Leveraging the Power of B2B Social Communities

Kellie Parker (@kellieparker)Community Manager

SEGA of America (@Sega)

ASBPE Webinar – February 23, 2011

What is Community?

Virtual communities are social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace.

- Howard Rheingold, “The Virtual Community”

Put Another Way…"When you think of a title for a book, you are forced to think of something short and evocative, like, well, 'The Virtual Community,' even though a more accurate title might be: 'People who use computers to communicate, form friendships that sometimes form the basis of communities, but you have to be careful to not mistake the tool for the task and think that just writing words on a screen is the same thing as real community.'"

- Howard Rheingold

Community Forms Culture

Linked In

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Facebook

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YouTube

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I Can Haz Cheezeburger

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Rules and Standards

• Every community needs them• Should be in plain “layman” language• Should clearly state what is and is not ok• Should be tailored to your community• All users should agree at registration• Moderators should use them as a guide• Look at other sites’ rules to get started• Refine over time

Common Rules

• No profane, sexist, or racist language• No personal attacks• No profane or pornographic images• No discussion of illegal activities• No copyright infringement• No spam• No viruses, trojans, or malicious files

Culture is More than Rules

• What tone of conversation do you want?• What kind of “energy” do you want there?• What do you want users to tell their friends

about your community?• What do you want to be known for?• What do you want to discourage? How will

you do that while reinforcing culture?

Setting Culture from the Beginning

• Set up infrastructure to promote culture• Mods & staff model culture at all times• Enforce rules fairly and consistently• Recognize users who demonstrate culture

Registration

• User registration is important!– Your own database/system– OpenID– Facebook Connect

• Without registration, comments can quickly get out of control with no way to take more permanent action beyond deletion

Participation is Important

• Editor’s job is NOT done once the story is up!• Participate in the comments – answer

questions, provide clarifications, and more• Connect directly with readers to build loyalty

to you personally and your publication • Facilitate discussion among readers

EVERYONE benefits when you participate!

Be Yourself!

• No one “right” way to act• Community is about people and personalities• Be authentic – fakes are spotted quickly• Readers come for information, stay because of

people and relationships• “I know that guy!” – insider loyalty

Reader Generated Ideas

• Story Ideas • Follow-up Stories• Letters to the Editor• Reader Contributed Tips & Tricks• Print comments alongside stories• Community Projects

From Strategy to Tools

A big part of community is proper support systems – moderation, culture, registration, participation, authenticity. But equally important is the support system of your community platform. If you don’t provide your community the proper tools to do what you want, all the other stuff can quickly fall apart.

There are Lots of Options

… and many more!

It May Feel Like a Jumble…

The Key: Get a Strategy and Stick to It

The Community Toolbox

• Don’t use a wrench if you need a hammer• Use each tool to its best advantage• Know your available tools• Know what each tool is good for• Figure out what tools you need• Select the toolbox (vendor) with those tools• Select a vendor whose people you like & trust

Meet the Tools

• Forums• Chat• Blogs• Wiki• Groups• Facebook• Twitter• And many more…

Forums

Good For:• User-to-user support• Open discussions• Putting users in control of

discussion• Light participation from

writers & editors

Not Good For:• Press releases• Collaboration on a central

item• Real-time Q&A

Chat

Good For:• Real-time Q&A• Customer Service• Special Occasions (ask the

expert, etc)• Real-time events

(watching an event together on TV)

Not Good For:• Big conversations• Collaboration on a central

item

Blogs

Good For:• Composed thoughts• Explaining things• Sharing web links and

media• Keeping customers

updated

Not Good For:• User-to-user interaction• Collaboration on a central

item• Real-time discussion

Wiki

Good For:• User collaboration on a

central item• Knowledge Sharing• How-To documents

Not Good For:• User-to-user interaction• Opinion pieces• Real-time discussion

Groups

Good For:• User segmentation• Loyalty• Niche interest sharing

Can contain many of the other tools within the group structure

Facebook

Good For:• Loyalty (“fan of”)• Information updates• Asset spreading• Light user interaction• Bringing people to your

site or community

Not Good For:•Heavy user interaction•Real-time discussion•Community home

Twitter

Good For:• Short updates• Quick sharing of info• Light user interaction• Bringing people to your

site or community

Not Good For:• Heavy user interaction• Long bits of content• Community home

… and More

• Photo galleries• Video galleries• Status updates• Comments• Favorites• YouTube• Flickr• MySpace

Buy vs. Build

• Building may seem tempting• Don’t re-invent the wheel• Think about future updates and maintenance• Tools are only half the battle

• In most cases, buying is better than building

Platform Strategy

• Determine who your users are, what they need/want to do when they get there

• Find a platform with tools and options that best fit your needs

• Determine your technical needs and resources• Start small, build for future growth• After launch, re-evaluate as your community

grows

Questions?Ask away!

I can also be reached at :

Email: kellie.parker@sega.comTwitter: @kellieparkerBlog: http://www.kellieparker.com

SEGA – Twitter: @SegaFacebook: facebook.com/segaFacebook: facebook.com/sonicBlog: blogs.sega.com/usaYouTube: youtube.com/segaamerica