the cupcake conundrum
Post on 21-Oct-2014
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This presentation is about building engagement within online communities. It will be particularly apt to niche professional or B2B communities but could be applied to any social network. More on my blog at www.benfowlerworks.com We will look at group-dynamic theories, the science of human nature, the psychology around motivation, and habituating desired community behavior. We will also consider the effect cupcakes and other “carrots” can have when trying to motivate community members.TRANSCRIPT
The Cupcake Conundrum …Turning Lurkers into Contributors
@benfowler, NEEA
Photo courtesy of zigazou76 on Flickr
Little boxes like this will add some context that you would only get from the live
presentation.
This Is About Engagement
๏ Define it
๏ Tie it to business goals
Reference: http://benfowlerworks.com/2011/10/07/determining-your-metric-for-engagement Photo courtesy of mahler711 on flickr
In other words, why is online engagement important for your
organization?
The 1% Rule• Heavy
Contributors1%
• Intermittent Contributors9%
• Lurkers90%
If you’re starting an online community, set the engagement bar
low…
The Pareto Principle
Photo courtesy of lessdoing on Flickr
80% of your content will come from 20% of your members. But can you tweak this? Get a bit
more from your community?
Why Do Community Members Lurk?
๏ Not tied to community vision/goals
๏ Seeking but not finding
๏ Uncomfortable with technology
๏ Unsure of Social Mores
Photo courtesy of Digital Sextant on Flickr
Understanding Group Dynamics
Stage 1: Polite Stage
Reference: http://www.customerthink.com/blog/use_cog_s_ladder_to_build_powerful_online_communities
Stage 3: Power Stage
Stage 2: Why We’re Here
Stage 4: Cooperation
Stage 5: Esprit
I use Cog’s ladder theory to help me
develop communication strategies to drive more
engagement
Gamification
Gamification is the term of the year for online
community management
Components Of A Game
Engagement
Intrigue
Reward
StatusCommunity
Challenge
Reference: http://blog.softwareinsider.org/2011/01/20/trends-5-engagement-factors-for-gamification-and-the-enterprise/
Games can drive engagement. But they
can become tricky when trying to sustain long
term activity
Extrinsic Rewards A No-No?
Credit: Drive, by Daniel Pink
This guy thinks cupcakes are a no-no unless the activity is
uncreative
Latest Research Says Otherwise
๏ Michael Wu, Lithium: “[The Game] just has to work long enough for the player to realize the value he creates. The crucial requirement for this strategy to work is that the gamified activity must create something that has long term value to the player. ”
Reference: http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Gamification-Backlash-Two-Long-Term-Business-Strategies/ba-p/30891
This guys doesn’t. He says cupcakes are
okay, so long as they lead to intrinsic values
of the player
What’s your Destination?
๏ As a community manager, I’m helping users carve a path to their intrinsic values
Photo courtesy of Scott Ableman on Flickr
The Cupcake StoryGoal: To increase information sharing and collaboration in order to
help the region achieve its energy efficiency targets.
Intrigue
Reward
Status
Community
Challenge
- Announcement a couple hours prior to contest
- Cupcakes
- Winners earned a customized desktop certificate
- NEEA internal staff
- Incremental challenge at each quarterly contest
The Conduit Cupcake Hour Contest
My initial engagement pilot for internal staff
I gave away cupcakes to site contributors that
day
The Status Symbol๏ Cupcake Certificates linger
on desks, providing constant reminder of achievement, while increasing brand awareness
Diversify Your Rewards Portfolio
“There is no perfect spaghetti sauce; there are only perfect spaghetti sauces.” - - Howard Moskowitz, psychophycisist, quoted by Malcolm Gladwell during a TedTalk on Choice and Happiness.
Reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html
Your games must provide rewards that
meet the unique needs of each member
How Did Cupcakes Help?๏ Huge (92%) increase in
engagement during month of event.
July August September October0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
17%
56%
18% 18%
% Engaged
Cupcake Event
Engagement spiked, but dropped because
there was no tie to intrinsic values
Cupcakes & Other Carrots
๏ Extrinsic rewards definitely work in the short term.
๏ Now more keen on tying to intrinsic motivators
By just talking and listening, we’re
discovering (and connecting to) those intrinsic
values (like thought-
leadership, altruism, the game
itself…)
Post Script๏ Overall Site Engagement
is up
๏ Now more explicitly framing conversations around community goals
๏ Tying extrinsic rewards to intrinsic values
๏ More consistently announcing community challenge updates
% Engaged - Total Community
July August Sept Oct Nov0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%
% Engaged - Total Community
An example of the tie between
extrinsic/intrinsic: If someone values
thought-leadership, make them a guest
blogger.