Connie Bensen

The recipe is easy right?

Decide on a strategy & build a platform. Toss on some content & mix in some social media tools. And you’re done? ……. not quite! You’re missing the most important ingredient: the one that stirs it all together & serves it up. What is a recipe without a cook? (the dish probably won’t create itself – the ingredients will just sit there).

It’s really important to invest a qualified community manager. They’re the mortar that binds your community together & grows it. Tish Grier has an excellent outline of Seven Traits of Highly Effective Community Managers. It’s focused on journalism application so I’ll generalize her great ideas:

1. Commitment to "the cause". It’s very important for your community manager to believe in your cause. Their communications need to be transparent & authentic. The job has many challenges so they need to inherently believe in their work & the brand.
2. Love people. The position is about connecting & communicating. There is interaction with all types, so a community manager needs to enjoy it. (This is why it’s a great position under marketing).
3. Must enjoy technology. It’s a web 2.0 job. Technology is changing quickly. The tools are constantly shifting & evolving. One has to thoroughly enjoy being immersed. And if your product/brand is technology oriented then it’s natural to be involved in product development & providing feedback.
4. Must understand online culture. Did I mention this a web 2.0 job? Working online is a bit different than face-to-face. A person needs to maintain a sense of humor & not take things personally. Working online requires a level of perceptiveness so that you can interact with all types of people.
5. Powers of Observation. I just mentioned being perceptive but it’s more than that. Providing feedback on trends, monitoring brand & being ever present require one to be ever watchful. As a metacustomer the community manager is the eyes & ears for the company – all teams – and responsible for providing feedback from the customers.
6. Flexibility. Community work is 7 days a week. Checking in on my communities & responding to their needs isn’t a 9 – 5 job. (I do sleep though). But I’m cognizant of the time zones when I add people to teams. It’s nice to have people providing assistance from around the world (so I can sleep!   ).
7. Life experience trumps youthful energy. Tish’s point is to not entrust this important job to an intern or someone who is a short-timer. The more life experiences a person has, the more they have to offer the community.

Scott Moore provides his insights based on her 7 topics.

What characteristics do you feel are essential for a community manager to have?

In one of my social networks I was asked "What is Community Building"? That made me realize that I’m maybe using a term with the assumption that others know what I’m talking about. For community managers we just make the assumption that it’s the goal of what we practice. The Wikipedia definition doesn’t have a definition in regard to online communities so let’s define it!

Community building is a field of practices directed toward the creation or enhancement of community between individuals within a regional area (such as a neighbourhood) or with a common interest. It is sometimes encompassed under the field of community development.

A wide variety of practices can be utilized for community building, ranging from simple events like potlucks and small book clubs, to larger–scale efforts such as mass festivals and building construction projects that involve local participants rather than outside contractors.

This is my definition: Community building is a process of building a following of people with a common interest around a product/brand, personal brand, blog, or site online.

What do you think of that? please share your ideas. Then we need to identify how it’s accomplished.

For my new readers I want to describe the basis behind the community manager position (the person doing the community building). It’s the why.

Many companies are realizing that they can be out interacting with the advocates of their brand. And some are changing their product development lifecycles based on customer feedback. (It’s shortening that process). So it’s a function of marketing & product development. But the question is, from what department should this happen? (IT, marketing, development, etc). It doesn’t really matter as long as someone is doing it. The customers are creating their own groundswell the way it is (initiating this movement by talking about the brands that they like – word of mouth is not to be ignored & needs to be fostered).

So who should do this? Some companies are adding the Community Manager position. I’ve been working in this position for a software company. I work with customers online & am the ‘meta-customer’ internally. I provide feedback & route info to: cust service, tech support, prod development, QA, marketing, exec level, etc.

There is a process around building that community. Some would say it’s building brand, but it’s so much more than that. It’s getting people to participate and interact each with other. The end result is to create a vibrant community around a person, a product or a brand.

If you have a presence on the web (whether a blog, website or customers discussing your brand) then you should be considering community building strategies to grow your community (identifying where your potential audience is, increasing awareness, driving traffic, etc) as well as using the appropriate social media tools.

So we need to define the online version of ‘practices for community building’. Feel free to change this first part too:

Community building is a process of building a following of people with a common interest around a product/brand, personal brand, blog, or site online.

