You cannot create a community, however there are still a lot you can do to connect with you fans. Keep in mind: social media is not about you, it is about the,

1. Rick Mans
Global Social Media Lead
Communities, it is not about you. It is about them

2. Tools
Some organizations think that tools are the main requirement for creating a community

3. Behavior of organizations after installing the tool
Now we wait, we know everybody really wants to use this tool

4. Level of user adoption by using this approach
There might be room for improvement

5. Resulting in an average success rate of
Not that much

6. What went wrong?

7. It is not about technology.
It is about people.
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8. You cannot create a community.
(not because you are incompetent, so don’t be insecure)
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9. Communities are already there.
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10. The only thing you can do is to help them
to do their thing better.
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11. Communities are participating on a
platform they choose.
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12. Ok, that technology centric approach went wrong.
Now what?

13. Social Media is:
Human interaction in a virtual world
Please keep in mind for all your social media efforts

14. What do some smart people think about
communities.

15. We were born to unite with our fellow men,
and to join in community with the human
race.
Cicero: 106 BC – 43BC was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist

16. A community is like a ship; everyone
ought to be prepared to take the helm.
Henrik Ibsen: 1828-1906 was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright of realistic drama and poet.

17. It is vain to talk of the interest of the
community, without understanding what is
the interest of the individual.
Jeremy Bentham 1748 – 1832: was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer.

18. It is about relationships
Everything you do in social media, should create at least the beginning of a relationship

19. If you want to have success with social media right now
You should have started six months ago

20. It was never so easy to connect with so
many people.

21. It was never so hard to get somebody’s
attention.

22. How can you connect with your audience
and turn them into passionate fans.

23. From outsider to evangelist

24. That was just another model, now how will
get to the outsiders?

25. Reminder:
It is not about you.

26. It is about them.

27. Find your audience
Remember: you cannot create a community

28. Creating a new place online
You might be successful, however try to prevent this if this isn’t necessary

29. Think of your goals
How will social media, this community, help you in reaching a certain goal. And more
important: how does your goal relates to the goals of you audience?

30. Shape your story
What is the story you will be sharing? Is it worth the attention of your audience?

31. Or even better, tap into the things that are important for you audience
Can you make them an offer they cannot refuse?

33. Congratulations!
You have made people that weren’t aware
of you into outsiders and into visiting fans.

34. … well, only if the thing you offer is
something they cannot refuse and is really
good.

35. Enable interaction
…and with the other fans. It is about human interaction

36. Don’t forget to show appreciation
… it is about them, not about you

37. Can you handle it?

38. Thank people for unintended uses
… unintended uses show your audience cares

39. Content creation
Help them in creating the content and other things they need

40. User generated content
… they care about you, have you already told them you care about them?

42. Congratulations!
In the mean time you have transformed
some passive members into active
members.

43. … however make sure you can adapt to
the needs of your audience.

44. Encourage members to promote you
Let them be creative, allow them to promote you. Don’t kill them with rules and regulations

45. Did you already say ‘thank you’ to your fans?
Did you?

47. Congratulations!
In the mean time you have transformed
some active members into passionate
members.

48. … however only small part of your fan
base will be an evangelist (1 - 5%).

49. Now you know.

50. You cannot create a community.
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51. It is about your fans.
It is not about you.
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52. Know where your (future) fans are.
Go to them.
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53. It is not a linear process all the time.
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54. Leading by example is key.
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55. There is still an offline world.
Do not ignore the old media.
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56. Success won’t come overnight.
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57. Care about your fans.
Care about every single one of them.
You passionate fans will outperform every
marketing department and every agency.
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58. Make them an offer they cannot refuse.
Build a relation ship.
Be a friend.
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59. Don’t be a jerk.
It is not about you.
It is about them.
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60. Rick Mans
Global Social Media Lead
Papendorpseweg 100
Utrecht
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 6 51 21 01 44
E-Mail: rick.mans@capgemini.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rickmans
LinkedIn: http://nl.linkedin.com/in/rickmans