2. Table of Contents
Background 2
Key Findings 3
Best Practice Examples 4
About CFSC 12
Prepared by Consumer Financial Service Corporation 1
3. Background
Goals
• Gather insights into strategies and tactics used by social networks to acquire prospective members and to engage current members.
• Identify characteristics of successful online communities.
Activities
• Identified seven social networks of particular interest, all of which target professionals and business owners.
• Conducted desk research to learn about target social networks. Key sources include:
› Company websites, including investor relations reports and company news briefs.
› Online news databases such as Factiva and OneSource.
› News publications such as TechCrunch, Business Insider, and Wired.
› Internet archives, such as Way Back Machine to track site development over time.
• Conducted 29 confidential expert interviews with two types of professionals:
› Site experts—managers and leaders at sites who oversee aspects of community and business.
› Industry experts—seasoned professionals with knowledge of online communities and social networks, such as Facebook, Google+,
Huffington Post, and Mashable.
• Performed online mystery shops to:
› Review site functions and features.
› Evaluate site usability.
› Review content and privacy policies.
› Use site features and interact with communities.
Prepared by Consumer Financial Service Corporation 2
4. Key Findings
Identify a purpose, find a niche, and serve it well.
Expert Insights
• Clear objectives give users a reason to share and interact.
• Identifying a targeted niche helps users engage over common bonds and allows the “Be clear on your audience. You have to understand
community to focus on serving the specific needs of its population. who your target customer base is. Each group has a
specific need, and you can’t meet them all. You want
Offer meaningful benefits, exclusive content, and unique features to keep members to be ultra‐focused, and you want to do it well.”
coming back.
“People want to see value and moderation.
• Content is king—ideally a mix of curated material and user‐generated material. If someone is moderating well, they will keep the
garbage out. People will stick around if there is great
• Experts recommended using at least two moderators to lead and stimulate discussions. conversation. They won’t stick around if people can
just post around without really engaging.”
Use word of mouth to achieve critical mass.
“For the most part, our growth has been purely
• Many successful online communities leverage user membership and rely on word of
organic. It hasn’t surprised me because I saw
mouth to grow.
how much value I got as a member before I worked
• Users typically must reach a certain threshold number of connections to become engaged for LinkedIn.”
with the community.
“Users don’t do a whole lot until they make about
Continuously test and learn to evolve the site with new and refined features and an three connections. Once they get up to 50, they take
advantage of the network, and you see them start to
improved user experience.
share and post content. The more people connect with
• Successful online communities use a combination of A/B testing, beta testing, and customer you, the more likely you are to get involved.”
insights to inform decisions about site improvements.
“Don’t overdesign it. Don’t try to get it right 100% out
• Results must be tracked and analyzed rigorously, with changes and refinements made of the box, because you won’t. Get something running
quickly in an ongoing test‐and‐learn environment. that you think will resonate with your customer base
and keep building off of it.”
Prepared by Consumer Financial Service Corporation 3
5. Best Practice Examples
LinkedIn: Targeting a Niche
LinkedIn and Citi partnered to launch Connect: Professional Women’s Network. The group has a stated
purpose that focuses on serving women professionals.
The goal of Connect: Professional Women’s Network is to help
1 women become savvier professional networkers and to share
workplace best practices.
Discussion topics are relevant to group focus. Topics include
1 2 2 returning to work after maternity leave, office dress code,
business networking, and career changes.
3 Discussions are based on news content, polls, and videos
3 created in partnership with Citi and LinkedIn content teams.
Since its launch, Connect has grown to include approximately
4 4 100,000 members.
Content and activity on Connect is managed by paid LinkedIn
staff members—it is one of the first
5 LinkedIn‐managed groups. Moderators curate content
5
and monitor and initiate discussions.
Source: CFSC research.
Prepared by Consumer Financial Service Corporation 4
6. Best Practice Examples
SlideShare: Setting Clear Objectives
SlideShare’s goal is clear and simple—to help users share their presentations as easily and as widely
as possible.
Uploading files takes only a few clicks. SlideShare handles
1 1 all major presentation formats such as PDF, PowerPoint,
and Keynote.
2
Users can embed presentations on websites and share via
2 Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Particularly interesting, timely, creative, or viral presentations
3 are featured here, with number of views and one‐click access.
Once presentations are uploaded, users can check in for metrics
4 that include number of views, comments, favorites, etc.
Paying members receive greater access to analytics.
4
3 SlideShare has a feature that allows users to autoshare
5 presentations on connected Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
5
Source: SlideShare.com.
Prepared by Consumer Financial Service Corporation 5
7. Best Practice Examples
Vistage Connect: Offering Unique Features
Vistage Connect gives users online access to seasoned business coaches and moderated peer groups to
discuss and solve business challenges.
