360DigitalInfluence

I had my second night out with the Atlanta Social Media Club this past Thursday. And, while I have to admit, I miss my social media gurus in DC - it’s great to get out down here, meet new people and learn/discuss the social media scene in ATL. Thursday’s SMC meeting was part of a 3-part series on our “Social Media Love Affair” (catchy tittle, eh?) - focusing on the importance of investment in social media on getting consumers to commit.

Guest speakers, Jeannie Ericson of Public Broadcasting of Atlanta, and Tony Conway of Atlanta Children’s Shelter, kicked-off the discussion with how their companies are investing and social media and the efforts they are taking to build a committed relationship between their brand and their consumers.

Jeannie introduced us to Lens on Atlanta - a social community in beta, that will launch later this fall. The community is designed to be a resource portal and community networking site for those in the Metro Atlanta region. And while everyone at the SMC meeting will get a sneak peak at the community and a chance to provide our feedback alongside the rest of the beta testers, we discussed how to make this community a success. The following are three simple, but important steps, that I think are a must in order to build a strong community.

First - let’s define success:

A great question was asked at the SMC meeting - they guy wanted to know at what point PBA would consider their community a success and “quit” social media. Jeannie explained that the ultimate success for Lens on Atlanta was the connections between community members made and the participation within (e.g. content posted and interactions with community) the online community for Atlanta locals.

But the thing is, it’s not about meeting a certain membership number or getting a certain number of positive mentions and then ending the brand’s social media presence. It’s about building a presence and kicking starting a community or conversation, and then leading the conversation or community to a point where they will continue on their own - generating a truly organic conversation.

1. Make sure there is a strategy behind it. Why should your brand create (or even take part) in an online community? What is the reason for being - is this a consumer feedback community, a place were consumers can help build/co-create the brand’s offerings? Or does the brand have valuable resources to share that can be shared through an online community? No matter what the reason -there should be a “why” before the “What”. One of my fellow SMC-go’ers said it all in her analog to Home Depot shopping, “I’ve got a hammer, now what do I need to nail?” - a great analogy to using social media without a strategy behind it.

2. Test out the idea. Currently Lens on Atlanta is in beta with 80 betatesters from around the community providing feedback and sharing their experiences in order to help PBA perfect the community before it goes live. It is always a good idea to test out your strategy on a select group of members from the audience you are trying to reach. Lens on Atlanta will first be focusing on the hyperlocal community, so key members of Metro Atlanta have been asked to test it out and provide their feedback. This not only gives the brand an idea of what is working and what is not, but also begins to build that loyalty (or “commitment”) between the brand and the consumer.

3. Guide but don’t control the crowd. Some of the best brand interactions are those that are organic. The point of a community is not to have all eyes and ears on one central voice, but to decentralize the content and conversations, activating all members of the community to be their own authors - building the content and growing the conversation. That said, it is important to have a community leader - one that helps generate and guide the conversations amongst members of the community. This can be a brand representative or a member of the community - one that is invested in the community and authentic in their voice.

I’m sure there a many other recommendations that brands have about building successful communities, please feel free to share your recommendations and feedback on the topic - would love to build out these recommendations.