Mashable has written a concise and useful guide on ‘8 things to avoid when building a community’. Before you go about attempting to construct a community for your customers, have a read over this guide.
Communities can take a number of different forms, and the have been some great examples of brand built communities over the years, for example, Starbucks MyStarbucks, Threadless’ whole business proposition, and possibly the most famous example of recent times MyBarackObama. A number of organizations empower their dedicated fans and consumers to help run communities answering Customer Service questions (see http://discussions.apple.com). Others, such as Burton Snowboards, allow customers to express their passion for their common interest.
Building on Mashable’s article, one thing they fail to touch on is translating your Customer Experience from a product or service to that of Community Management. Have you had any good or bad experiences in a Brands Community. Should the same branded Customer Experience exist across all offline/online properties, or does user-generated content (such as that seen in a community) hold different expectations?
By Colin Shaw | Published: February 10, 2010