Essentials of Online Community Management

1. ESSENTIALS OF ONLINE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT Maddie Grant, CAE maddie@socialfish.org www.socialfish.org

2. AGENDA 1. PLANNING YOUR COMMUNITY 2. LAUNCH 3. REPORTING 4. CONTENT STRATEGY 5. MANAGING RISK 6. DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM 7. DEFINING SUCCESS

3. LESSON 1: Planning Your Private Online Community

4. PURPOSE But wait…do they REALLY need that? MEMBER PERSPECTIVE IS CRITICAL. WRONG: WE NEED • We need to get more members engaged. • We need to generate non-dues revenue. • We need to draw members to the website. • We need to collect content from members. RIGHT: MEMBERS NEED • Members need a trusted environment to collaborate. • Members need a place to find trusted experts who can help them. • Members need a way to comment on technical information.

5. BUSINESS PURPOSE MUST BE ALIGNED TO MEMBER PURPOSE. Examples of Business Purpose • Replace an outdated system with a platform that includes community functionality. • Provide a new way for members to participate in the association online. • Generate new revenue.

6. EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS PURPOSE NOT ALIGNING TO MEMBER PURPOSE • Community for member networking (because members should be posting on our site instead of LinkedIn.) • Community to build more member- generated content (because we’ve had trouble getting members to contribute content in the past.)

7. COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY SIX IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS 1. Open vs closed 2. Group management 3. Community rules 4. Moderation and staff involvement 5. Champion involvement 6. Content and engagement planning

8. RESOURCE PLANNING DEFINE THE WORK AND DELEGATE APPROPRIATELY • Administrative • Monitoring and responding • Content and engagement • Managing the platform • Training members • Training and strategizing with staff • Reporting community progress to stakeholders

9. PROMOTION PROMOTING YOUR COMMUNITY IS A PROCESS THAT NEVER ENDS. Did our new board member just say he’s never used the community?

10. PROMOTION TWO-PRONGED APPROACH TO ONGOING PROMOTION CHAMPION AND INFLUENCER MARKETING • Training and guidance for volunteer group leaders MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING • Membership marketing and new member onboarding • Email newsletters • Features in magazine • Conference marketing and on- site activities • Promotion on website homepage and house ads • Platform email notifications for announcements, digests Training and guidance for staff • Outreach to champions to keep the site active • Outreach to influencers to brainstorm ways they might like to use the community •

11. Questions?

12. LESSON 2: Launching Your New Private Online Community

13. SOFT LAUNCH - MEMBERS PICK THE RIGHT PEOPLE, AND MAKE YOUR FIRST MISTAKES AMONG FRIENDS. ARCHETYPES OF USEFUL BETA GROUPS Archetype Size Activity Small and good Large and social-media- savvy Up and coming Content creators Location- based Privacy Example Private 10-15 High Board, working group, event volunteers Technology special interest group, communications special interest group 50-150 Medium Public 50-150 Medium Public Young professionals or student leaders Bloggers, authors, speakers, volunteer leaders An active chapter 10-15 High Public 50-150 Medium Public

14. BETA TESTERS WILL FEEL MORE INVESTED. SO WHO DO YOU NEED ON YOUR SIDE? • Tech-savvy volunteer group leaders. • Active listserv users who are asking for updated functionality. • Social members who may not be active in any of the other beta groups you’ve identified.

15. SENDING A BASIC INVITE TO YOUR BETA TESTERS ISN’T ENOUGH • Set expectations low. • Explain the vision for the future. • Be specific about what to test. For example: – Set up a profile with a picture. – Add a colleague and send a message. – Join a group/post to a discussion/comment • Tell them how to share feedback. – Set up a feedback group for beta testers. • Prepare them for technical glitches.

16. SOFT LAUNCH - STAFF BUILD A SANDBOX AND USE IT. • Have staff beta testers set up their profiles. • Create a private group to serve as the sandbox. • Be specific about what to test. • Use the group to share community-related information with staff. – Updates on technical progress – Launch plans – Staff policies, roles, responsibilities. • Tell them how to share feedback. • Prepare them for tech glitches.

