ASAE's TechnoScope: 11 Success Factors for Creating an Online Community

TechnoScope, April 2008
By: Sterling Raphael

Discussion groups, professional networks, messaging, blogs, and member matching are just a few of the features that can be of great value to associations and their members. But before you rush to set up an online community at your association, make sure you do some strategic planning: Why are you initiating an online community, how will you do it, and what will your finished product look like?

Welcome to the world of Web 2.0. Associations are a prime audience for implementing the latest and greatest online tools. Discussion Groups, Professional Networks, Messaging, Blogs, Member Matching are just a few of the features that can be of great value to associations and their members. So, simply put the features on your website and create instant value! Right? Not so fast! From experience of creating professional networking applications for associations, it’s quite evident that the features alone are not sufficient for launching a successful online community for your association. Below are 11 practical yet important success factors to creating an online community for your association that works!

1.    Technology Meets Mission: Before considering implementing an online community, it’s important to understand how the tools will benefit the organization’s mission. Often website tools are chosen based on novelty or industry buzz, but do they really have a fit? For example, are blogs really going to help your association achieve its purpose?

2.    Identify Technology Provider: Choosing the right technology partner early can make the entire process of implementing an online community easier. Make sure your selected vendor has the experience and resources with social media, and has an understanding of the unique needs of associations. Also, it is not just about the features, but how they are presented. So having a creative vendor that produces engaging yet simple user-interface designs is a great benefit.

3.    Survey for Value: So you think having an online community will support your mission? Great! Do your members agree? There’s multiple reasons it’s a good idea to survey your members to understand what online community tools are valuable to them. One, it will help you identify the selected feature set (see next step). Second, asking your members for input and implementing based on that input, will create more member loyalty and involvement. Giving your members control over the value of their membership is a powerful retention strategy.

4.    Feature Identification: Step 1 + Step 3 = Step 4! Based on your analysis of how an online community could support your mission and what features your members would find valuable, you should be able to clearly identify what features you need. There are many Web 2.0 features available, so implementing too many at once can be overwhelming for your members and counter-productive.

5.    Implementation Plan: It is not always practical to launch a full-featured online community all at once.  It is recommended to roll out features in phases, giving your members a chance to get comfortable with the most important features first. 

6.    Association Staff & Support: Commonly underestimated is that there is much required by the association staff to market and moderate a new community. Ensure you have the capacity within your organization to deploy, market and maintain the online community, as well as the support from leadership to integrate it throughout all areas of your association.

7.    Beta Testers, Content Leaders, Pioneers! Get your members involved. There are three initiatives your members can contribute to. Beta testers will be happy to give you feedback on your new member benefit. Content Leaders are industry experts who can help create the initial discussions throughout the community that other members will later respond to. Pioneers are those who will stimulate the word of mouth and be advocates of the community benefits.

8.    Marketing Strategy: The online community should not be its own island separate from the rest of your association activities and communications. Promoting the benefits of the online community through email blasts, events, association magazines, will remind members of the benefit.

9.    Integration with Events: In addition to marketing, there’s a great opportunity to make the online community a pre-event and post-event tool. Use group discussions to facilitate dialogue and debate on topics in upcoming events. Then after the debate, get feedback and perspectives from attendees. This will allow you to create a comprehensive experience for attendees before, during, and after the event.

10.    Measuring Success: Inherent in the online tools are the ability to produce comprehensive reports and analytics on all community activity. Whether it is measuring logins, resource downloads, advertising exposure, or group activity, this information can help you gauge how successful your community is.

11.    Survey and Iteration: And based on your analytics, you’ll have a good idea of how much value it seems to be producing for your members. But it’s also important to go back to seeing if the community is still meeting the mission of your organization. Because you are empowering your members to generate their own content and discussions, the community may take on a direction that the association did not foresee. So make sure your implementation of an online community allows for iteration and adjustments based on your member feedback, and constant objective to ensure the community is meeting your mission.