This document discusses community initiatives and building online communities. It defines community as the people, places, and things an organization or brand interacts with. It provides examples of how companies like Dell, Factory5 Racing, and SAP have built successful online communities to improve communication, customer service, marketing and innovation. The document advises organizations to consider whether to build their own community platform or join an existing one based on their goals, resources, and what communities already exist. It provides tips for community design like showing member activity, rewarding contributions, and setting clear expectations to encourage positive member behaviors.

1. CommunityInitiatives Dylan Thomas, Digital Director SDForumMarketingSIG, Jun 14, 2010

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6. Community Initiatives Dylan Thomas, Digital Director SDForumMarketingSIG, Jun 14, 2010

7. So what is Community?

8. Community is People(And stuff).

9. All the people, places & things that your business, products, ideas, and industries touch.

10. You already havea Community.

11. WHAT?!?

12. Think ofCommunity likeBrand

13. Intangible.You’ve got one.It’s more about them.

14. You are at the center, You are integral, You are the heart of SOME community. BIG POINT

15. Manifestations of Community blogs, forums, email newsletters, usergroups, facebook pages, twitter accounts, social media, events, your employees, their families, your customers, their customers, your vendors and partners, etc, etc, etc.

16. What about “Social Media”? Social media is a manifestation of community It can be the only expression of that community, or one of many. Community initiatives may or may not leverage social media. SIDEBAR

17. #1 Provide a platform for Communication, Connection, and Marketing #2 Improve Support & Customer service (and reduce costs) #3 Empower the customer/Accelerate Innovation 3 things* you can do *there are WAY more

18. Some Examples

19. Escuela Buena Vista Communication-Connection

20. Axiom Group Communication-Connection / Product Extension Product Value Add

21. Worldreader.org Communication-Connection-Marketing

22. BIG POINT: Show me the Money

23. Dell Twitter Marketing / Customer Service

24. Key Points Dell uses over ~35 Twitter accounts to engage different audiences Accounts used for information sharing, customer service, and marketing (including coupons/deals) @DellOutlet generated $6.5M so far Dell Twitter Marketing / Customer Service

25. Factory5 Racing Communication-Connection / Support / Unofficial Selling Point

26. Community support is a central advantage for sales of kit cars and Factory5 has one of the best Insanely supportive community Bridges On-line/Off-line FFCars. com is entirely independent Factory5 Racing Communication-Connection / Support / Unofficial Selling Point

27. Dell IdeaStorm Customer Voice/Innovation

29. 2006 = Launched Blog = Massive Failure

31. Demonstrated Dell’s commitment to customer service turnaroundDell IdeaStorm Customer Voice/Innovation

32. SAP’s Ecosystem Communication-Connection/Support/Innovation

34. 400,000 newsletter subscribers.

35. 200,000 Contributors

38. Connects developers, customers, partners, experts, and universities…To each other and to SAP…For real.

39. Focuses on the individual

40. Has been widely successful in fostering cooperation, innovation, and productivity.

41. Blends on-line and off-line

42. Crazy points system. The have banquets, give awards, but the points themselves award the most valuable thing, Status

43. Is the actual hub of the SAP communitySAP’s Ecosystem Communication-Connection/Support/Innovation

44. BIG POINT: OK, NOW WHAT?

45. You’ve got Goals, right?

46. BIG QUESTION Build or Join?

47. #1 What do you want to achieve? #2 What are your resources? #3 What is already going on? Considerations

49. Is there already a place where people address the topics that you want to cover, for the purposes that you want to achieve

50. Is their a hole in the “market”? Really?

52. Ultimate control of the platform, feature set, development, message

53. Ability to integrate however tightly you wish with your other initiatives and properties.Build:

55. More time

56. More effort

57. More expense

58. Possibly duplicated effort

59. Failure is possible, public, and embarrassingBuild:

60. Pros No Waiting, No Budget, No Problem Zero start cost Zero platform cost The hard part, gathering the initial members of the community, is done (or at least started) Street Cred Interacting with community on its terms Failure can be quiet Join:

62. No Control over platform

63. May not be able to do everything you wantJoin:

64. Ebay community Loved Paypal. Ebay bought BillPoint. Users revolted. Ebay supported Paypal. SHORT STORY:

65. LESSON: Ignoring your community is expensive.

66. #1 Be Honest #2 Be Valuable #3 Fit in and Follow Joining:

67. If You Build it… Pay Attention To This Section

68. Design Imperatives #1 Show Activity #2 Reward Members #3 Set Expectations

69. #1 Recency #2 Quantity #3 Results* Show Activity *if applicable

70. Dell IdeaStorm #1 Recency #2 Quantity #3 Results*

71. MyStarbucksIdea #1 Recency #2 Quantity

72. #1 Recognition #2 Everything else Reward Members

74. Be up-front Keep them in the loop Share plans & Successes Set Expectations

76. Do unto others as you would have them do to the community.

77. Show people how you want them to act.Behavior Modelling

78. “The most difficult part is not the technology but actually getting the people to behave well. “When first starting the community the Flickr team were spending nearly 24 hours online greeting each individual user, introducing them to each other and cultivating the community. “After a certain point you can let go and the community will start to maintain itself” “People will greet each other and introduce their own practices into the social software. It’s always underestimated, but early on you need someone in there everyday who is kind of like the host of the party, who introduces everybody and takes their coat.” --Caterina Fake, Co-Founder of Flickr Behavior Modelling

79. Building requires a huge investment of time up-front, cultivating behavior and relationships. Efforts can take a long time to bear fruit Communities become self-sustaining over time This is will take a while

80. Now what are you going to do about it?

81. Q&A Facebook.com/rassakexperience