Community R/evolution
2008 October 31
In a recent presentation my colleague, Jim Rudd and I gave to a 7,400-store retailer, I included a forward look at Communities. I am interested in your reactions to these – what do you agree with? What do you think is utter rubbish? Let me know.
1. The proliferation of communities will drive massive “discernment” (meaning tuning out) and even customer disengagement. A person can only actively participate in a few places given time and interests. So, the more communities there are, the harder it will be to gain attention and loyalty to any one community.
This means it’s imperative to have a customer-centered community strategy. Continue to invest in it, evolve it and help the community shape itself.
2. Social Connectedness will separate into two core measures – relatedness and influence. Other people are using other terms. But generally, this will mean that people who influence opinion (experts) are one metric and people who spread the good word are another – and some precious few might be both.
3. PII and the three P’s – permission, privacy and preference. How much is too much will be the key question. This is likely to differ by generation. It will also be affected by how much mobile advertising we end up getting and how much of that abuses the still-unset rules for pestering people. The spam problem on our desks will migrate to our pockets soon enough.
4. Smaller and more nimble: having raised that point on the perils of mobile marketing, the device will drive us to rethink how, when and where we communicate and how the channels begin to blur and interact more effectively.
Can these devices act as personal catalogues of things that interest us, and as shopping specialists that provide us with unprecedented options that empower the offline experience in a traceable fashion? Yes. They can.
5. The online community will see off-line integration in the third place. Some retailers are being smart about this, but I might not have expected a publisher to be leading that charge. Teen Vogue did it. (Special thanks to John Conway for sending this my way) Here’s the link from the New York Times describing a pop-up retail location that is not selling anything.
6. Corporate Social Responsibility will intersect with Customer Social Networking. We’ve started to see this already and this trend will only grow.
7. Richer experiences will rule and create extreme advocacy. In case you doubt it, check out www.Zuda.com (disclaimer, IBM built it, but this is a way cool site.)
8. Technological disenfranchisement, expansion, consolidation and new launches will increase complexity, not reduce it. A colleague recently asked – so how do I know which of the myriad of technologies I should use? My response is simple – if what you get out of being a part of the community is equal or better than what you invested (time, effort ) to use it, then the technology is irrelevant. You should continue using it as long as it provides you with value on your terms. If it’s not, you’ll stop. And invariably, customers will too. Worry more about the content and less about the technical pieces. Because the technology is bound to change. But then, so will the community as it grows and thrives.
Next posting: A few DON’Ts for Communities (I’ll call it the Eyeore version).
Looking forward to your opinions on what will drive communities in the next 18 months. -c-
