What is your company’s strategic Online Community Plan?

WHAT IS IT?: A online community plan.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO MY BUSINESS? A online community plan is as important as sales goals or a marketing plan for your company. Too often, companies rely on technology to build an online community for them. It does not. Build it and they will not come.

PROS: Establishes the goals and tactics to drive the company and individuals towards online community success.

CONS: It takes time to build and buy-in from the top down. Most companies will not want to allocate the resources or the budget to create the plan but would rather spend significant dollars on technology.

BOTTOM LINE: To stay ahead, your company must have a strategic online community plan. This online plan should be developed by an individual who is able to gather requirements from all departments and gain buy in from them all as well.

Here are some questions that an online plan should answer:

• What is the main business goal that the online community is addressing?
• What is the roadmap for the community?
• How does the online community map back to the requirements of each company department?
• What are the informal rules of the community?
• How will issues be escalated and who are the owners of that escalation?
• How will community interest be grown over time?
• How will the community be moderated?
• How will influencers (top users) in the community be identified, motivated, and managed?
• What technology will be used and why?
• What features will be required?
• What types of metrics will be measured and used for ongoing guidance in the development of the community?

LINKS WORTH YOUR TIME:

• Six Techniques for Safer User Generated Content Campaigns by Jake McKee (I highly respect Jake and his work)

James Key Lim