17. JUMPSTARTING WORK SET YOUR PRIORITIES FOR LAUNCH. EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT. SOME THINGS ARE CRITICAL. PRIORITY WORK Administrative Monitoring and responding Content and engagement Managing the platform Training members Training and strategizing with staff Reporting community progress to stakeholders Especially engaging champions! X X X

18. JUMPSTARTING WORK PRACTICING THE ART OF MONITORING AND RESPONDING QUESTIONS TO ANSWER 1. How do we monitor most efficiently and effectively? 2. Who should respond? – Can they respond fast enough? – Are they set up on the platform to respond? 3. Can we streamline response for certain types of information?

19. JUMPSTARTING WORK ENGAGING CHAMPIONS STARTS WITH KNOWING WHO THEY ARE Volunteer leaders Speakers Writers Industry influencers (consultants?) Digital extroverts from other social spaces • • • • •

20. CHAMPIONS NEED EXTRA CARE AND FEEDING Direct and specific asks work better than blast emails (which hardly work at all.) Try the phone. *gasp* Meet them face-to-face. Find ways to reward champion involvement. – Game mechanics – Promote content from champions – Create a volunteer role for champions • • • •

21. GETTING PEOPLE IN IT’S NOT ABOUT THE TOOLS. IT’S ABOUT WHAT MEMBERS CAN BUILD WITH THEM. NO ONE CARES • Have your own profile. • Add colleagues. • Post blogs/discussions/comme nts. • Access the resource library.

22. MESSAGING SHOULD FOCUS ON WIIFM (WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME) Look what you can build! EVERYONE CARES • Showcase your accomplishments. (profile) • Connect with people who are solving the same challenges you face. (Or connect with your next employer, if they’re in transition.) (Add colleagues) • Get specific advice from industry experts who can answer your questions. (post blogs/discussions/comments.) • Share your perspectives on the latest (standards/regulations/effective practices) that are impacting the way you do business. (access the resource library).

23. WHEN IT COMES TO INVITATIONS, KEEP IT SIMPLE • Focus on easy tasks in the right order. • Initial tasks: login for the first time and create a profile. • Follow up tasks: join a group, connect with colleagues. – Even better: suggest which groups or colleagues! • Follow up tasks: Read and comment on a recent discussion. – Even better: suggest active discussions to comment on.

24. ONBOARDING IS A MULTI-STEP PROCESS. FOLLOW UP IS KEY. • Thank folks who are active. • Thank folks who have created a profile...remind them of next steps they can take to get more out of the community. • Remind folks who have not yet logged in or completed their profile. Ask if they had a technical glitch, if they need a walkthrough, or if they just need more information about WIIFM.

25. Questions?

26. LESSON 3: Reporting Engagement Activity

27. WHY ENGAGEMENT? ENGAGEMENT IS A MEANS TO AN END. WHAT DO YOUR STAKEHOLDERS REALLY WANT? • Support member retention? • Support commerce and revenue goals? • Recruit potential volunteer leaders and content creators? • Capture member knowledge?

28. 2. TYPES OF ENGAGEMENT ENGAGEMENT IS NOT ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL. Social Technographics Ladder (Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research, 2010.)

29. TYPES OF ENGAGEMENT MEASURE DIFFERENT ENGAGEMENT TYPES TYPE Creator Conver- sationalist Critic Collector Joiner Spectator Inactive WHAT TO MEASURE Post blogs, discussions, documents Post discussions, comments; send messages Comment, rate/review Add contacts, bookmark Join groups Sign in regularly, spend time on the site Sign in rarely or never

30. TAILORING REPORTS GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING TO DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS. STAKEHOLDER DETAIL PRESENTATION FREQUENCY Board Volunteer leaders ED/CEO Staff group managers Your boss High level Group- specific High level Group- specific Comprehen- sive Comprehen- sive Visual Visual Annual Annual Visual Spreadsheet Quarterly Quarterly Spreadsheet Monthly Yourself Spreadsheet As needed

31. QUALITATIVE REPORTING TWO IMPORTANT WAYS TO SHOWCASE ENGAGEMENT BEYOND THE NUMBERS. 1. LISTENING REPORTS – Provide links to top discussions, most active groups, unique use cases 2. FEEDBACK AND TESTIMONIALS – Share feedback you receive from members by email, face-to-face, or even on the platform. – Share feedback from staff who are finding the community useful.

