Forums and communities - like horses and carriages?

I was chatting last week to a potential client who said, “I love the idea of community, but I’ll never be able to get sign-off on doing a forum”. Clearly for him an online community meant having a forum.  But, in the words of the song, “ain’t necessarily so.”

Sure, forums, or message boards, can be brilliant ways for your customers to connect with each other - especially in customer support activities - but this isn’t the only way to develop an online or brand community. 

A forum-style platform might not be of interest to the demographic of your members. I know many organisations whose customers wouldn’t dream of going online to communicate  - it just wouldn’t appeal. So, if you haven’t offered your customers this way of interacting before, and you’re not sure they would naturally embrace it, you should definitely first explore other activities that might be easier to trial, or more naturally aligned with their interests and activity. 

Equally, you shouldn’t think that community is an everything-or-nothing activity. You don’t have to plunge in with a fully-loaded, all singing, all dancing offering.  Far wiser to dip your toe gingerly in the water, try a few things,  learn and build over time.  Indeed, you could start with an extension of something you’re already doing. So, if you hold events, consider how these events are conceived and produced. Are they led by your members or customers? Are you inviting them to speak at those events? Is the programme co-developed with your customers, or are you in sole charge of setting the agenda? Could you let them get more involved? Could this be an area where they could begin to feel a sense of ownership or belonging?

Another approach that can generate hugely impactful results is harnessing the enthusiasm of your most passionate customers. Do you know who those people are and are you building relationships with them directly? Can you involve them more with what your business is doing? This could take the form of a more formal advocacy or ambassador programme but, again, why not start by simply reaching out to them and asking them for help with a specific project?

However, just because you don’t have a forum now and your customers evidently aren’t hankering after one, don’t jump to the conclusion that community isn’t for you. Some of the most effective brand communities don’t have forums and are doing more than fine. Some that immediately spring to mind are Lululemon (one of the most raved-about ambassador programmes), Duolingo (built their language courses by harnessing the natural enthusiasm of their members for their own lingo), Finimize (whose focus is driving community through their events only) and then our very own Community Pros of London (all about meeting IRL, which our members say is exactly what they want.)  

In the (slightly mangled) words of another famous song, “you can have one without the other.” Get in touch to explore what community-focused activities might work for your business.