developing successful online communities

pwcom.co.uk

London, 1 September 2011

Developing successfulonline communities:

online, offline – it’s a people thing

CIPR Social Summer, #ciprsm

by Paul Wilkinson

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• welcome and introductions

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Welcome and introductions

Community?

Not just social networks

From offline to online communities (and back again)

Be2camp case study

13 things to think about

Q&A

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Defining community

“... a body of persons in the same locality, or leading a similar life, or sharing common interests ...” (Chambers Dictionary)

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Defining 'online community'

“... a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part ...” (Wikipedia)

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Defining 'virtual community'

“... a social network of individuals who interact through specific media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals. ...” (Wikipedia)

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Online social networks existed pre-web:

• Usenet

• MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons)

• Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

• chat rooms

• electronic mailing lists

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Web 1.0 - Mid 1990s …first generation websites• static pages• HTML ‘brochure-ware’• later PDFs• limited interaction• email integration• … and no Google

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Websites for … Web 2.0 is about …

reading writing

companies communities

one-way two-way

lecture conversation

advertising word-of-mouth

owning sharing

(Sources: Joe Drumgoole’s Copacetic; Darrenbarefoot.com 2006)

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Trad’l marketing/PRwas about …

Marketing/PR 2.0is increasingly …

B2C B2C2C

B2B B2C2B

one-to-many many-to-many

monologue Dialogue (C2B)

control of message user-generated content

control of media user self-publishing

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From pre-web, through Web 1.0, to Web 2.0,various tools used to support:• fan groups

• customer communities

• distributor/dealer networks

• causes and campaigns

• event sites (supporting conferences, festivals, etc)

• readership communities

• employees (and ex-employees)

• industry and professional groups

• etc, etc

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Discussion forums

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Wikis• open – Wikipedia• professional –

RIBApedia• internal knowledge

managemento Feilden Clegg

Bradley

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Blogs• Communities of regular readers• Multi-author blogs• Blog sharing communities

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Twitter• Lists / groups• Klout / PeerIndex• #hashtags• #tweetchat• tweet-ups

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Sharing:• presentations• travel, location• reviews• photos• video• Q&As• etc

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Social networks• from personal

(eg: Facebook) …

• to professional(less Facebook, more LinkedIn) …

• to group focused (some in Facebook, LinkedIn,or built on Ning, Elgg, socialGo)

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5353 members 1636 members

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Bespoke community platforms

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Hyperlocal communities

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Communities spanning real and virtual

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The Be2camp Story (so far) Built

Environment

Web 2.0

Barcamp

Subtitle: the power of ‘hybrid events’

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June 2008

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Meetings via Skype

Conversationsvia Twitter

TimeAndDate to organise meeting times

Meetings in Second Life

blog, forum on Ning

Google GroupsGoogle Docs

Just 2 emails

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Ning site created 31 July 2008

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• World’s first ‘unconference’ focused on Web 2.0 for the built environment

• Building Centre, London, 10 October 2008

• Free to attend

• Participative

• Online andface-to-face

“Unconference”

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“Unplanning”

Before a Be2camp event:

• People volunteer to help, to speak, etc

• Topics discussed online

• Themesidentified

• Sponsorsapproached

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“Unhosting”

At a Be2camp event:

• Running order agreed

• 'Participants' not 'delegates'

• Sessions streamed live

• Live-blogging

• Twitterfall

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“Open-sourcing”

After a Be2camp event:

• Videos on Ustream, YouTube

• Photos on Flickr

• Presentations on Slideshare

• Live-blog, chat on Coveritlive

• Discussions/downloads continue

• All on www.be2camp.com

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First Be2camp statistics

London, 10 October 2008

• c. 55 people attended (in real-life)

• 183 unique visitors to be2camp website

• CoverItLive feed: 47 unique visitors

• At one point, 12 individuals watching the Be2camp live feed in Second Life

• 8 sign-ups to Be2camp during day

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Second Be2camp

• #Be2campnorth

• Liverpool

• 15 May 2009

• hashtag was one of the topbuzz-words on Twitter.

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Be2camp membership growth Aug 2008 - 6 Oct 2009

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

aug sep oct nov dec jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov

month

To

tal B

e2ca

mp

mem

ber

s

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Join

ers

in m

on

th

cumulative total

monthly joiners

Be2camp

10 Oct

Be2camp

North

15 May

Be2camp

Brum

12 Aug

Be2camp

WB

7-8 Oct

Event-powered growth

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Be2party

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Be2camp year two

• Be2camp Brum, August 2009• Be2camp@WorkingBuildings, October• SMWBe2camp

February 2010• Be2campEast 1

April 2010• Be2campNW

June 2010• Be2camp Brum 2

August 2010

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Be2camp year three

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Be2Awards

London, 9 February 2011

• 100+ nominations

• 10,000+ unique visitors to website in six weeks; 40,000 page impressions

• c. 80 people attended (in real-life)

• 900 visits to Be2Awards website on day

• Ustream.tv live video stream was viewed by 178 unique visitors, 302 visits, 146 hours

• Twitter hashtag #be2awards cited 731 times

• website visitors from 35 different countries

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Thirteen things to think about1. Do we need an online community?

2. How will users benefit?

3. Who will run it?

4. Integration with other communications?

5. What rules will we have?

6. How will we work out what our community wants?

7. If we build it, will they come?

8. When they come, what will people do?

9. How will others in the organisation be involved?

10. Why are some users more active and vocal than others?

11. How big could your community be?

12. How will we measure the impact?

13. How will we fund the site?

http://www.blog.pwcom.co.uk/2009/05/06/should-organisations-build-online-communities/

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Do we need an online community?

• think 'outcomes'

• have a clear strategic reason to create and build an online community

• Otherwise …

How will we measure the impact?

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Who will manage the online community?

A community manager

• supports, stimulates, monitors and moderates

• welcome new members, weeds-out inappropriate content and behaviours, expands and retains the membership, cultivates and creates content

• straddles dividing line between organisation and community

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Integration with other communications?

People tend to be social in more than one place

Think about related activities on:• blogs, websites, e-newsletters• Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter,

Slideshare, etc• offline (magazines, posters, events, media, etc)

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What rules should we have?

clear, simple guidelines, written in friendly, simple language, on what is and what isn’t acceptable

• common business courtesies• stay on-topic• outlaw threatening, obscene or abusive language or

images• ban spamming or other inappropriate selling (people

don’t usually join a community to be marketed to)

Note: can time for users to discover ‘netiquette’

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If we build it, will they come?

• contact key influncers first• make it easy to invite new members• provide some unrestricted content• an easy-to-use, intuitive user interface helps• avoid barriers to participation• build sense of ownership

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Why are some users more vocal than others?

• because they are!

Think 90-9-1 (or 70-20-10)• 90% of users are Lurkers (read or observe, but don't

contribute)• 9% of users are Commenters (edit or rate content but

don’t create content of their own)• 1% of users are Creators who contribute content

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How will we measure the impact?

• Rates of membership sign-up• Invitations and WOM recommendations• Retweets, blog posts, etc• Participation in events• Content contribution• Website analytics

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London, 1 September 2011

Thank you

Contact: Paul WilkinsonWebsite: www.pwcom.co.uk

Blog: www.blog.pwcom.co.ukEmail: paul.wilkinson@pwcom.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0)20 8858 1104mob: 07788 445920Twitter: @EEPaul