by Charlie Hullihen, Client Services Manager/Communications Writer
With the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, some organizations may wonder whether or not they should even bother with building their own online community. While all of the big name social networking services are great for attracting fans and addressing customer concerns, there are some concrete advantages to having your own online community as well. Organization’s with online communities earn respect, fully engage their users, and can even launch successful fundraising campaigns by using friend-to-friend online giving services. And knowing when to launch these communities can help determine whether or not your network is going to stand out above the rest or become another face in the crowed.
One of the most important things to be sure of prior to launching a social network is that you are ready to fully commit to making it a success. You want to make sure all of your team members who will be involved are on board and committed to the project. At least one of yours staff persons will be devoting a lot of time to the social community. Make sure there’s room in this person’s schedule to do so regularly.
You also should not launch until you know who your potential members are. This will give you the ability to tailor your online community to their needs. For example, if most of your organization’s supporters are in their 40s and 50s, it’s probably not a great idea to be feeding them information about video games and energy drinks (as extreme as that example may sound). Also, it’s a good practice to make sure you have some content to post to the social network prior to its launch date. Remember, you are not trying to build a town that people quickly drive through on their way to somewhere more important. You’re trying to give them a community full of friends to interact and engage with on a regular basis. Give those passing through a reason to stop in and say hello.
Another occurrence worth avoiding is launching your social network over a major holiday. Associating with a major holiday may sound like a strategic way of marketing your launch, but during these times of year most people are too preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of the season to care about the unveiling of a new social network. It’s best to launch these communities at a time of year when not much else is going on. If a major holiday has just taken place, you may want to wait a few weeks before launching. This can be frustrating, because you are most likely anxious to get your social network off the ground. But your patience is sure to pay off.
Before launching, it’s also best practice to make sure ALL of your staff members have been trained in using the social network. If any of your staff persons would encounter a situation where the topic of the online community arises (a phone call, a business meeting, etc.) you want them to be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about it. If your staff is unable to answer questions and does not appear to care about your social network, it is going to be hard for them to convince users that they should be signing up for it.
When you finally decide it’s time to launch your online community, there is a great three step process for you to follow that will help your network reach its full potential. The first of these steps is the testing phase. During the testing phase, access to your network is limited to just the admins and about a dozen others. This gives them the opportunity to iron out any kinks and give you some ideas and feedback.
After the testing phase, there is the early adopters phase. This consists of a group of about 20-30 users (depending on the size of the organization). These will be your early power users. These early adopters will be responsible for creating and leading groups within the communities, as well as posting photos, videos, blogs, and other user-generated content. This is quite possibly the most important phase of the three step process. It is essential that you have a fair amount of activity on your community so that it doesn’t look like a ghost town to your new visitors.
Finally, there is the full launch phase. This is when your community becomes fully available to the public. You should NEVER do a full launch until you’re sure all of the bugs have been taken care of and there has been some kind of activity within the community that draws in users.
With careful planning and a smart launch time, your organization’s social network is sure to have an advantage. Remember to only launch your online community when you are 100% sure it’s ready for the world to see. Once users see a poorly-run community, it will be difficult to change this user’s opinion of the product.
What were some things you took into consideration prior to launching your online community? Be sure to let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading and keep checking back for more blogs!
