Brandedcommunities playbook

ENGAGE LIKE NEVER BEFORE,
WITH A COMMUNITY LIKE NO OTHER
Julie Paul, SVP Communities
Communities
Playbook
January 2017

www.corporate.toluna.com
Information about the communities who took part:
UK, USA, APAC communities. Total Base 6,456
• Majority of communities are within the media sector (42%) or ‘general’
category (32%). The remainder were in a mix of education, consumer
goods, auto, finance or entertainment industries
• Community sizes were either 5k, to 5-10k in general
• The study fielded in September – October 2016
Julie Paul, January 2017
Learning what motivates
community members to engage
- and put your brand in the heart
of deep conversations
At Toluna, we’ve been building communities for years and one of the
topics we feel is most important to provide best practice for our clients,
is engagement. In simple terms, engagement means having a strong
connection with your community members to elicit thoughtful opinions
and insights and maximize your return on investment.
It means members are both interested and involved.
They are participating in the community.
It’s important for 2 reasons:
1. Better quality data
2. Save money
We undertook a study with our clients, and asked them to provide us
with access to their community members, and we designed a survey
to better understand members’ motivation for participation, likes and
dislikes, and more.
Here’s what we found.
2

Traditionally, Community-Panels offer three main benefits:
1: Provide deep engagement with customers
to really understand what they are thinking
about your brand.
• You do this by interacting directly with
customers through a number of methods
– qualitative activities, discussions, and
survey; it’s an iterative process where you
interchangeably are doing qual and quant
research, this provides continuous insights and
also has the side benefit of building advocacy.
2: The second benefit is just good quality data.
• Community-panels will generally garner
higher response rates than a traditional panel,
if the panel is managed properly and the
members are engaged.
• Communities and the software platforms they
use allow you to gather extensive data on
each individual member and aggregate that in
a number of ways – you have all the profiling
data you collect when members join, all the
data you collect through qual and survey
activities, and you can layer on segmentation
and so your entire community is segmented
into meaningful groups.
• Your community offers multiple data
sources – you can easily and quickly pre-test
questionnaires with small groups, validate qual
data with quant, and then layer on other data
points such as from CRM databases to really
get a very rich set of quality data.
• This iterative process allows you to collect
insights over time, tracking community
members over weeks, months and even years.
3: Return on Investment.
• All of this offers the benefit of very
comprehensive research, over time, for an
overall fee that is economical (e.g. you might
spend 100K on the initial community set-up
and build, but will likely spend over 100K in
research over the first few months – and
these panels can go on for years, amortizing
your initial investment even further).
3

Playbook v1 – Key Finding
In developing our Playbook V1 last year, we did a survey of our clients
who have a community and asked them how valuable they found their
community and how often they did research with their community
members. The vast majority (87%) reported using their communities at
least weekly, with a large sub-segment saying even daily. And that statistic
makes sense, because we know that the more you use your community
and amortize the initial cost of building it over several research studies,
the higher the return on investment. So the trick is to go out to your
community members as much as possible – BUT, without burning them
out. Which leads us to the whole topic of engagement.
ROI comes from RECRUITING a panelist and then USING them
as much as humanly possible, without burning them out.
59%
28%
Report using their
community at least
once each week
Report using
their community
daily
4

Clients often ask, “From your experience with all the communities
Toluna has, what goes into the most successful ones?”
My answer is immediately, “Member Engagement!”
And it’s true, the communities we have that are the most successful
are where there is a high level of member engagement.
Member Engagement is important for 2 reasons:
1. You will have better quality data from higher survey response rates
and richer, more in-depth responses in open-end verbatim answers
– both on discussions and survey.
2. You will save money – if you look at the big picture - it requires
an investment of time and funds to implement a good engagement
strategy, but the payoff is in members who stay longer with your
community and therefore less time and cost on recruitment of
new members; engaged members also tend to refer friends
to the community, so another savings on recruitment costs.
Engagement means having a connection with your community
members to elicit thoughtful opinions and feedback. It means
they are interested and involved. They are participating in
the community.
5

A platform for expressing my opinion
Being able to
express myself is a
nice thing in regards
to products and topics
that interest mePrimarily the best thing about being part of a community
is to be able to share opinions express views and feedback.
I want to share with you what community members have said to us
about WHY they joined the community and why they continue to
participate. You may be surprised to learn that it is not for the chance
to win 100 bucks or to get 20 points for an Amazon voucher. Although
those things are important to them, as we will see later, the #1 reason
why they join and why they stay is because they want to share their
opinion, and express their views.
www.corporate.toluna.com 6