Peer advisory sessions are facilitated by a professional
2
1 moderator to ensure the discussion stays focused.
1
Coaching sessions begin when the member chooses a
professional coach—descriptions of each individual are
1 4 2 listed so that members can pick someone who will have
relevant experience.
The ability to select a preferred time to meet allows members
3 to plan in advance and come prepared to a meeting that fits
into their schedule.
2
3
Source: Vistageconnect.com.
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9. Best Practice Examples
LinkedIn: Curating Content
LinkedIn offers original content and content from third‐party sources through LinkedIn Today.
Headlines from LinkedIn Today are featured on user newsfeeds.
LinkedIn Today aggregates business news from top
1 1 news publications and features original content by LinkedIn
staff and established journalists via their LinkedIn accounts.
Users may curate their own news by selecting industry or
2 news source. Sources include top publications such as
MarketWatch, NPR, and The New York Times.
To strengthen connections and professional visibility, users
3 can like, share, save, and comment on featured articles.
2
3 Users have one‐click access to profiles of those who comment
4 and like articles.
4
Source: LinkedIn.com.
Prepared by Consumer Financial Service Corporation 8
10. Best Practice Examples
LinkedIn: Facilitating Organic Growth
People You May Know feature facilitates sharing and natural growth via word of mouth. LinkedIn also
provides tools that let users easily invite colleagues to join.
Suggestions for potential connections the user may already
2 1 know pop up automatically.
1
3 Users can invite others to join their network with
2 one‐click ease.
For suggestions that are “friend of a friend,” the number of
3 degrees of separation is indicated. One click takes users to a
diagram showing who they know in common.
Users can locate others by logging into their email accounts
4 through a LinkedIn portal. LinkedIn automatically matches
4 email contacts to their LinkedIn profiles and allows users to
send email invitations to join.
Personalized emails lure users back to the site for information
5
5 of interest to them, such as connections’ latest career moves,
relevant job postings, and industry news.
Source: LinkedIn.com.
Prepared by Consumer Financial Service Corporation 9
11. Best Practice Examples
HighTable: Ongoing Site Evolution
HighTable uses a test‐and‐learn strategy to continually refine its positioning and improve the site.
As a result, the site has undergone substantial changes in less than one year.
Used analytics to develop and refine new
product concept. Began testing and Refined positioning to focus on networking
learning from results. with experienced professionals to uncover
HighTable 1.0 launched as an experiment
solutions that benefit the company.
of Gerson Lehrman Group: “a Quora for
professionals.”
May–June 2012 September 2012 January 2013
April 2012 July–August 2012 December 2012
Launched HighTable 2.0 as Continued to refine positioning. Greater
“a private community of early‐adopter emphasis is now placed on the individual
startup leaders.” Positioning focused on member’s professional success, with the benefit
sharing solutions to solve challenges. to the company/project as important
Resulted in increased participation and but secondary.
Site off to a slow start—low activation,
site usage.
minimal product trial, and low repeat
usage. Began rethinking business model
and leveraging analytics to identify
solutions.
Source: HighTable.com.
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13. About CFSC
Consumer Financial Service Corporation (CFSC) Clients
gives companies the insights and answers they need For nearly 20 years, CFSC has teamed with
many of the world’s leading organizations.
to grow. By digging deep, thinking big, and being
fiercely pragmatic, we help businesses uncover and Clients include:
implement on‐target solutions to achieve their goals. • 8 of the 10 largest credit card issuers globally.
• 9 of the 10 largest retail banks in the U.S.
A full‐service marketing firm, CFSC provides financial services companies worldwide
the tools they need to succeed, including market entry and expansion strategies, • Multiple global credit card networks.
competitive intelligence, consumer insights, customer experience audits, and innovative • 3 of the largest U.S. independent brokers.
marketing programs. • All of the top 5 Wall Street Journal “Best
in 2012” online brokerage firms.
Specialists in financial services marketing
• Half of the 10 largest U.S.‐based asset managers.
• Since 1994, we have completed thousands of projects for banks; investment, brokerage, and
• A range of global recruiting and telemarketing
wealth management firms; card issuers; and lenders. service providers.
• We provide clients with the specific information, tools, and direction that allow them to
actively achieve their objectives. As well as:
• Insurance companies.
A trusted strategic partner • Travel and hospitality networks.
• Our expertise ranges from strategic planning to tactical execution. • Auto lenders and other specialty lenders.
• We have the talent, expertise, and leadership to deliver actionable recommendations • Tech companies related to payments and
and exceptional insights. financial services.
• We complete complex projects on time and on budget. • High‐profile media publications.
• We are passionate about our clients’ success. • Human rights and small business advocacy
organizations on a pro bono basis.
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