Sometimes we get calls from clients looking for "buzz'" via social channels. Social is great for generating viral "buzz", but for many companies what they really want is a highly engaged audience for an extended period of time. The initial buzz may get you started on building an audience, but it won't keep them engaged. For that, one strategy I recommend is an online community. Online communities are a significant trend in web design and online marketing. More and more I'm finding websites take one of two directions:
- Website as community: Groups of like-minded people gather and focus on a particular brand, product or service
- Website as forum: Individuals gather to ask and answer questions
Sometimes you find forums and communities bundled together. I define a forum as a peer to peer space to share questions and answers. Quora is a great example of this. I may have a question that needs a very specific answer and no need to revisit the topic. Communities on the other hand are a gathering place for extended exchanges. Great community managers participate in forums, answer questions and point people to their community resources.
An online community is a great marketing strategy for companies if you have the resources to support the community. Contrary to some popular belief, great communities do not manage themselves. A great community is not the result of a well built marketing campaign or a series of collateral pieces - you need a solid community strategy, which includes the support structure. While there are several models for great communities, my favorite model for company owned communities is Community As Educator.
Hands down, this is one of my favorite community models, particularly for web-based businesses. Platform businesses like, email marketing, social media monitoring or cloud computing. In this model, the community management team is focused on teaching people how to optimize their use of the platform. The entire ecosystem is built around Q&A, educational materials and active participation from the product experts. The result is a super user customer and often a product evangelist.
A great example of this model is the Radian6 Community Management Team. Follow the team members on Twitter and mention you are interested in Radian6. Boom, you get a sales contact. Mention you are struggling with using an aspect of the tool. Boom, you get a Community Manager outreach. In responding this way you can tell the Radian6 team is demonstrating they drink their own Kool Aid, using great social media monitoring practices. But get inside their community and you see the focus is on educating their customers. Check out their community. Front and center they tell you their dedicated community team which: "acts as a bridge - from the outside to inside from you to us, and even among ourselves. We're there to help, answer questions, participate in conversations, and make a human connection from our company to the people we serve."
Even the community content strategy is focused on best practices, best use of the platform and industry expertise. Not in your face sales content. Instead, they offer free, ungated, socially shareable content. Blogs, eBooks, Case Studies, Whitepapers and more - all with the underlying message of teaching you how to best use their platform. Genius. I. love. it.
Another great example is VMWare's Community. VMWare specifically distinguishes a difference between their Community and their Forum. In the Community, you can get your virtualization questions answered by experts who use the technology every day. In their Forum, you can "meet online with your peers and share your thoughts and ideas with other VMware users". Because savvy VMWare knows people will talk about their product somewhere, they provide the Forum space embedded within their Community for peer to peer exchanges. Just like Radian6, there is a heavy focus on learning to better utilize the VMWare products and therefore creating greater value for their customer.
The Community Manager as Educator model delivers on many strategic marketing objectives:
- Establishes your company as an industry thought leader, a group of ready to respond experts;
- Elevates brand loyalty, by teaching your customers how to best use the platform so they see the entire value stream of the product;
- Teaches your customers how to become experts in their field, their success means more business for you;
- Generates word of mouth marketing, people are wired to share what they learn generating brand awareness;
- Brings new ideas to the table, gives your product developers insight into the features your customers want next and the challenges they are already talking about elsewhere;
- Creates a fresh spin for customer service, a direct line to the troubleshooting experts can differentiate you from competitors; and
- Identifies and engages product evangelists, the people who are fans and actively encourage others to use your product.
A community is a great marketing tool, but don't go in half way. Starting a vibrant community is heavy lifting and requires a strategy, framework, resources and great amounts of patience. If you have the right elements in place, the Community as Educator model will significantly increase your brand awareness, sales and customer retention - and evangelists.