The first step in a highly engaged community is setting goals relevant
to the type of community you have. Setting goals is important because
the things needed to ‘engage’ members takes time and therefore,
cost money.
The obvious goal of course, for an online research community, is to
have high participation rates in qualitative research and high response
rates to surveys. The type of community you have will help to drive what
your engagement goals should be. A community focused on qualitative
research will typically gain insights through observing the behaviors and
discussions of your members.
These types of communities tend to be small and require heavy
participation through online discussions, possibly one on one interviews,
and sometimes observation of what your community members are
posting, what comments they are making and how they are interactive
with other members.
Engagement goals for these types of communities should center around
achieving a high participation rate for discussion posts and commentary,
as well as a goal for the number of members posting their own topics for
discussion. Looking at how much time a member is spending on the site
is also important.
On the flip side, communities focused more on quantitative research with
survey as the primary method of insight would require engagement
goals centered around individual survey response rates, as well as a higher
segment of ‘medium to heavy responder group’ vs. the ’non or low’
responder group.
Many research communities fall on the quali-quant spectrum where there
is a good amount of both qual and quant research going on. For these
hybrid communities, goals centered around both survey response rates
and participation rates on the community site, # of visits to the site,
a # and quality of posts on discussions, is where you want to start.
Another consideration when setting goals for engagement is to think
about the affinity your members will feel toward your community.
If the community is branded, then there will be a naturally higher level
of engagement – the members can relate to the brand and feel like they
are contributing to helping the brand.
If the community is unbranded, then your work will be harder in building
engagement. Your engagement plan, which we will talk about in a
moment, will need to be more extensive and with a blind community
and your rewards may need to be greater in quantity and value.
Setting Goals
7

Once you have specific goals, you then need an Engagement Plan.
The plan lists out the tactical things you will do to achieve your
goals, with timelines. It spells out what you are going to do to drive
participation. The plan does not need to be a 50 page document –
keep it simple so you will execute it. The plan is not set in stone,
you can and should change it over time, as you learn more about
the nuances of your community.
Some examples are:
- a monthly newsletter
- an annual satisfaction survey
- choosing a member each month to be the VIP of the month
and profiling who they are to the other members
- posting a discussion on a specific topic that members themselves
have told you is of interest to them
- offer a surprise reward – pick a member who gave you really valuable
input and give them something, then announce it within
the community
There are a lot of different kinds of activities you can do to engage with
your members – this is just a few ideas. The point here is that you need
a plan and to execute that plan.
Engagement Plan

Surprise Reward
Purchase an item relevant to the community give it to the member who has participated the most in the past 3 months
Discussions
8
Provide
members a
forum to discuss
topics relevant to
the community
(topics
submitted by
members or by
client).
Winner
Postings
7
Brand
Impact Piece
6
Article with
survey results
showing
how insights
influenced new
products.
Updates to
website with
latest winners of
sweepstakes.
To provide
members
information on
the impact their
contribution is
having to the
community.
To understand
satisfaction with
the community
ways we
can improve
to drive higher
participation
levels.
To provide
members a good
‘1st experience’
and build trust.
Within 1 day 1st Monday of
the month
February 4th Tues of
the month
1st Tues of
the month
Second week
of month
Last week
of month
Bi-monthly
Monthly
VIP
5
Member
Profile
4
Highlight
a specific
community
member to
encourage
members
getting to know
one another.
Highlight and
reward the
community
member with
the highest
participation in
discussions that
month.
Annual
Sat Survey
3
Monthly
Newsletter
2
Welcome
Activity
1
Below is an Example of an Engagement Plan Timeline.
It spells out a range of activities you will initiate with your members.
9

So, you have your goals, you
have a plan. Now here are the
5 rules to follow
as you execute
your plan
Rule 1. Make it Real
Rule 2. Content is King
Rule 3. “Just Right” Timing
Rule 4. Offer The Right
Incentive Program
Rule 5. The Platform
1010

1/3 of members have been on the community for more than 3 years!
Another 1/3 for 1-2 years; in other words, the majority of
your community members are in it for the long haul.
Creating a highly engaged community starts with realizing you are in
a relationship – with each and every member of your community.
I want you to think about your significant other, your Mother, your child,
your best friend… think about what makes that relationship work well.
(assuming it works well!)
You treat them with kindness, build trust, have open communication,
set the right expectations and admit when you are wrong.
Building trust and setting expectations starts right at the beginning of the
relationship – when you recruit community members, explain what they
can expect by being part of your community and what you expect of
them. Explain the reward program, but also explain what they can expect.
For example, how many activities do you want them to participate in? Will
it mostly be surveys? What other types of activities will they participate in?
Will they receive a newsletter?
To build trust, make sure you deliver on what you promise, and be open
and honest, when you can, share your business challenges and how the
research you are conducting will help.
Be kind by thinking about the activities or surveys you are asking them to
complete. Would you ask your friend to fill in a 35 minute, 10 grid survey
on the topic of how often you use paper clips?
If you make a mistake – let’s say there was a computer glitch and
everyone got 3 emails instead of one, or you sent out a survey that some
considered insensitive. We are human, we make mistakes.
Say sorry – send an email and apologize.
Finally, recognize that a relationship where you don’t really know the
person very well, will require more effort to build that relationship –
so blind communities where the sponsor is an unknown is going to
be harder to ‘engage’ then a branded community. Think “would you
like to join a beverage community” vs. “would you like to join the Coke
community”?
Rule 1. Make it Real Insight: You are in a relationship!
11

