Engage with your Community for Dummies = Bring the Insider Style (8/10)
Making people feels like they’re part of your company is another important point to generate traction and stickiness from your community. Press releasing and messaging users about new features and business development isn’t the essential content you have to push. Showing you’re working to provide them with a more interesting user experience is right, but what they want and need is why they’re right using your service or product. To achieve that point you have to get along with your community and highlight what’s currently at work and who in the community is inspiring.
Managing and helping your community have fun is the content users need to feel they belong to something valuable. Take the example of Microsoft Channel 9 and the whole MSDN (MicroSoft Developer Network): Robert Scoble was the one guy who started the Microsoft insider channel and turn the image of the big blue monster into a more inspiring brand. What’s been the tipping point is the fact he showed people who are the people working for the “Big One”. Showing people have challenges, dreams, ethics, and technical skills. That added value and esteem to the Microsoft employees, engaging people to have a deeper look at that company. Which helped a lot for the brand image change.
Companies like Innocent or SouthWest Airlines are using their blog to share “insider” informations, giving more than just business running image. That’s not like it’s generating business by itself, but echos to people who are interested in knowing more on the company spirit and by that leading to more loyalty. Brand product mainly don’t do that but have a look at how beneficial blogs like MacRumors and other websites like it are generating business and repeat business generating loyalty and purchase by providing interesting content to read. And it can be the same in other business area, you just have to look at your business field, whether you’re a B2B or B2C company.
Photo Credit: Szlea
