The third webcast in the ongoing series that Social Media Today has launched in cooperation with the Social Media Group focused on the idea of nurturing and leveraging online community. We encourage you to listen to the recording of the live session below.
The issues arising around online community are more specific than they once were,
and reflect the tremendous growth in understanding of communities and
the value derived from them. The measures of success vary, but there is an evolving set of
“best practices” honed by leading researchers like Beeline Labs in its
work with Deloitte. Increasingly, marketers are beginning to establish
compelling case studies demonstrating significant ROI around
communities for reducing costs, generating leads, and plain-old product
sales. The following are just a few of the questions that we tackled on Friday:
- What are the various types of community and what are some of their reasons for being?
- What makes an online community work?
- How do you measure success? Operationally? Bottom-line?
- What are the ways that communities fail?
- What are the best platforms and technologies available?
- How should you budget for costs?
Listen to the podcast (or download):
Our panel of leading social media experts included:
Maggie Fox (@maggiefox),
our moderator, is the founder and CEO of Social Media Group, helping businesses navigate the new
socially engaged web. She is a leading communications and content
expert and a frequent and sought-after speaker on the importance and
use of social media in the enterprise.
Rachel Happe (@rhappe) is Co-Founder and Principal at The Community Roundtable,
a peer network for community and social media managers, and has over
fifteen years of experience with emerging enterprise technologies
including social networking, ecommerce, and software applications.
Neil Beam
is Sr. Manager of Channel Strategy at AT&T, serving as a guiding
voice on projects affecting the customer's web experience. His
expertise emphasizes Multi-Channel Retail, Social CRM, and WoM
Marketing. Neil recently authored the ROI chapter for WOMMA's
2009 Measurement Guidebook.
Francois Gossieaux
is a partner and co-founder at Beeline Labs, helping clients create new customers by humanizing
themselves and their brands. He is also a senior fellow and board
member with the Society for New Communications Research, and co-leads the yearly Tribalization of Business Study.