Being a part of social media and
interacting online on a regular and consistent basis is critical to the success
of your business. However, it is important to build your online communities so
that you get the most benefit.
Many people recognize the
importance of effective online communities; however, many more people don't
truly get how important having the appropriate people as part of your online
communities is for your professional success. Online communities and the
interactions that occur among people are, even at this point in time, often
viewed in a nebulous or mysterious manner. People are very often not willing to
embrace what they don't understand.
One important thing to remember
when it comes to building online communities successfully is that the community
should never rely on just one person for its leadership and direction. A good
way to figure out if there is too much dependency on one person is by paying
attention to the total number of postings for that community. If it seems like
a large percentage of them were made by one person, it is time to distribute
the wealth a little more evenly. It is important for someone to take the reins
when the community is first being established; however, there should be some
balance established. It is acceptable (and understandable) in the beginning for
more postings to be made by that one individual. However, as time goes by,
other people should step up and contribute.
How to get started
When you are first establishing
an online community, there are several things that you need to put in place
right from the start.
Identify your goals and
objectives: You will have a much easier time accomplishing what you want to
accomplish if you identify it first. You need to make sure that you have the
tools to accomplish your goals and you also need to figure out your target
market. Once you have figured out who the members of your target audience are,
you need to figure out what is important to them, who the heavy hitters within
the niche are, the specific types of technology they use, and what motivates
them.
Strategic positioning: Online
communities are successful because people are willing to actively engage. The
online community will not be successful it it isn't centrally located within
your social media strategy. It is important that you make the information that
you want to impart to the other people in your communities available only
through your online communities. If you make it easy for your online
connections to find the information in other ways, your online community
connection will not hold the same value. It is important that you position your
community in such as way that your audience has to recognize the value of the
information and is willing to make some effort in order to obtain that
information.
Your reason for being: It is
critical that your communities have a clear and important reason for being in
existence. You need to give the other people in your communities a real reason
to engage with the other members (including you) in the various communities.
Technology is not the entire
answer: Using the correct (and most effective) tools is only half of why y our
online community will be a success. The other half of it is your strategy and
management of the communities themselves. Your investment is time and
consistency. Not money.
Conclusion
Online Community
are critical to the success of your
business and it is extremely important for you to understand not only the
importance that they hold for your business but also for you to be at the
center of that part of your online strategy. Your social media marketing
strategy must be well thought out and successfully executed so that your online
interactions are mutually beneficial and they result in solid, profitable
relationships.
We are pleased to provide you
with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your
online presence, let's have coffee.
Michael Cohn is the founder and
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has over 25 years
of experience in IT and web technologies. Mr. Cohn spent a significant amount
of time at a major telecommunications company, where his main focus was on
initiating and leading synergy efforts across all business units by
dramatically improving efficiency, online collaboration, and the company's
Intranet capabilities, which accelerated gains in business productivity. He
also reduced company travel and travel costs by introducing and implementing
various collaboration technologies.
His expertise includes business
analysis; project management; management of global cross-matrix teams; systems
engineering and analysis, architecture, prototyping and integration; technology
evaluation and assessment; systems development; performance evaluation; and
management of off-shore development.
Source: http://bit.ly/2doVtUf
