These days, there's a huge amount of interest among corporate marketers about how to "tap into," "harness," or "ride the wave of" online community, Web 2.0, and social technology. And, despite the metaphors, despite the herd-like hype-chasing, rightly so. ("Herd-like," by the way, isn't a metaphor; it's a simile. A world of difference, if you're asking.)
The truth is, the widespread adoption of social technologies, including on the Web, are absolutely changing the game and creating new markets. Companies getting left behind on the Web are getting left behind in market share. For that reason, one recent survey indicates 90% of businesses will add Web 2.0 features to their sites in the coming year. (See Burby's ClickZ article for some caveats about that survey.)
But social technology is tricky to get right for companies who aren't selling social technology. The tendency is to implement a community that's either trivial, fails to produce business value, or simply fails altogether because nobody wants to use it. And failure hurts: Just ask Wal-Mart.
No, I Don't Want to Be Your Friend
There's an assumption out there that people "want to connect" with each other online. After all, people are increasingly connecting online, discussing topics of shared interest, getting dates, keeping in touch with friends and family. But on sites offered by companies that aren't in the business of connecting people online, in highly branded spaces in particular, this couldn't be further from the truth.
We do a lot of user research at ZAAZ, an increasing amount of it around social technology. Participants, when asked whether they want to connect with their fellow customers online, collectively say something along the lines of "absolutely not, no way, what do you want from me, what a creepy idea."
But changing the question changes the answer. When asked whether information or content provided by other customers in the context of a specific need would be of interest, the answer is, increasingly, yes, I must have it, it's crucial.
So what's the difference? Simply put: People aren't on your web site to make friends. They're there to get something done, and using community to help them get that thing done is a huge value, because it promises responsiveness, detail, honesty, and affinity.
Don't Just Build Community for Community's Sake
If you're in, say, the sailing equipment business, selling boat parts, life jackets, apparel, accessories, navigational charts, electronics, and so on, it might be tempting to create, say, a discussion board for your customers. Don't do it. It will fail.
I'm not saying nobody will use it. Sailors, after all, probably have stuff to talk about with other sailors. They might show up, possibly even in numbers to sustain a thriving discussion setting. Properly managed, a nice little community could emerge.
More likely, however, usage will be sporadic, volume low. You won't have the level of value needed to encourage repeat and sustained use. Your logo in the upper left-hand corner of the page will reduce the sense of authentic passion behind the community site, and users will wonder what your motives are. You'll moderate and be called a fascist. Threads will veer off course, so to speak, and topics will list hard a-starboard. You'll spend money keeping the thing afloat for a while, then late some Super Bowl Sunday, when nobody's looking, you'll quietly jettison the whole thing.
At best, your thriving discussion boards will give you a little brand boost. At worst, you'll end up a cautionary tale on some consultant's blog.
To Win with Community, Support the Core Offering
So instead of simply throwing open the gates to a discussion forum, think carefully about your real offering. How might your customers create more value around that offering?
Step 1: What do you sell?
Sailors, all of them, are gearheads. They love their gear, and because boats need a lot of maintenance, they're constantly tinkering with their gear. They read your catalog in the evening after work. They talk gear with their sailor friends. Other than sailing, talking about sailing gear is their favorite thing to do.
And hey, you sell sailing gear. So creating a venue for sailors to talk gear has the potential to not only appeal to your customers' enjoyment of gear talk, it also can drive sales. So create discussion forums, yes, but structure them around a taxonomy of sailing gear, and most crucially, tie them into your product pages. Excerpt discussions about products on product pages, and link to products from pages where people are discussing them. Add ratings and reviews for your products. Invite outstanding community content contributors to write posts for a group customer blog.
If your products are complex or require special knowledge to use, provide space for customers to support each other.
Step 2: Is what you sell the real offering?
If you're in the sailing equipment business, your offering might not be gear alone. Do you sell, for example, gear of a certain quality, at a certain price? What's your real brand promise? It's probably not "We sell sailing gear." It's probably something more like "We take the hassle out of boat maintenance, so you can get out on the water."
Another way of saying this is, What differentiates you from your competitors?
Step 3: How do you improve the core offering?
Without losing sight of the thing you're actually selling, think about the core offering of the business, and architect community to do more of it, extend it, complement it, enhance it, improve it, or fix what's broken with it. Providing highly-responsive technical support through community is sometimes a no-brainer, but there's always more you can do.
Imagine, for example, your sailing community offering a space for sailors to share their efficiency tricks. If your brand is about making sailing less fussy, you can offer a community site that promises not just gear, but the collective knowledge of the sailing community about how to get out there more and fuss with gear less.
Step 4: Tie Your Community to Your Product or Service
Remember, the core offering isn't always the thing that's getting sold, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the need to sell. And you don't have to feel bad about it! It's really tempting to want to adopt a perspective along the lines of "It's not about selling, it's about people." The truth is, it can and should be both. People aren't going to hate you.
I've been surprised many times by community participants' willingness to accept. selling within the community, as long as it's done right, without hard sells, and the community is providing value. Your customers know you need to make a living, and they'll find it perfectly normal for you to see a direct business return on your community site.
Think of it this way: If you were hosting a speaker at your sailing gear store presenting a slide show about a solo voyage around the world, folks wouldn't resent the visible presence of your products at the event. In fact, they'd appreciate it. You could even announce an upcoming sale or special deal for attendees, if you did it with taste and sensitivity, respecting the fact that people came primarily to hear the speaker and only incidentally, and only in some cases, to shop. Doing something analogous in your online community space is perfectly acceptable.
Don't be afraid to be in business. And don't be afraid to measure your community effectiveness in dollars--after all, if you're making money, you must be offering something of value! Without a doubt, branded communities require a different kind of thinking. But it's worth the investment. When community is working for you, you're not only running a cool web site that brings you cachet--you're co-creating, in partnership with your customers, a stronger realization of your brand promise.
Hey wassup Ryan? It's been years since SCU Review...anyhow, I'd like to add that businesses shouldn't be heavy-handed with the community tools. Community starts successfully, and most often, from the inside-out. A topic or need for the community to rally behind usually will appear on it's own. People just don't tag each other as friends for no reason, it is usually because that person has specific collateral or experience that they feel contributes to the conversation. The trick is to keep it going in the right direction that makes the most sense for the business and consumer, or in my case, the school and student.
Beyond discussion forums though, wikis can provide our sailing customers a place to leave purchasing tips and advice, or how about expedition blogs for that scuba trip to the Caymans? How about a Google Maps travel planner with geotagged Flickr posts? I have seen sites out there with pasted reviews and PDF articles supporting the core offering, but giving the online customer a credible chance of contributing meaningfully to the site in an "open" environment goes a long way.
Posted by: Dave Melone | March 26, 2008 at 02:24 PM