Content throughout the community needs to be considered and
interesting. Otherwise, why would someone bother to read it? or to
participate?
The content you write for the community website is critical – this is the
place your members call ‘home’ and you need to give them a reason
to keep coming back. Share, share, share information – about your
company, about your brand, about how the last survey they did made
an impact on the business. Remember, members join your research
community because they want to know they are making a difference in
how you develop your products and services.
I hear this often “but we can’t share because the information is private
- we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag ahead of the campaign,
no spoilers, etc.”. I totally get it, there are ways around this: add a few
questions to the end of a survey where the information is important but
can be shared, do a survey just for the members where the information
collected isn’t going to jeopardize anything, and finally, share the
information after the critical campaign is over - it’s not too late.
Also think about the content of each activity you ask a member to
participate in – the topics for your discussions need to be interesting
and catchy. How can you reword to draw in your members to participate
in the topic?
Be present – there is nothing better than having the
Brand Manager participate by generating content for the website,
or by personally asking members to probe on specific topics.
For surveys, provide thoughtful surveys that are well crafted, and an
appropriate length. Ask your friend, Father, sister to do your survey,
do it yourself! If they hate it or you hate it, so will your members.
Be conversational in everything you present to members – whether it’s
a blog, an article, a discussion topic, a survey invite, a survey question.
Remember, you are in a relationship.
In all content you provide, be relevant – to the brand, to the member
themselves, to the world if you can. The ultimate way to build high
engagement is if you can show your members how being part of your
community can benefit and be relevant to them.
Rule 2. Content is King
Insight: When asked how they would describe their community
to friends, the main themes are around giving feedback, hope
(to make a difference).
12

And this seems to be the sweet spot, as the majority (67%) said this was
about right.
Rule 3. “Just Right” Timing
3%
Too often
30%
Not often enough
Insight: (60%) of members take part in activities at least once
a month, with 2-4 times a month more likely.
67%
Just the
right amount
1%
Once a year 2%
Don’t know
27%
More than once
a week
19%
Once a week
10%
Once a month
8%
A few times
a year
33%
A few times
a month
13

Action:
• Deploy surveys and activities 1-4 times per month
• Cadence is important – sending newsletters and a ‘weekly email’ is
important to train members on what to expect (remember, you are in
a relationship)
Further, members told us that they usually take part in activities in the
evening and generally in the first half of the week. The cadence is
important because we are creatures of habit and like to know what to
expect.
Rule 3. “Just Right” Timing (cont’d)
Insight: Members told us that they usually take part in activities in
the evening, and generally in the first half of the week.

• Match the incentive to the audience – be relevant (e.g. a community
about food, should give away different prizes for restaurants, or a
‘grocery’ shopping spree
• Match the incentive to the activity – a two hour group discussion
needs an individual cash incentive, not an entry to a sweepstakes
If you must ask your members to participate in something boring, or
lengthy, then be sure to offer the right extrinsic incentive. As I mentioned
before, one entry into a draw to maybe win 100 bucks is not going to cut
it for a 30 minute survey on the topic of paperclips. The incentive must
match the activity and amount of time you are asking of your members –
remember – be kind!
Same for qual, if you want members to spend 3 hours of their time each
week taking pictures while shopping, spending 20 minutes an online diary
every night and then participating in a 30 minute discussion, it will be
important to pay them for their valuable time. The rule of thumb is think
about how much time you are asking of your member and then provide
an incentive appropriate for that length of time.
Knowing what the right program to offer – be it points, sweeps, judged
contests, charity donations, cash, is very important on the road to high
engagement. There are pros and cons to each type, suffice to say, you
need an incentive program for an online community – make sure it’s the
right one.
Rule 4. Offer The Right Incentive Program
15

Today, there are many, many platforms out there, but I can say that
there are only a few providers that can truly offer the full package
– or almost the full package, there still is not one supplier that has
everything, but some come pretty close – and those that do also offer
the ability to use a variety of different software tools, depending on
what you need.
So, to be able to provide all these wonderfully engaging activities,
you need a platform that can do these basic functions:
- have the ability to customize a member website to your brand
- you need functionality that allows for interactive activities such
as discussion boards and other activities
- ideally, features that allow for members to do things themselves
- post their own discussions, interact with other members on
their own
- scripting features if you’re looking to do survey research
- a robust database that allows you to segment the members into
different groups – low responders vs. high responders for example
- and an ability to offer points programs and online rewards
Rule 5. The Platform
16
Insight: The Technology is important.

Setting Proper Expectations
• Members that understand ‘what they signed
up for’
• Regular communication with members
• You are in a relationship!
Member Engagement
• A good mix of both survey and qualitative
activities
• Surveys that are short and interesting
• Proper monitoring of content
• Appropriate and meaningful incentive
programs
Community Management
• A Community Manager who cares about
the brand
• Communicate with your members
• Track your success: response rates, time spent
on site, # of posts, etc.
Conclusions
17

Putting It All Together
I hope this short playbook gives you a place to start to engage your community members in a meaningful way.
Once you have your panel in place and running smoothly, you’re sure to find the benefits well worth the effort.
Want to get in touch? Email us at toluna@toluna.com.

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