Ever wonder why magazines and newspapers always feature letters
to the editor? Have you noticed most radio stations air phone
calls from listeners? And what about those person-on-the-
street interviews that TV news programs like to feature?
These are the ways smart media organizations create the community
their customers crave. Here's how it works.
People are social creatures. Few of us like being alone for
long. We prefer to work and learn in groups. We like to know
there are plenty of other people who are a lot like us, people
who are doing the same things we are.
When companies create a community of like-minded customers for
people to be a part of, lots of people respond. This can be
particularly important if your goal is to keep new prospects
interested and current customers coming back. Creating your own
community is critically important during slow economic times when
every customer counts.
Here are five cheap and easy ways you can create your own online
community right away!
1. Start your own discussion board. A few years ago, you had to
be a computer programmer to do this, but today anyone can create
their own online discussion. The one we have at InternetWriters
comes free from bravenet.com. You can personalize the look of
your board as well as put your logo at the top. This makes the
discussion look like a regular part of your web site.
Expect the discussion to start off slow. Line up several experts
to launch conversations and provide follow-up answers. These can
be experts outside your company, but it is usually more reliable
to have experts from inside your organization. Using your in-
house experts can help emphasize how your staff has the ability
and desire to solve problems for customers. If you want to
create the image of expertise, your discussion board is a great
way to do it.
2. Create a simple question and answer page. This can be even
simpler than the discussion board. When a customer calls or
emails you a question, include the question and your answer on a
web page. Success won't depend on customers sending questions
frequently. The answer page on DrNunley.com has been building
slowly for years. Today you can browse page after page for
answers to hundreds of questions.
Prospects and customers often ask similar questions. Your Q&A
page not only gives people the answers they may be looking for,
but it lets them know they aren't alone. Others have the same
needs and questions they do.
3. Schedule online events. These can be online chats or
streaming audio broadcasts. There are a number of services that
provide free chat rooms. Live365.com will let you do free audio
streaming.
The event can be a guest expert answering questions, an interview
with a popular author, or even a meeting of your distributors or
franchisees. Be sure to announce your online event well ahead of
time. Give it plenty of promotion. Mention it often in your
newsletter, on your site, even in your advertising.
4. Start an email discussion. Email is by far the most popular
feature of the Internet. Some experts believe the big increase
in people using the Net has been caused by the massive number of
people who use email several times each day.
You can harness the power of email to build your online
community. An email discussion is simply a system that shares
email messages between everyone in the group. Messages can flow
freely or be edited, approved, or rejected by a moderator in your
organization.
It only takes a few minutes to get your email discussion going.
Yahoo Groups and Topica.com provide excellent and reliable free
service.
5. This final idea is extremely simple, but very powerful. Post
good comments from customers. Customers often aren't sure what
kind of results to expect from your product or service.
Expectations of "good results" can vary widely.
By posting customer success stories, you can help other customers
understand what to expect and what is possible. This goes a
long way toward building customer confidence and better
understanding of your product or service.
Online community is becoming more and more important as the Web
matures. People increasingly get online to check with a few
communities they belong to. Make sure you have a community
available for your customers and prospects.
About the Author
Ron Sathoff and Kevin Nunley provide marketing advice, business
writing, and promotion packages. Join their promotion discussion
going on now at http://InternetWriters.com Reach them at
mailto:service@InternetWriters.com or 801-328-9006.