December 6, 2012Hub Tag: #tech12 LM3

Maggie McGaryJoshua PaulJ im Storer

8 Habits of Highly Effective Online

Community Managers

Why Does Online Community

Management Matter?

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_number_%2245%22_(South_Boston,_2006).jpg

Why Does Online Community

Management Matter?

Who We Are

Services

• TheCR Network• TheCR Focus• TheCR Advisory• TheCR Research• Community Management

Training

Mission: Advancing the Business of Community

1. Champion: Advocate for the needs of community business owners

2. Educate: Provide support and resources for community & social business leaders

3. Curate: Aggregate, document, and share community management best practices

Rachel HappePrincipal and Co-Founder@rhappe

Leadership Team

Jim StorerPrincipal and Co-Founder@jimstorer

Member Organizations

Why Does Community Management Matter?

1. I f you bui ld i t , wi l l they come?

N o t e : Ac c o rd i n g t o o u r re s e a rc h ,

o rg a n i z a t i o n s w i t h c o m m u n i t y m a n a g e r s a re t w i c e a s l i ke l y t o

h a v e a n o p e n , s h a r i n g c u l t u re .

Why Does Community Management Matter?

2. Highly eff ect ive

communit ies depend on an

act ive community manager behind

the scenes.

Example: Why Does Community Management Matter?

Strategy: OK, let ’s get th is out of the way…

On i ts own, Facebook i s not a v iab le , long

term communi ty s t rategy for your

organ izat ion .

You must d ivers i fy.

Strategy: Find your community sweet spot

Your “sweet spot” for

communi ty i s a t the in tersect ion

o f your organ izat ion ’s goa ls and your

target member ’s needs &

in terests . http://www.healthyfoodfight.com/

Strategy: Do a deep dive member persona analys is

You can never spend too much t ime

gett ing know your members.

Strategy: Just get started

Don’t over-strategize. . . Communit ies take t ime to

bui ld and grow. Once you have a p lan, go!

Habit #1: Become obsess ive about knowing what makes your members t ick .

Leadership: We’re moving f rom contro l l ing…

1.C l o s e l y a l i g n e d w i t h o r g a n i z a t i o n a l r o l e s a n d a u t h o r i t y.

2.L i m i t s i n d i v i d u a l s t o d i s c r e t e s e t s o f r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s .

3.C r e a t e s a c u l t u r e o f i n d i v i d u a l t u r f a n d “o w n e r s h i p . ”

Image from Dave Gray, The Connected Company.

…to emergent leadership.

1.L e a d e r s h i p i s e a r n e d .

2.E m e r g e n t l e a d e r s s e l f -a s s i g n r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a n d t a s k s .

3.E m e r g e n t l e a d e r s :

• Fr e e l y s h a r e v a l u e

• E n c o u r a g e , r e c o g n i z e a n d r e w a r d o t h e r s

• Pa r t n e r f o r s h a r e d w i n s

• M o d e l b e h a v i o rImage from Dave Gray, The Connected Company.

Jeff Schick: Example of an emergent leader

V P o f S o c i a l S o f t w a r e

a t I B M

Wr i t e s d a i l y b l o g p o s t s b a s e d o n a c o n t e n t

t e m p l a t e .

T h r e e b e n e fi t s : 1. A l i g n s t e a m a n d

p r i o r i t i e s2. E n a b l e s s e r e n d i p i t y3. I n c r e a s e s e m p a t h y

a n d r e s p e c t

WL Gore: Example of an emergent company

G o a l : P r o d u c t s a r e d e s i g n e d t o b e t h e h i g h e s t q u a l i t y i n t h e i r c l a s s a n d r e v o l u t i o n a r y i n t h e i r e ff e c t .

1. S i m p l e g o v e r n a n c e : n o t r a d i t i o n a l   o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c h a r t s ,   n o c h a i n s o f c o m m a n d , n o r p r e d e t e r m i n e d c h a n n e l s o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n .

2. P u s h d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g a n d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o i n d i v i d u a l a g e n t s ( a s s o c i a t e s )

3. Fo c u s o n v e t t i n g n e w a g e n t s i n t h e s y s t e m r a t h e r t h a n m e a s u r i n g / fi x i n g o u t p u t s

R e s u l t s : $ 3 B i n a n n u a l s a l e s

Habit #2 : View soc ia l as a natura l extension of what you a l ready do offl ine.

Via E2 Conference on Flickr

Culture: …is a shared set of att i tudes, va lues, goals and pract ices that character izes an organizat ion.

Via http://gapingvoid.com/

Culture, l ike art , i s hard to descr ibe

Culture: Stor ies (and storyte l lers) weave the fabr ic of organizat ional cu l ture.

Habit #3: Sh i f t f rom a “ t ransac t i on” to a “re la t i onsh ip” based m indse t . Re la t i onsh ips

endure .

Community Management: Community platform is not a

community

Community Management: Identify supporters and support

them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elwillo/4337007744/

Community Management: Reward participation

Community Management: Set structure but let conversations

fl ow

Habit #4:Continuously

Advocate to Have Resources Dedicated

To Community Management.

Content & Programming: Vital to the success of an online

community

Content & Programming: Drive direction of community with

content

Content & Programming: Association-driven vs. organic

Habit #5:Weave Community

Stuff Into Other Communications.

Policies & Governance: Defi ne expected culture

through rules

Policies & Governance: Risk is

part of community

Policies & Governance: Evaluate legal and ethical r isks and plan how

to handle

Habit #6:Be Hospitable to Members’ Online

Preferences

Online Community Tools

Creating Value: Discussions

Creating Value: Communities

Creating Value: Member/Expert Blogs

Keep Members Engaged: Email Engine

Keep Members Engaged: Email Alerts

Keep Members Engaged: Integrated Listserv

Files, Video, & Audio Libraries

Creating Value

Community & Events Mobile Apps

Keep Members Engaged

Finding People and Info

Creating Value

Content Management

Creating Value

Gamification

Keep Members Engaged

Surveys & Polls

Keeping Members Engaged

Habit #7:Balance Tools that Create Value and Tools that Create

Engagement.

Metrics & Measurement

Metrics & Measurement: What Can Your Measure?

Metrics & Measurement: Measuring the Right Things

• Visit to Login Ratio• Login to Post & Comment Ratio• Post to Comment Ratio• Login to Action Ratio• Members to Completed Profile Ratio

Examples of Metrics

Habit #8: Measure the Right Things and Make

Adjustments Often.

1. Become obsessive about knowing what makes your members tick.

2. View social as a natural extension of what you already do offline.

3. Shift from a “transaction” to a “relationship” based mindset.

Takeaways

4. Continuously Advocate to Have Resources Dedicated To Community Management.

5. Weave Community Stuff Into Other Communications.

6. Be Hospitable to Members’ Online Preferences.

Takeaways

7. Balance Tools that Create Value and Tools that Create Engagement.

8. Measure the Right Things and Make Adjustments Often.

Takeaways

• Maggie McGary (@maggielmcg)www.asha.org

• Jim Storer (@JimStorer)www.community-roundtable.com

• Josh Paul (@Joshua_D_Paul)www.socious.com

Questions