Is your organization ready for its own online community?

By: Kevin Bernier

A new skier doesn’t immediately head for the steepest slopes, and neither should an organization launch an online community without executing on the basics of online engagement on public social media sites.

Sometimes an organization with only a little bit of a social media presence, or none at all, will ask me about launching an online community. The logic is that because they don’t have a Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter presence, they don’t have any of the baggage that goes along with transitioning from a public social network to a private one.

“Why putz around with Twitter?” they say. “Let’s get straight to the good stuff and launch our own online community!”

On the surface, this may seem like sound logic, but I don’t advise it. Running your own online community is one of the most advanced forms of community management. TheCR talks about a community management maturity model, and you’ll note that running a proprietary online community is one of the last stops on the road.

The most effective online communities are those that have been launched by organizations that cut their teeth on the public social networks. There’s a lot to be learned about community management, your members, and your prospective engaged users by using public social sites like Linkedin and Facebook. Furthermore, your followers and fans from public social media sites are prime candidates to become engaged members in your online community, so nurturing those relationships “out there” is crucial.

Don’t skip straight to running your own online community — find your way to it by engaging on public social media sites.