
knowledge sharing enable stakeholders to
Management average of 20‐25%
across the firm understand & measure content
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15. 3. UNDERSTAND THE COMMUNITY LIFECYCLE
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16. Why do 60% of Twitter users quit in the first month?
Not directly related to
the size of your network,
but the value of the
rela9onships between
individuals.
hbp://mashable.com/2009/04/28/twiber‐quibers/
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25. Social Intelligence Framework
1. Objectives 2. Technology 3. Analysis
Monitor discussions and • Community Owned
Where Listening sen9ment in communi9es you • Community Run
manage and own. • 3rd Party
• Blogs, Wikis, etc.
Understand how people create,
What Collaboration share, and revise content.
• User Profiles
• Comments, Ratings
For support strategies, define a • Answer Rates
How Support set of KPIs for how support is • Popular Topics
managed. • Asker / Answerer
Iden9fy user types within the • Influential Users
Who User Types community: influencers, • Social Fingerprint
connectors, originators, etc. • User ranking
Apply tradi9onal web analy9cs • Combines Previous
Why Engagement concepts to social media • Engagement “View”
content. • Plus web analytics
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33. QUESTIONS
Webinar Presented by Telligent Rob Howard
telligent.com | +1 (877) 492-9484 rhoward@telligent.com
Follow us on Twitter: @telligent @robhoward
September 22, 2010 | Page 33 Telligent Confiden9al