Analysis Point 3: Something I have come to understand because of this new community wave is that employee and customer communities have existed in our corporate spheres for a long time, even before the modern day internet. Anyone remember CompuServe or the old dial-up bulletin boards?  (If you can’t remember, rent the movie “WarGames” starring Matthew Broderick). The pre-internet crowd used dial-up communities for all the things that we now do with MySpace, Facebook and Second Life (and the water cooler has existed even longer than dial-up bulletin boards). Before you decide to launch your own community, analyze existing communities. Find out where your customers and employees hang out in both the virtual and real world. Listen to them there. Determine why they are gathering and what problem(s) they are trying to solve by doing so. Determine what your company’s roles have been and should be. You may find that it may be better to join an existing community (online or not) as a guest rather than to force your community concept on an established group. By the way, I would recommend either dedicating an existing Generation X, Y, Z or V (for Virtual) employee or hiring one who is already deep in social networking to help in this process. They are already tuned-in to that world and will be much more efficient at finding your existing community. Better yet, find someone who is already an engaged customer advocate and team them up with your cyber-genius to tackle this endeavor. 

Analysis Point 4: Do you have the willingness to be completely forthcoming? One of the evolutions in this new phase of the Internet is that users and the virtual communities they inhabit are increasingly requiring a bi-directional relationship as mandatory for citizenship/membership.  Relationship is no longer just two entities interacting. A Web 2.0 relationship now implies openness, long-term commitment, genuineness, and a willingness to put the concerns of the other party above (or at least equal to) your own. One litmus test as to your readiness is to ask yourself, “How would our company feel if an irate customer posted a less than flattering story about your company on a public or your own community?” If you are confident that your company would honestly be grateful for the opportunity to publically admit culpability, apologize to the community, and work with the citizens toward a mutually beneficial solution, then you are ready to dive into this new world.

So before you blog, chat, write on someone’s wall, or otherwise step out into the bright sunlight of communities, please take the time to “consider” these things.  The good news is that great benefits await those who do. 

John Epeneter, VP of Product Management, Allegiance

But things are different now. One could say that we have reached the tipping point where companies must incorporate communities into their marketing communications and public relations strategies.

And that is why I say: Hold the bus!

We should rephrase the above by replacing the word “incorporate” with “consider.” We absolutely must consider communities in our marketing communications strategies, but we should analyze this carefully.

Analysis Point 1: How much capacity does my company have to listen and then respond to our customers? How many people, processes, and technologies (i.e. your capacity) are you willing to put in place to listen to your customers, both by soliciting their feedback as well as letting them come to you unsolicited with their thoughts and concerns? Has this capacity (i.e. the amount of people, process, and technology) risen proportionally with the size and complexity of your company? Perhaps more importantly, has your capacity to respond been increased proportionally with your capacity to listen? When “considering” communities, are you willing to add capacity to your communications machine to adequately support adding a community emphasis to your marketing communications strategy? If you cannot add resources, but are determined to add community to your communications mix, you better prepare to either diminish the capacity of other efforts, or fail.

Analysis Point 2: Is your listening and response capacity proportional with effectiveness? For example, one of my wife’s and my favorite movies is the “Hunt for Red October” starring Sean Connery. One of the great analogies in that movie is “They are pinging away at their sonar but at almost 30 knots they could run over my daughter’s stereo and not hear it.” Are you listening to so many customers on so many transactions that you cannot understand not just what your customers are saying, but what they really feel? We must analyze the role of all communication tools in the above context. Would adding community resources to your communication efforts increase you ability to understand your customers’ and employees’ problems more effectively?

Keep an eye out for my next blog in this series, in which I’ll go over existing communities and willingness.

John Epeneter, VP of Product Management, Allegiance