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January 15, 2007
Do corporate-sponsored social networks work?
Do corporate-sponsored social networks work? That's one topic of discussion in the MarketingProfs Book Club.
Scot had asked the question. He adds, "Or is it critical that these efforts are done by citizen marketers who remain independent from the company?"
Donna responds,"I think it totally depends upon how the social network is designed and the strategy behind it and staying completely focused on the goals of the network. If the network is created with the users in mind, I think it will work, especially if those users can become interactive with your product/service."
Adds David: "It may not work in cases where it's only about blatant product pitch, with nothing being given back to the community."
Right on, Donna and David. Online communities and social networking sites can help companies connect
with customers and build loyalty, but only when the
community is designed to help customers connect with other customers. If companies expect their communities to simply become vessels of company messages, forget it.
Yet that seems to be the thinking behind Toyota's new community for hybrid car owners, which launched recently. The company's press release clearly lays out its expectations for the customer community:
"Toyota's more than 600,000 hybrid owners are very passionate about their vehicles and the reasons they drive them. The new community site taps into that excitement by letting users visually represent themselves through graphic art and video. Members will help promote the Hybrid Synergy Drive brand as they evangelize about their own personal experiences."
Yes, members will do as they're told. Must. Create. More. Zombies. One visit around this clunky, all-Flash site shows that Toyota's idea of "community" is simply a one-way transfer of marketing hype from company to customer. To call it a community site is to claim that Burger King is fine dining.
For examples of authentic customer communities, we can point to at least two examples: PriusChat.com and PriusOnline.com. Unaffiliated with Toyota, these sites feature customers having real backfence discussions, like gas mileage, best tires in the rain, or how to get the heater to work faster. Prospective buyers appear regularly, asking existing owners questions as part of their research. Fortunately for Toyota, Prius owners seem to be very evangelistic about the car and are happy to help. They're not taking orders from a Toyota press release.
So our two examples are citizen-created, but there's no reason that big companies shouldn't be able to create freewheeling forums for customers that feature honest conversations and real connections. But that requires a company to be a facilitator, not a tell-us-how-great-we-are narcissist.
Toyota may be a leader with hybrid technology, but it's a Pinto when it comes to building customer communities.
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I'm an infrequent PriusChat user. The users there are so hardcore that it's hard to actually contribute anything. There's also a "RTFM" air to many of the top posters. All in all though, it's an awesome site and learning about the pulse and glide technique has helped me keep a better than 50 MPG average since learning about it.
RTFM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM
Sooner or later someone's going to get it right. Perhaps we are at the same point that aviators were with heavier than air flight in 1902. Many attempts, none successful. But the following year the Wright Bros. took off (pun inteneded).
Regards,
Glennn
I find this interesting. There are some brands that would lend themselves to this idea well. But as you mention, the corporate moderators would have to do their best to keep hands off.
Also, preaching to the choir is one thing, but really getting someone to switch over and then gain their loyalty is something different.
It reminds me of a hilarious old SNL sketch for the "Mr. Belvedere" fan club. Though the members were definitely loyal (even obsessed in some cases) I doubt they would have gained too many converts.
A couple of late night thoughts in response to the overall question:
1. Absolutely a brand can create social projects (rather than specifically "social networks"). Fiskars together with Brains on Fire has created a fantastic, clearly-corporate created community.
2. In order to make things work, it's not about simply having the moderators keeping hands off. It's about the entire team (moderators, users, execs) finding a shared vision (whereever and whomever promotes and seeds that vision) and then helping to ensure that vision stays on track. In the example from Ben, new users are scared off, namely because of poor (often organic) design.
3. The company's role in situations like this is more similar to a matchmaking party host. Once introductions are made, you want the host to disappear into the woodwork. But the moment things start to falter, you hope and pray that they'll appear, say something engaging to get the two people back on track, and then once again disappear into the woodwork.
4. This is long term, slow burning (at least at first). Ben, as you posted about the other day, soft launch is your friend. Trying to create instant social networks is the one-night stand of community based marketing. Sounds fun for a short time, then dies out leaving you wondering what you were thinking.
5. Toyota has also forgotten the key point in these projects - check YOUR ego at the door, while focusing on building THEIR ego up as much as makes sense. (What "makes sense" means is enough for an entire volume)
6. When building an official community, beauty is 98% bad. No Flash, no obviously professional web design.
7. Talk to existing community members. Let your corporate money be the "white knight". Every community I've come across has wanted to do more for the brand, but nearly all of their ideas cost money. (Sometimes very little, sometimes more) If you're going to spend $200,000 on a new official community Web site, do a cost benefit analysis together for what happens if you were to give some of all o that budget to hiring a community liaison or giving the community the help they need. Reinventing the wheel and creating new stuff is exciting.... for the bored, uninspired marketing manager.
Anyway, just my rambles :)
Corporations can create a community -- that empowers its users. I know this is a little self-promotion and I apologize for that, but you should check out quickbooksgroup.com. It is truly a users community and we tell our moderators to facilitate discussion and not state how great we are. I am surprised the Prius people didn't get it right out of the gate. They have some of the key ingredients: Passionate users, a product users are passionate about and that users want to speak about, are part of a cause against something big like global warming, etc. Oh well. It just shows that non of us are perfect. I think Ben is right, though. Sooner or later we will all figure it out. All of us (including us at Intuit) have a lot to learn. And after all, isn't that what this is all about. Listening to users, learning from users and trying to develop good products and services based on their feedback.
