I am an entrepreneur of community. This means that my business is most successful when we look to connect others around common interests and problems. Developing a community allows you to position your brand in front of the right people at the right time, creating a memorable experience that makes your value clear.
It takes a lot of effort to build new communities, but not necessarily a lot of capital investment. New communities require a few things to be organized effectively: knowledge, time, proximity and a little bit of science.
There’s no doubt that data science has changed the way companies make decisions at every level. We collect targeted data from every person we touch to ensure that our products are targeted and relevant. This data allows us to target high-yield potential customers and draw them deeper into our communities. Next is the critical market research phase, in which we identify hot markets and appropriate topics. Then we identify key sponsors, influencers and speakers.
So, you want to create a community but you’re unsure of where to start? Follow our model to get your bearings:
Knowledge
• Be specific. Communities organize best around a single issue (or subset of an industry).
• Do the research. What communities are already out there around this issue? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can you improve on existing communities or offer something they don’t already have?
• Know your personas. Who are the people who will make up this community? Get specific with this. For example, we know that data science practitioners and C-level executives make up the largest two chunks of our audience, so we are sure to make content and marketing decisions with these two personas in mind.
• Use the lingo. As a community organizer, you’re in control of the conversation. It’s critical to use the right messaging to reach your audience.
Time
• Make the commitment. Communities don’t form overnight, and good organizers know that it takes significant resources to start and maintain new communities.
• Show your value. You need to have constant touch points with your audience to keep them engaged. These can be digital or experiential, active or passive, but it’s important to keep your community fresh in their minds.
• Don’t be a pest. Too many emails (or phone calls or texts) can quickly drive people away. By varying your touch points over a few different mediums, you can mitigate this risk.
• Draw them deeper. Encourage your most active community participants to draw more people into the conversation using an incentive program. Make the community fun using gamification, trivia and humor.
Proximity
• Show up. The best conversations (and connections) happen in person. You’ll need to figure out how to physically bring your community together from time to time. For some, that means huge national or regional events. For others, it’s local or even grassroots organizing that’s most effective. Let your personas guide you – what type of gathering will bring the biggest value to your stakeholders?
• Make them talk. It’s hard to break the ice when meeting new people, and it’s your job to start the conversation. Guide networking at your events to make sure your audience members leave with quality connections.
• When they talk, listen. Conversations flow more organically in person, so make sure to listen to your participants for new insights and points of view. Often, the trajectory of an in-person conversation can differ from online conversations about the same topic.
• Steer the conversation. It’s your job to keep it relevant, inclusive and respectful. Use your role as an organizer to elevate the voices of community members that are often less heard. For example, we created an initiative for our conference series that highlights the voices of prominent women in data science, a traditionally male-dominated field.
Science
• You need data. If you’re not collecting it, start! There’s an opportunity to collect data at each touch point. Email opens, response rates and Twitter engagement are all opportunities to collect data and build a profile on your audience members.
• Not all data is good data. Data isn’t good if it’s not accurate. What processes do you have in place to clean and verify your data? You won’t want to make a decision off of bad information.
• Look for trends. Pay careful attention to the effect of your actions on community engagement. Read between the lines on your data to find out more about what your personas really want. More is not always better.
• Use insights to attract more resources. Sponsors are partners are interested in what you can give to them, and it’s a lot easier to make your case when it’s backed by solid data.
The Takeaway
There is flexibility with the application of capital to solving the problems of growth. Many companies focus on creating bespoke solutions from the ground up. This resource-intensive strategy doesn’t necessarily translate into grand returns.
Creating a community generates more revenue for entrepreneurship and is a more sustainable lead-generation tool than other traditional methods. It just takes knowledge, time, proximity and science. I encourage you all to become your own entrepreneurs of community and take your brand to new heights.
