Is your AMA chapter interested in getting connected? Before you launch your online community, careful planning is required. Consider the following tips in order to develop a successful, engaged online community.
Establish a social community planning committee in your chapter. Creating a social community for your chapter is not a one-person job. You’ll need a group of committed members to help wade through all the options and decisions.
Be realistic about your resources. Online communities require time and effort (and depending on the platform selected), financial resources. Make sure you have allocated an appropriate level of resources to launch and maintain your community.
Research technology options carefully. Whether you choose Ning, Facebook, LinkedIn or another platform, make sure your technology platform is a good fit for your members and their social media needs. Take into consideration features, functionality, scalability, customization options and user-friendliness.
Establish chapter-developed guidelines and policies for your online community. Will it be available only to members or to non-members as well? What policies will be in place to report and respond to abuse? Who will be responsible for monitoring community activity? What kind of behavior will and will not be allowed within the community? Will discussions focus on marketing-related topics exclusively? Will community members be allowed to promote their companies and services?
Promote, promote, promote. In order to make sure your online community can be successfully launched and sustained, you’ll need to develop a promotional program that will continue to drive member participation. Include your social community information on all chapter materials and within your website. Make sure new chapter members receive communication on all the features and benefits of your online community. Include community links within all chapter press releases.
Identify chapter evangelists who can champion the community. Recruit chapter leaders and members who will actively participate in the community, publish posts, create a profile and encourage others to join the community. Cultivating an active community takes time and evangelists can help seed the community as it grows.
Integrate all your online communities. If you elect to host your own online community on your website, don’t forget to incorporate your other community groups (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter). Make sure existing and new members can connect with you, whatever their choice of platform.
Participate! Make sure your chapter leadership leads by example. Make sure your leaders have profiles on the community and remember to integrate your chapter’s offline events and activities into community content.
Assess, evaluate and enhance. Just because you build it, doesn’t necessarily mean they will come (and continue to come) to your community. Make sure you continue to evaluate the success of your community. Enhance your community with new features or content and continually promote the benefits of engaging in your chapter’s online communities.
Learn how one AMA chapter has successfully developed an online community strategy.
Don't forget to participate in the AMA's online communities. Join the AMA’s Online Communities on MarketingPower, or join our communities on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.