Social Media is the platform that leverages our human capacity to be social within online communities. As business owners, we can leverage communities as part of customer support, product innovation, thought leadership and public relations.
Why Do People Join Communities?
We have all joined and been part of face-to-face groups. For similar reasons people join online environments or virtual communities. Social psychology has found that people join communities for two main reasons.
The most frequently cited reason in the research literature that people join virtual communities is to access information. Knowledge and information are a valuable currency or social resource in vital communities.
The second most frequently cited reason is to gain social support that the community can provide. People are first and foremost social creatures and seek social support. Friendships and social support are a central part of human life and interactions with others.
The structure of social media platforms makes it easier for people to find information they need within communities, and at the same time, find others in similar situations. These platforms are where people get emotional support, social support and develop companionship with people who have similar.
People are at the Centre of Communities
As business owners, we need to think of members in communities not based on individual characteristics, like women between the age of 30 - 40 but as groups of people who like to hang out with one another and share passions (quilt group), share pain (parents with kids with cancer), share a sense of duty and dedication (military wives), and have similar common traits (targeted client groups).
It is important to remember that whatever drives members of a community together becomes the centre of the community. A mistake that business owners make is that their products become the centre and they push their product onto the community without first engaging with the social humans that make up the group.
I recently read a case study about a large office supply company that wanted to creat a community in order to to market their products which included shredders, staplers and paper to small business owners. They invited people to join their Facebook Page that was a community for small business owners. This ‘online space' was meant to be a place where customers could be part of a community of like-minded small business owners. The mistake that this company made was that they kept at the centre of the community their products rather than the members. They did not acknowledge the reasons that people join communities. Small business owners have issues, set-backs, challenges, and successes. When becoming part of communities we need to identify with the humans in the communities and not focus on the product that will be used by these people.
Building Community
When building communities we need to remember that communication is a reciprocal process. When we engage people in online conversations through community building we are asking people to invest in us. We too need to invest in them. They will expect something in return. Solutions to their problems, good advice, an opportunity to network, entertainment or a place to be inspired and motivated.
When building community with our customers and suppliers we need to remember that people are first and foremost social creatures. I frequent my local petrol shop, ensuring that I time my empty tank to coincide with connecting with the business owner that engages with me as a person. Each time I fill up my car I have a short friendly conversation. This prompts me to return. I then get assistance with bike tires and windshield wipers, I pick up a loaf of bread when needed, I display my notices on the community notice board, and I network with other customers in his small shop.
Friendships and social support are a central part of our interaction with others. Research shows that this natural human tendency happens in face-to-face environments and in virtual ones as well.
How can we as business owners provide a ‘virtual place’ where people can access services and information, as well as, receive social support?
References
Ariely, D. (2008) Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. New York: HarperCollins.
Gossieaux, F., & Moran, E. (2010) The Hyper-Social Organization. New York: McGraw Hill.
Ridings, C. M & Gefen, D. (2004) Virtual Community Attraction: Why People Hang Out Online. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. 10 (1), Article 4.
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