You're bringing fans to the seats, not qualifying prospects
The relationship model you want with your community -- and that your community members demand of you -- is like the relationship a sports fan has with his or her favorite team. A sports fan is personally vested in the success of this team and will pay for the ability to connect with the team through merchandise, attending games and autograph events. These fans will cheer for your success and boo when you should do better. Once you get the fans in the seats, you have an opportunity to sell them products that enhance their experiences as fans.
Your community wants content, not coupons
No one will turn down a good deal for something they want, but a sustained community relationship is typically based on more personal needs. It's about improving your job performance, being a better parent, enjoying a higher quality of life, etc. Your community members are hungry for useful content on the topic that attracted them to the community. Try to provide your content in "byte size" chunks that can be consumed on a frequent basis and distributed in, hopefully, a viral way. Don't dump 10-page white papers on your community and expect it to work.
Focus on the life cycle, not the sales cycle
Try to resist the urge to generate leads, qualify prospects, identify needs, propose and close.
Communities are different. They are based on a personal or professional life cycle, not your sales cycle. Orient your content and media plan around life events of the community. How can you help candidates determine whether they should join the community? How can other members help each other get value out of the membership? What is the appropriate way to engage with members and what are the trigger events for that communication?
"Stone Soup" marketing replaces ROI
The pressure to demonstrate direct ROI on marketing programs is intense and for very good reason -- there are too many investment opportunities for the business to support. Communities won't make it any easier. In fact, you'll need to get buy-in for a community investment made on a new set of metrics. These metrics will be based on membership, interaction and content distribution. The goal is to address your target market more efficiently than possible through traditional approaches and expand the sales opportunity through collaborative cross selling. If you are successful, you will create a community-based marketplace of content and products.
The secret -- the message is more important than the mechanics
There are many new and old media tools that you can use to manage your community. No doubt, these tools are important. But remember, it's the message that attracts, nurtures and grows your membership. It’s the message that will ultimately enable you to realize the business value of a B2C or B2B community. Your message needs to be targeted, relevant, interesting, differentiating and compelling for your audience.
Communities are an exciting new way for businesses to connect with their markets. You can build your own or plug into influential communities of people with a vested interest in your success. Don't wait to get started. Learn as you go and refine your strategy based on what you learn. This is a great opportunity for marketing professionals to deliver new breakthrough programs.
Jim Leach is vice president of marketing at Internap, a global leader in Internet business solutions.