© RightNow Technologies, Inc.
Strengthening Online
Communities Through Improved
User Engagement
Mike Alber, Community
Management Consultant
Topics covered today
Facilitating increased member interaction
Utilizing the power of taking first action to
strengthen advocacy
Increasing social proof
Humanizing your interactions
Facilitating Member Interaction
Facilitating member interaction
Follow up on shared event information
Facilitate Interaction
Submit posts that can be easily answered by all
community members
Facilitating Interaction
Submit posts that let your users act as the experts
Facilitate Interaction
Use action verbs to guide interaction
The Power of Taking First Action
The power of taking first action
“Humans understand how favors work. Doing and
trading favors is woven into the fabric of our culture.
When people are the recipients of a favor, it’s in
their nature to want to pay it back.
Doing nice things does make people feel good, but
there’s neurology behind it too. We want to pay
people back because it is in the nature of a
community to do so; it keeps communities strong
and protected against the outside world.”
It’s human nature to want to return the favor
The power of taking first action
Tactics you can start today
Thank you Private Messages and Emails
Twitter List
comment on member Blogs
highlight post in company newsletter
personal email to new members
The power of taking first action
Longer Term Initiatives
Member Interview Series
The power of taking first action
Longer Term Initiatives
Featured User Program
The power of taking first action
Longer Term Initiatives
Milestone gifts• 1 year of membership
• 100 posts
• Feature Request posts delivered upon
• 1000th comment in community
Increasing Social Proof
How to Increase Social Proof
What is Social Proof?
a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations when people
are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior. Making the assumption
that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation, they will deem
the behavior of others as appropriate or better informed.
Image courtesy of: http://www.plrinternetmarketing.com
How to increase social proof
Use a identifiable headshot for your profile photo.
Try and keep photo consistent on LinkedIn, Twitter etc.
Encourage all employees to do the same
Good Not as Good
How to increase social proof
Prominently highlight members
How to increase social proof
Aggregate content from low activity areas
into a more generalized location.
Humanizing Your Interactions
Humanizing your interactions
Utilize info in signatures
Humanizing your interactions
The Three A’s
1. Acknowledge. Start any apology by telling the person
that you accept that something happened "I didn't meet
my deadline."
2. Apologize. Make sure you clearly and simply say that
you're sorry, with no excuses tacked on. "I'm sorry, Ellie."
3. Act. Explain what you'll do to improve or rectify the
situation. "I've finished the work now and will better
scope my time next time"
These simple steps, done in this order and sincerely, will
make a world of difference.
Empathetic Apologies
Humanizing your interactions
Show Your Personality - Make it Fun
To review, we’ve covered
Facilitating increased member
interaction
Utilizing the power of taking first action
to strengthen advocacy
Increasing social proof
Humanizing your interactions
Next Steps
Check out Community Engagement Tune-
up in Rightnow Customer Community
Start engaging your users!
Reach out with your questions and ideas
Questions?
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MikeAlber
Questions?
Mike Alber, Community Management Consultant
© RightNow Technologies, Inc.
Thank You!