Just thought I’d help spread the word on this good article by Heidi Cohen at ClickZ, sourced from a presentation by Joel Cothrel, Chief Community Officer at Lithium, a white label community provider.
Its appeal lies with the clarity of its guidance in such a rapidly-mutating sphere. Joel Cothrel gives us:
- Three Online Community Planning Rules
- Five Ways to Drive Community Participation
- Two Types of Community MetricsFive Community Health Indicators
and
- Three Financial Impact Indicators
(I’m tempted to add something about partridges and pear trees, but it’s not the season)
Underneath these expanded lists of deliciously clear and measurable guidelines, there is the reminder:
“Online communities can be a useful addition to your site. They can help you extend your relationship with your customers and prospects cost-efficiently while developing content that can be used to reduce customer service and content creation costs. Remember, online communities require care and feeding to continue to thrive.”
Which is where a good community manager comes in, who will no doubt find this article a useful reference.