Three slides that can make or break an online community

The art of community management and building has often been regarded as a very difficult one to master (predominantly due to the fact that each community has its own DNA).

However, there are three key pillars which can make or break online communities driven by brands and businesses.

The three areas of focus are:


Content balance – what should you be talking about
Community building – getting the right people to interact with you / your page
Brand output – the types of activity that should characterise your presence

Over the course of the last 12 months, I've regularly referred to the slides that follow to help explain each area.

Slide one

Explanation:

All this slide is saying is that if you just feed your community ‘salesy’ product or marketing messages you won’t appeal to hem as much as you could. The key to any community, online or offline, is to identify shared interests. Once you have  your bucket of shared interests / passions, you can connect on more than just a product level. If you can be useful within this context, you will generate an even greater rapport.

Slide two

Explanation:

A very common sense slide but getting the balance right is often difficult. Yes, communities thrive on great and relevant content, but the actual end-product needs to be something that encourages interactivity. And, if you don’t promote your community, there won’t be anyone there to interact with the environment you are creating.

Slide three

Explanation:

Balance, again, is key here. By using each of these different types of consumer engagement techniques you can keep your destination fresh (and followed).

While there is a lot more to successful community building and management, these three slides play an integral role.

Download these slides

These slides are available for download via Slideshare.