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8 things to remember when playing with social media

Community building is tough work; ask any kindergarten teacher, senator or experienced online community builder. Here are 8 things to keep in mind when the Marketing department at your corner of the Brand Forest suggests building an online community.

Actually have a community
This seems like a no-brainer, but a client we do non-community related business with advertised its new community on the home page ( via popup, I might add… ~groan ~ ) and after taking the new member through 30 minutes of surveys and spyware installation reward them with a message… “Come back soon, exciting content on the way!”. Do I have to say this is not only a good way to kick any potential community members in the balls, but also poison later attempts to –actually- grow a community?

Give members something to do up front – more than "See the Egress"
You need to get the new members started. Uncounted people have been lured to community sign-up pages only to complete the process then stare blankly at the screen and ask “Hmmmmm now what do I do?” Give the newbies a first few places to start, something that’s not totally self serving, like “Tell your friends about us!”

Provide something of value - All take and no give is still uncool
Just like on the playground, the “friend” that always took stuff and never shared or gave back was a jerk. The adult that did that was even worse. If all your new community does is gather demographic info and enable people to talk to one another, you’re not providing value. People will not flock to you just because they think you have a cool brand. Well, not if you’re not Apple, anyway.

Have a watercooler – I’m supposed to talk, right?
Part of “community” is “being able to communicate”; this means being able to find people ( search, browse or look up ) being able to initiate contact, being able to find that person again, and being able to somehow connect with them. More than this, more than providing the tools, enable the process… provide a watercooler. Show newbies where to go to introduce themselves, to search for members with similar interests, and so on.

Reward participation – give them a hotdog
Forever ago, I worked for the casinos in the upper Midwest. One of the ( countless ) things I noticed was that even if someone was upset after losing thousands of dollars, if they were comped ( given free ) a hotdog, they were all better. The lesson is this: pat the conflicted members on the back in some way that satisfies some immediate need of theirs. Don't patronize, don't quote rules, don't tell them they were wrong and think that's the end of it. Give them a little recognition, more access, or maybe just a personal email. Nothing expensive or grand is necessary most of the time to resolve huge anxiety, just a bit of deftness, lighting fast attentiveness, and a hotdog.

Crisis Management - Prepare for badness
Someone will rain on your parade. They will not like something you say or do, and they will use the very tools you gave them to grow your beautiful little community to try and take you down... or at least make your life/brand miserable. Plan on this in advance. Decide what you’ll do when it happens, how you’ll respond. Actually have a strategy. In a few words, it should be this: be quick, be honest, be empathetic, be non-markety.

Acknowledge feedback - Listen with both ears
An online community is a funny thing- a lot of the feeling of community is built up in the member’s mind, based on experience and mutual interaction. People have an expectation in quality communal situations to be answered when they ask a question. If they ask and don’t hear back from you, they will not assume you’re busy, they will assume you don’t care.

Respond to shifts in community sentiment - Bend like a reed
People might not use your community as you intended. If you fight the direction the community is leaning towards, you will lose; you’ll either have a revolt, or your community will disband. Here your community is like your significant other- put not-so-much energy into winning a fight, but rather work to maintain the peace over the long haul. Bend like a read, don’t break like a branch. You will never win a fight with your members, so don’t start one, and if one brews, do what you can to dissipate it.

June 6, 2008

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