Setting up a community? Start with research!
Does the target group of your intended community actually want to meet up and interact? Only research before you start will give the definitive answer. Moreover, you want to include the voice of your target group in the development of the community.
Unfortunately, there are too many organizations that have started a community only to find out later that it did not get off the ground. Chances are, there was just no enthusiasm among the potential participants. The organization could have known this if it had tested its assumptions first.
The purpose of research
With such research, you kill several birds with one stone. Perhaps the most important is that you want to give participants ownership at an early stage. One way to do that is to ask them for their opinions and really include them. In addition, a survey allows you to test all of your own assumptions. One of those assumptions is the community concept (the type of community, the persona, and the purpose of the community). And through the research you also get to know the participants better: what are their characteristics, who is willing and able to help us, what is their idea of the community?
Where do you start?
It is tempting to conduct your research with as large a group as possible. But then it will quickly get over your head. Therefore, it is better to choose a representative cross-section. The group size varies from a minimum of one hundred participants for smaller target groups to three hundred participants for a large target group.
The aforementioned community concept determines the target group of the survey. After all, in the concept you have already ‘sketched’ a persona. The survey goes to a representative cross-section of everyone who falls within that persona. A good persona is much more specific than “all of the organization’s customers. There’s no chance that all of an organization’s customers will identify with each other. Therefore, in that large population, you look for niche audiences that have commonalities with each other (such as an interest, profession, location, or purpose).
For example, when we were asked to build a community for library Westland, we ended up building a community for mothers of young children (a small portion but of the library’s total customer base). The goal of that community was to connect mothers to talk about parenting, work/life balance and healthy lifestyle. NBA, the professional association for accountants, has a total of twenty thousand members. With them we started three communities for smaller segments of their member population: Planet Finance (accountants who pursue a sustainable economy), Accounttech (accountants who are interested in AI and data analysis) and Region East (accounts who live in the eastern part of the country).
An added benefit of delineating is that you also have a representative cross-section of that target audience more quickly. After you have drawn up a persona, you first invite the warm contacts that the organization already has within that target group. Warm contacts are more likely to help and you want to gain insight into possible ambassadors for your community. Ambassadors are participants who, from intrinsic motivation, want to help build the community. These types are logically found in the group of warm contacts. If you still do not have enough participants from this group, you can still place an appeal (on social media, in the newsletter, on the website) in which you call on volunteers to fill out the survey. A final option is to search the customer or member database for people who meet the criteria, and send them the survey.
What do you actually put in such a survey?
To be able to formulate the right questions, you start reasoning back from your ideal final outcome. Ultimately, after completing the survey, you want to know at least the following things:
- The most complete picture possible of the next steps to be taken (platform selection, strategy, community management),
- A number of enthusiasts who want to help you (ambassadors),
- A community concept that has been validated or updated
To get there, you need a mix of qualitative and quantitative data. From Bind, we have created a set of generic questions that, when answered, provide a very good picture to move forward. Behind each set of questions is an element of the community that we want to find out about.
Theme: Fetching and bringing information by members in a community.
Questions:
1. What documents, events, blogs can you provide for [community topic]?
2. What information or knowledge are you still looking for for [community topic]?
4. Do you share your own (online) information about [community topic] in blogs, on social media, etc.? If so, where?
Theme: Ambassadors for the community.
Questions:
1. Would you like to help us build a community about [community topic]? If yes, how?
2. Who in your network do you more often approach for advice or help on [community topic]?
3. Who is authoritative within [topic of community]?
4. Who should we definitely invite to this community as well and why?
Theme: Topics and themes to be discussed
Questions:
1. Where is your biggest challenge with [community topic]?
2. What are the most current issues within [community topic]?
3. What are the most innovative issues within [subject of community]?
4. What question would you like to ask about [topic of the community]?
5. What newsletters, trade media, individuals, blogs, or events do you follow about [community topic]?
Theme: Characteristics of participants (persona).
Questions:
1. What is your biggest personal motivation?
2. Where do you want to be in five years?
3. How old are you?
4. Where do you live?
5. Where do you work?
6. What is your job title?
7. How many years of experience do you have in this position?
8. What is your personal mission?
9. What are your hobbies?
Topic: Experience with communities and/or social media
Questions:
1. Do you have experience with (online) communities? If so, how?
2. What social media channels are you active on?
3. Do you use social media for your work? If so, how?
Theme: Existing groups or collaborations
Questions:
1. Are there any collaborations already underway on [community topic]? If so, which ones?
2. Are there already groups of people working on [topic of the community]? If so, who?
Want to know more about communities? We have written a book that takes you from a to z in how to set up communities.