32. BENCHMARKING AND VISUALIZING Well…we’ve got data. I have no idea what it means, but we’ve got data.

33. VISUAL DATA HAS MORE IMPACT THAN SPREADSHEETS. 1. Charts and graphs don’t have to be fancy to add meaning. 2. Don’t create visualizations for every data point—just the ones you need to impress high-level stakeholders. 3. Visual data can be CRITICAL for communicating with the board.

34. Questions?

35. LESSON 4: Content Strategy for Your Community

36. COMMUNITY CONTENT IS DIFFERENT STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL CONTENT AND MEMBER-GENERATED CONTENT MEMBER-GENERATED TRADITIONAL

37. DEVELOPING CONTENT FOR COMMUNITY STOP DEVELOPING CONTENT—START DEVELOPING CONTENT CREATORS. Build a team SMEs (staff and members) Group leaders Marketing/communications Education/conferences (staff and speakers) Government relations Owners and volunteers for other programs • • • • • •

38. ACT AS ADVISOR, EDITOR, AND CURATOR How might you present the content to generate an active discussion? How might you build community activity around education content or a conference? How might you help groups use the community to talk amongst themselves? What’s coming up (not finished yet) that warrants asking the community a question? • • • •

39. CURATING CONTENT Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme. (Beth Kanter, Content Curation Primer, Beth’s Blog | http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/)

40. THREE UNIQUE WAYS COMMUNITY MANAGERS CURATE 1. CURATE IN CONTEXT Enrich peer-to-peer discussions. 2. CURATE FOR GROUPS Target content to groups based on special interests. 3. CURATE FOR ENGAGEMENT Leave no question unanswered.

41. WORKING WITH CHAMPIONS HAVE YOU ASKED YOUR CHAMPIONS FOR HELP TODAY? 1. ASK DIRECTLY 2. BE SPECIFIC 3. SET A DEADLINE 4. FOLLOW UP

42. THREE IDEAS FOR GETTING CHAMPIONS TO CONTRIBUTE 1. Make them the leader of a group. 2. Reply to unanswered questions. – Send a link to the specific unanswered thread when you need their help. 3. Write about a hot topic. – Do an email “interview” then ask them to post their reply.

43. USING A CONTENT CALENDAR PLOT YOUR CONTENT AND CHECK THE BALANCE. 1. Plan editorial as well as ENGAGEMENT. 2. Brainstorm posts and topics a month ahead. 3. Assign content to your team, track deadlines, track follow-up. 4. Leave resources and flexibility for “pop up” content.

44. Questions?

45. LESSON 5: MANAGING RISK IN YOUR COMMUNITY

46. REFRAMING RISK THREE SIMPLE STEPS 1. Identify 2. Analyze 3. Prioritize

47. REFRAMING RISK THREE SIMPLE STEPS • What are the common risks for a private online community? • What additional risks concern your staff and leadership? 1. Identify 2. Analyze 3. Prioritize

48. REFRAMING RISK THREE SIMPLE STEPS • What are some actual scenarios in the community that illustrate each risk? • How likely is that risk to happen? • How much could it cost the association? 1. Identify 2. Analyze 3. Prioritize

49. LIKELY NOT LIKELY TOP PRIORITY: COSTLY AND LIKELY MIDDLE PRIORITY: COSTLY BUT NOT LIKELY COSTLY 3. Prioritize NOT COSTLY MIDDLE PRIORITY: NOT COSTLY BUT LIKELY LOW PRIORITY: NEITHER COSTLY NOR LIKELY

50. POLICIES & MORE POLICIES WEBSITE TERMS OF USE Welcome Purpose & Use (what you can/can’t do) Properties (trademarks, service marks, designs, logos, etc.) Content, Information & materials Licensing for user-generated content Copyright & Trademark Ownership, Notices & Infringement No professional advice Privacy Security No Warranties Other sites (linking) Members only area Reporting content violations Termination of access Disclaimers, exclusion of damages, & limitation of liability Indemnification Governing law Changes to terms Contact us • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •