A Simple Formula For Your Community

There’s a simple formula you can apply to any online community idea. It’s like this:

 

Specific Audience + Clear Benefit + Existing Desire – Business Needs

 

Specific Audience means targeting an audience that you can identify by their behaviours and past actions. They should recognise each other as a member of the community and must have crossed a boundary that outsiders haven’t.

Clear Benefit is the reason why having a community is better than not having one. Why would the specific audience talking to each other benefit every member?

Existing Desire is the desire to speak to each other. The specific audience should already speak to each other, or have the desire to do so.

Business Needs are the restraints you put on a community so your business benefits. You might have found the specific audience, identified clear benefit and recognised an existing desire all to ruin it by making them subservient to your interests. Anything that benefits you and not the community, is a business need. Eliminate them.

Comments

[Amitha]

Great concepts Rich! One question about the last one. If we take this last one as a principle; wouldn't it be applicable on for not for profit communities? If we eliminate all business needs; then how can a brand oriented community be successful? Can you give some ideas on how to incorporate business needs into a community, without disturbing the community interests?

[Richard Millington]

Hi Amitha,

Align your business interests with that of your community, not vice-versa.

What actions can your business take that will make your community more likely to buy from you? Give members discounts or limited products or community-branded products.

What actions can you take that will make a community more likely to recommend your products to friends? Give members an advanced look at a new product/service.

What actions can you take that will make your community more loyal to your products? Why not invite 50 members to meet your CEO? for example.

The sweet spot really is matching your community's interests with your own. Learn what your community wants to pay money for, then offer that - with bonuses.

[Amitha]

Thanks Rich. Make sense. BTW, the post about fights is really interesting. Most people think, it's the job of a community manager to avoid fights at all times

[eve isk]

then how can a brand oriented community be successful?