Building buzzing communities. A presentation prepared for a TechUK event by Mark Pinsent and Alex Skelton

1. Building
Communities
Presented by Mark Pinsent, Alex Skelton
08 June 2015 1

2. This is us…
08 June 2015
Alex Skelton
@alexdskelton
Mark Pinsent
@markpinsent

3. Metia fast facts
Advocacy
References | Content | Social
Influence
Media relations | Analyst relations
Experience
Web | Apps | Mobile
Relationships
eDM | CRM | Community
Client Services | Consulting
Programme Management
Editors | Writers
Design | UX | IA | Motion
Architects | Developers | PM | QA | eDM
PR | AR | Marketing | Social
London | Seattle | Austin |
Singapore
Independent, privately owned
$18.5m revenue FY14
26
Years
150
Professionals
4
Locations

4. Our current client list

5. Personal presentation rule no.1:
Use quotations.
“Study the past if you are
to define the future.”
Confucius

6. Com·mu·ni·ty
/kəˈmyo͞onədē/
1. A group of people living in the same place or having a
particular characteristic in common.
2. A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing
common attitudes, interests, and goals.
Personal presentation rule no.2:
Use definitions.

7. Communities are
never defined by
numbers
08 June 2015
Pop. 1.39bn
Pop. 1.35bn

8. Business and community is
nothing new.

9. Every business is part of a number of communities
Every business has communities attached to it
Communities
and business
Conversations are taking place about and around the business
No barriers between customers, employees, suppliers
Reality is perception: customer experience is key
Today, there are different commonalities between members
There is no B2B in community, just P2P

10. Technology means that geography and
physical proximity are no longer the
primary drivers of communities around
business.
But many of the same rules still apply.

11. “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and
forget about progress and prosperity for our
community... Our ambitions must be broad
enough to include the aspirations and needs of
others, for their sakes and for our own.”
Cesar Chavez, farm worker and civil rights activist

12. “Communication leads to community,
that is, to understanding, intimacy
and mutual valuing.”
Rollo May, psychologist

13. “Plus ca change, plus
c’est la meme chose.”
Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

14. The explosion in social technologies hasn’t been
100% positive(!)
It has created a fallacy, and broad misuse of the
term “community”.
Most online communities, aren’t. What might
look like a community to a business doesn’t feel
like one to its members.
Fans and followers ≠ community.
Communities are only communities if its
members talk to each other.
An exchange of value is essential.
However…
08 June 2015©

15. Different shapes
of online brand
‘communities’

16. Company
The temptation for
companies in communities
(often the starting point).
Lots of broadcast from the
centre, relatively low
feedback, limited
interaction between
members (if any).

17. Company
Evolution…company is less
central, but still only
interaction between the
company and individual
members.

18. Company
The first signs of genuine
community activity, as
members start to interact
with each other.
Company’s role is still
significant.

19. Company
Moving towards the
ideal. ‘Power’ members
grow into equal (or
greater) significance as
the company and
recruit new members
from their own
networks.

20. Setting up for success
Asking and answering some
fundamental questions.

21. Recommended
reading

22. 1. Should you?
Objectives & Purpose

23. “The things you own
end up owning you.”
Tyler Durden, Fight Club

24. ActionPlace
Practice Interest
HybridCircumstance
Different types of
community
© FeverBee

25. Brand communities must
serve two purposes (in the
correct order)
Articulate the community’s
statement of purpose and
use in its marketing
08 June 2015
Members
Business
• A unifying interest for the
audience
• Information, skills, help,
networking, career
• Aligning to commercial
objectives
• Insight, ideas, leads,
customer service, sales

26. 2. Can you?
Getting buy-in & sponsorship

27. The tools and
technology might be
free…but running a
community is
anything but.
• Essential to build the business
value case
• What does success look like?
• Gain commitment for the long-
term, not the next quarter
• Don’t be distracted by
membership numbers as a
measure
• Executive sponsorship is great.
Executive involvement in the
community is better

28. ROI should be
measured in the same
way as any other
business activity…
08 June 2015
Revenue Costs
Customer retention
Incremental purchases
New sales
Customer service
Marketing
R&D
Recruitment

29. 3. Where?
Location(s)

30. 08 June 2015© 3
Fish where the
fish are.