(outline of how this is accomplished online – utilizing social media tools, providing a platform, contesting, online chats, webinars, providing resources, etc)

I look forward to your help!

If you’re interested in Community Management topics, there’s an active Facebook group where discussions are happening. With over 1000 members from around the world there is a variety of contributions.

Here is a question that’s frequently asked:

I need help getting people to use a forum. I find that people will look at the questions but do not cross the threshold into actually responding to them. I work for a non-profit so the product is essentially engaging people in important regional issues and decisions. Can anyone help me?

Forums are all about people. For every one person posting, there are almost 100 reading. The majority of people are lurking, so how does one get people to come out & play? engage them if you will? Here are some ideas that I’ve used & once you get the ball rolling… it’s a exciting to see the forum take on a personality of it’s own!

1. Be present – as a site owner it’s important that you’re there & active. Get to know your people & they will notice & respond. Make your customers feel special.
2. Engage the people that are active at your forum because they probably love your product. They’re your power users & can help you greatly.
3. Empower your power users – give them a private area in the forum & let them brainstorm. You’ll be amazed at what a group will come up with! Encourage them to keep it simple so no one gets worn out. Have them help moderate.
4. Personalize your forums by trying the following -
   • encourage members to post their picture by providing instructions for uploading an avatar – seeing their photo personalizes the online experience
   • use your name rather than admin. for your username – admin is sterile
   • encourage people to come out of lurking – run games or contests to see who is frequenting your forum. You may be surprised!
     • where to get the prizes? If you don’t have resources, partner with related products & ask them to donate. You’ll be surprised at how many will join your venture.
   • encourage members to put info in their signature
     • for ex: a photography site – they could include their camera, lens info & software (It will encourage conversations amongst members
5. Listen to your customers.
   • Ask them what they’d like to see in the forums.
   • Post a poll of interest to your community
   • Ask them to provide feedback on your product/resources
6. Ask yourself what makes your site unique? or how would you like it to be unique?
   • How are you providing the user with value?
   • Consider what makes your site unique & focus on that. If you can’t think of something – then look around at other’s forums to get ideas
7. Be flexible…. and realize that sometimes you’ll have a great idea & oopsie, things don’t go as planned. But try try again.
8. Be creative… watch what others are doing & gather ideas. I’m a people watcher, can you tell? And I love trying to figure out why things are successful. Plan ahead – this will guarantee success – and make you happier when you’re more relaxed in the execution of your plans.
9. Be transparent – say what you mean & mean what you say. You’ll gain far more respect with all those you work with. And this is obvious, but good business practices are absolutely necessary. Remedy customer service issues quickly & follow up. Even the most negative curmudgeons will post their appreciation which adds value to your forums because it shows that your company is listening to their customers & most importantly *cares*.
10. Other things in no particular order:
    1. offer a freebie
    2. find ways to creatively get people moving thru your forum like a scavenger hunt (they’ll have fun while doing so too!)
    3. send a newsletter out to your members
11. *update* Are you participating in related forums, blogs, etc? That is an excellent way to talk about what your forums/community offer & encourage participation/partnering.

I think what holds site owners back is that they’re afraid to take risks, but consider it an experiment instead! It can be great fun trying new things & going in new directions. It is your community & you know their needs.

Here are some links for more reading:

10 mistakes that will kill a forum

Top 10 lessons I’ve learned about managing a forum

10 tips for promoting your forum

What suggestions do you have for kick starting a community?

I was recently asked – What would your “top ten rules” of designing social networks or communities be? 1. Evaluate the company’s brand & how it relates to it’s community. Where are your supporters at? 2. Have a strategy – who is your target audience? 3. Decide on the platform that is suited to your community’s needs 4. Decide how you will provide the community with the tools it needs -

• what type of platform, tools to utilize, etc
• Identify people with expertise to nurture it
• Provide a company presence for moderation & direction
• Have a plan to keep adding content & resources

5. Realize that integrating with other networks & sites is important 6. Involve the community in all stages of product development – realize that receiving negative feedback is a good thing Updated after Toby Bloomberg’s comment – these 2 points added

• Ensure the community realizes that they are being heard
• Provide a company representative that interacts implicitly

7. Be prepared to continually evaluate & respond 8. Establish metrics to realize the business value 9. Promote the community at all touchpoints including company blog, website, internally & externally 10. Realize it’s about relationships, not technology What would your top 10 rules be? What have I forgotten?