1. Community Building Tiffany St James Stimulation Ltd
Digital Engagement – Public Participation
As entrepreneurs
we are always looking for cost effective ways to achieve our business objectives:
growth / sales / positioning
One way is through creating and leading a community of interested people in your sector
Suppliers, clients, competitors, stakeholders, authorities

2. Blogs Podcasts Wikis Digital channels Social Networks Mashups
I’m preaching to the converted I’m sure about the ways that social media can enable this
It useful to be aware that everything you say and do in these spaces
Exists in perpetuity
Affects how people think about you and your brand
Podcasts
Mashups

3. How? The Coca Cola way.. There’s a party YOU are invited
Behave as a guest
Bring a gift
Visit often
Coca cola’s use of social media guidance is light and applicable if taking part in a community
Online conversations are very much like offline ones
They happen in spaces
Offline that might be the pub
If you worked for shell you wouldn’t barge up to a group of strangers and try to sell petrol
You’d listen
You might hang around the edges to see if it’s the right group for you
You might join in my commenting on what someone else has said
Agreeing, or giving different info, asking a question..

4. There’s some great free or cost effective tools that you can use to garner opinion
Survey tools can help
PR’s love them – statistics are marketable
Show of hands – who has heard of Wufoo? A survey tool
Uservoice? - allows you you to ask questions, people can add questions and then everyone can vote them up or down

5. Netvibes?
Tool to capture current conversations and themes on social media for searchable terms
COI National Pandemic Flu ‘ Swine Flu’ digital comms strategy
We monitor what’s being said about Swine Flu on different social media so we can quickly respond to popular public opinion on information gaps
Netvibes is public-facing – whatever you are searching for will be shown

6. Blending on and offline
The reason we are all here today as a community endeavour by The Engine Room
Particularly good at blending on and offline community building
Use social media to promote events and give more information
Gather people together at free and paid for events
Capture the event and post back online
Closing the loop

7. Face to Face
Creative solutions to gathering your community in one place without you having to bear all the organisational or financial concern
Other meet ups
Entretain allow you to buy block tickets for your clients or community at an event they organise, ensuring you have 2 hours business time but then you have a social offering that expands beyond your industry

8. Cialdini’s six principles of influence
Reciprocation
Commitment and Consistency
Social Proof
Authority
Liking
Scarcity
Dr Robert Cialdini is best known for his popular book on persuasion and marketing, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Cialdini defines six “weapons of influence”:
Save energy to save the world
Save energy to save money
Save energy because your neighbours are doing it already
Only the third seemed to have a significant impact on the behaviour of the people
People will do things together, if other people are, not to be left out or behind. Marketers know this

9. The principles have not changed
It all starts with strategy
What are your objectives?
Who is your audience?
Where are they?
What are the influenced by?
This is no different to any of your current strategic thinking