31. 08 June 2015© 3
Before building
an aquarium.

32. Individual Company
Ownership isn’t an
imperative. Whether
initially to listen, test
content and engage or as
an on-going strategy,
involvement in existing
communities can reap
benefits with less
commitment.

34. 4. Who and how?
Community Management

35. This is what a community manager looks like

36. The Community Manager
is the hub of activity. Data
is the foundation of the
role.
A dedicated Community
Manager is essential.
However, community
management is not solely
undertaken by the
Community Manager.
The more successful a
community, the more
elements of its
management are
undertaken by its
members.
08 June 2015
Community
Management
Strategy
Growth
Content
Moderation
Events &
Activities
Relationships
& Influence
Business
Integration
User
Experience
© FeverBee

37. 6. Where will your
members come from?
Recruitment

38. 150 – Dunbar’s number: the number of stable
social relationships a person can maintain
(between 100 – 250 depending on study)
Among adult Facebook users, the average
(mean) number of friends is 338, and the
median (midpoint) number of friends is 200.
In other words, half of all Facebook users
have more than 200 friends, and half have
less than 200.
Small is beautiful

39. Member ‘pipeline’
Visitors
Registered
Members
Participants
Regulars
Volunteer
Managers
Via email, social, search, WoM
Reduce barriers to registration
Welcome, reminders, content
Connections, status,
events
Gold!
© FeverBee

40. • The first members of your community will be known
to you
• Customers, partners, employees
• Invite directly and personally. Make it exclusive. Use
the early members to define the community’s focus,
objectives and content
• Don’t chase raw numbers: quality beats quantity
and smaller communities are more (inter)active
• Encourage members to recruit
• Build personal relationships with the most active
members
• Influencers aren’t always obvious
• Actively manage membership: don’t be afraid to
shed inactive members
Member strategy

41. “Focus on quality of member and level of
engagement, not raw numbers. In fact, we
pruned a third of our list last year to weed
out people who are members but hadn’t
engaged in at least a year. We came to the
conclusion that if someone didn’t come
back after seeing at least 12 e-newsletters
and countless alerts on everything from new
content and conversations in groups to
which they subscribe, they really weren’t
interested in being a member.”
Alan Alper, senior director of corporate
marketing, Cognizant

42. 7. What will you say?
Content Strategy and Process

43. Establishing a Process and Rhythm
Plan
Produce
PublishPromote
Performance
Regular ‘editorial’ planning
meetings, business agenda,
external input, event calendar,
commissioning, etc.
Copywriting, design,
video, etc.
Into community and
through other owned
channels.
Earned and paid media
promotion to recruit new
members.
Web and social
analytics

44. • The best content for a community is content about
the community
• Let members lead you where possible; amplify and
participate in their content
• Test and analyse in other existing communities
• Encourage (healthy) debate
• Use data!
• Initiate discussions on topics you know are of interest to
members
• Prompt members to participate
• Market the content beyond the community’s walls
• Regular email updates and newsletters
Content Strategy

45. News
Features
Guest
Columns
Discussion
Threads
Event
Reports
Customer
Stories
Q&As
Types of content

46. Young et al. found that offline events can
increase online community page views by
60.4% and participation by 27.2%
Relationships and bonds between members
become stronger
Solidify and celebrate the community identity
Help recruit volunteer managers
Create opportunities for content pre-, during-
and post-event
Bringing the
online offline

47. 8. How to evaluate?
Measuring Success

48. ROI should be
measured in the same
way as any other
business activity…
08 June 2015©
Revenue Costs
Customer retention
Incremental purchases
New sales
Customer service
Marketing
R&D
Recruitment

49. Measuring what matters: within the community
• Average time in the community
• Engagement with content
• How many members are actively participating once a week
• Members meeting new people who can help them
• Whether the debates are positive/constructive or
negative/destructive
• Members are volunteering to help you out
• How many of the discussions are generated by you, and
how many by the community
• The community is recruiting new members itself
• Offline events and real-world meetings

50. Recap

51. To sum up:
7 steps to success
• Research
• Test
• Commit for the long-term
• Dedicate resource
• Invest in content
• Online and offline
• Use the data
08 June 2015©

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