Imagine this.
For weeks you've been planning a big party. A theme has been
chosen, the guest list created, invitations sent and accepted,
decorations adorn the room. On the big night, people start to fill
the house, but the host has gone missing along with the music, food
and fun. It then turns out that the guests actually don't know each
other that well and quickly the buzz of excitement turns to fizz
and they start leaving early because no-one knows what to do or
say.
Doesn't sound like much fun, does it? Yet countless online
brand, insights and innovation communities seem to mirror this
scenario - the digital space might exist, but no-one's actually
engaging with each other, or even in there. So what's going
wrong?
First of all, the idea of 'build it and they will come' doesn't
work for online communities of this nature, unless there's a
naturally occurring and shared passion amongst members.
Organisations are kidding themselves if they think their customers
or stakeholders have nothing better to do than visit a barely
moderated forum on their brand, and that this will provide a
platform for the 'voice of the customer'. Instead, what we often
see is a couple of lonely posts, typically months old, and then
deathly silence.
The problem with these lifeless online communities is that
no-one is hosting the 'party'. A set and forget approach to both
insights and innovations communities is to commit to failure.
Instead, we need to be constantly maintaining conversations,
initiating new discussions, bringing people together and providing
feedback, and then more, about the contribution our members are
making to the lifeblood of the community.
So here are some simple 'rules' for engagement, to ensure that
your online insights or innovation community is a success:
- Have a clear reason for being - a community with a purpose
knows what it needs to do and why it exists
- Engage members everyday - your moderator needs to be a visible
presence, not just someone who posts a topic and then
disappears
- Share and acknowledge - members want to know that their ideas
and opinions may make a difference, so regularly tell them how the
information is being used and why it's important
- Collaborate, don't dictate - encourage members to 'own' the
community, meaning they can initiate, moderate and take the lead in
generating ideas and insights
The easiest point to remember is - what you get out of an online
community, is only as good as what you put in.
Kylie
Chong is a consultant at Growth Solutions Group