Presentation on what's important toward generating Community ROI, in whatever form it may take for particular organizations. Companion PPT to the PDF report of the same name (sort of).

1. 10 Critical Success Factors in
Generating ROI from Online
Communities
Matthew Lees, Patricia Seybold Group
Community 2.0 Conference
San Francisco, CA
May 11, 2009
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

2. Overview
• Challenges in Determining ROI
• Types of ROI from Online Communities
• The 10 CSFs
• Thank you!
Page 2
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

3. Challenges in Determining ROI
• Attribution
• Health Metrics / Anecdotal Information
• Thinking that Special Metrics are Needed
• Cross-Organizational Issues
• You are Unique
• Connecting the Dots
Page 3
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

4. Types of Online Community ROI
• Revenue – (Direct/Indirect, Short-Term/Long-Term)
• Cost Reduction
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
• Customer Insight
• Early Warning
• Brand Image
• Employee Productivity
Page 4
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

5. The 10 CSFs
1. Community “Ownership”
2. Business Goals
3. Customer Goals
4. Organizational Buy-In
5. Personnel
6. Budget
7. Technology
8. Customer Engagement
9. Organizational Communication
10. Analytical Tools and Processes
Page 5
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

6. 1. Community “Ownership”
“You may own the software, but community owns
itself.” – Clay Shirkey
• Save time (i.e., reduce costs) and improve
efficiency (i.e., increase employee productivity) by
having effective leadership that eliminates
redundancy and confusion
• Improve customer satisfaction by getting their
questions answered and problems solved more quickly
and effectively (without having internal turf wars)
• Improve organizational learning by ensuring that
the right people within the company get the right
information
Page 6
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

7. 2. Business Goals
• Focus on avenues of ROI that are in line with your
business goals
• Ensure that resources and technology are appropriate
and aligned with business goals
• Improve customer satisfaction by clearly
communicating what the community is about and
setting customer expectations
Page 7
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

8. 3. Customer Goals
• Help customers successfully achieve their goals
• Successful customers are satisfied ones; they’ll be
more likely to:
– remain customers over time
– provide their insights and opinions
– be brand representatives who spread the word with their
friends and associates, and so on)
Page 8
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

9. 4. Organizational Buy-In
• Ensure that all potential opportunities for community
ROI are investigated and have the attention of
someone from within the organization
• Ensure that customers concerns, insights, and early
warnings are heard, taken seriously, and acted upon
• Contribute to a culture of mutual trust and respect
between customers and community members, thereby
enhancing the brand image and increasing customer
satisfaction and loyalty
Page 9
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

10. 5. Personnel
• Ensure that customer problems,
insights, and early warnings are
observed and brought to the
attention of the appropriate
people within the organization
• Improve brand image and increase customer
satisfaction by ensuring that the community operates
smoothly and transparently as a friendly, inclusive,
collaborative environment
• Ensure that all questions posted within the community
receive responses, resulting in both increased
customer satisfaction and a deeper knowledgebase
of questions and answers
Page 10
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

11. 6. Budget
• Ensure that the right technology platform is
implemented and can be integrated effectively with
your corporate Web site and business systems
• Help you extend the brand and acquire new
customers (lead generation) by being able to run
promotional campaigns and marketing efforts
• Support all areas of ROI by ensuring that sufficient
resources are in place
Page 11
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

12. 7. Technology
• Enhance lead generation and increase awareness through increased
traffic by ensuring that the wealth of user-generated content is indexed
effectively by Google and other major search engines
• Increase both participation and customer satisfaction by making it
easier for community members to participate with the community and
successfully meet their own objectives (e.g., it will make it easier for
them to provide insights, let you know about issues and concerns, find
answers to their questions and solutions to their problems, tell others
about the community, etc.)
• Make it easier for the community team to administer, moderate,
analyze, and report on the community
• Make it easier for your colleagues (particularly subject-matter experts),
to observe and interact with the community; this can increase
productivity
Page 12
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

13. 8. Customer Engagement
• Provide advertising and sponsorship opportunities
• Increase customer loyalty by providing useful
information and programs of interest and practical
use
• Increase customer satisfaction by letting customers
know their input and perspectives are valued by your
company
• Generate customer insights and market research
Page 13
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

14. 9. Organizational Communication
• Ensure that all potential opportunities for ROI are
identified within the organization
• Enable innovation and increase internal awareness of
customer problems, concerns, and needs
• Help the company prepare for and mitigate potential
brand, product, and service disasters by managing the
community-driven early-warning system
Source: roland / BarCamp AMS 2005 Opening – 35 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/54381130) Page 14
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

15. 10. Analytical Tools and Processes
• Help you calculate community ROI; they let you know
how you’re doing and identify areas for improvement
• Help you attribute business successes to the
community (as appropriate)
• Show when you move the needle (when results
actually can be linked directly to the community)
Source: storem / BMW 320d speedometer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/storem/129963685) Page 15
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

16. Questions / Discussion
Page 16
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group

17. The Patricia Seybold Group
Making it easier for your customers
to get things done…
Matthew Lees
Patty Seybold
mlees@customers.com
pseybold@customers.com
“Outside Innovation is a landmark book in its revelations
on customer-led innovation.”
-- Tom Stemberg, Founder/Former CEO of Staples
Page 17
© 2009 Patricia Seybold Group