Creating community: one of the biggest missing pieces in the marketing and PR puzzle. Whenever we present our accelerated marketing plans, we always talk about creating, building and nurturing a community.

In plumbing the depths of my experiences archive, I remembered this presentation I created four years ago. Dual cast to a live audience in the room and over the Internet, the presentation covered the five keys to creating your customer community. First posted in 2008, here’s the outline with 2010 updates. .

1. Discover who you are and how you relate to your community
Values + Communities = Core Business Values
values: how to determine your core values
communities: internal, external, vendors
business values
What types of communities do you belong to or resonate with – personally and professionally? Online and offline?

For me, my online connections become real life relationships that get nurtured and cared for at events like Social Media Club Chicago. When you see people frequently, you get to know them. Common sense – yes? What’s really intriguing for me is the ability to carry on simultaneous conversations face to face and screen to screen. What intrigues you?

2. Reveal how your community relates to you
Target x Questions = Answers + an active customer advisory board
current target market
interview questions
evaluating answers
Choose your top ten customers and interview them to find out how your business fits into their lives.

You [and your company] are who you hang with. So, choose your social media and IRL [in real life] friends and business associates carefully. Target your interactions to connect with people that bring you alive and make your more successful. Marathon runners train with marathon runners. Who’s running as fast as you? Who has a common course or finish line?

3. Listen to your customers tell your story
common vocabulary
case studies = successes
open lines of communication
Can you tell your story in your customer’s voice?

One client asked us to interview 43 people – that’s how many folks he thought he needed to hear from to be able to tell his company’s story. In the course of the interviews, a vocabulary developed, an approach took shape and a success theme got scripted. How do people talk about you and what you do? Last night someone told me I had the reputation of being very friendly and approachable – I treat everyone the same. While it felt good to hear that, it was also a call to action to keep being who I am. What’s your reputation?

4. Connect your inner circle of communities
who: customers, partners, vendors, personal
what: you do for them
what: they do for you
How do you fit together?

Some people never, ever, ever mix business with anything other than business. In their personal community, they’re more known for social, athletic, family or local leadership accomplishments than they are for professional pursuits. Social networking allows you to blur the borders and present a multi-dimension presence. How do your communities represent you? How do you represent your communities? How does your business get social?

5. Cascade communications in tiers
internal: inside
external: outside
online: on screens
offline: direct
in person: face to face
The most effective communication plan delivers consistent messaging to every audience via sequencing to maintain a visible presence in each community.
How do you draw your circles?

Image credit: Phoebe Svoboda for www.thesociallens.com
Contact Barbara about making this presentation to your organization or community at 630.207.7530.

Take your prospects behind the scenes with a ticket to see client success stories:
all ready and made for marketing by Barbara Rozgonyi, founder of CoryWest Media and Public Relations Expert, updated and first published in May 2007.

When clients want to know what you do, invite them into a behind-the-scenes reality show. Giving them a play-by-play of how your business impacts lives gives them a better appreciation of how to work with you. Talking about how you make your client’s lives or businesses better is much easier when you can use a case study. And, having a format makes it even easier.
Here’s how to make your product or service come alive using the S-A-R method.

S=Situation
What are your prospects looking for when they find you? What needs to be changed? Why do they come to you? What are their common needs? How do you relieve their pain?
Looking at the situation or starting point from a prospect’s perspective gives you insights you can use not only in your case studies, but in your marketing messages. Using a before picture helps prospects relate to the need for your services and supports the need to change.

A=Approach
How does the client fit into the project approach? Who best benefits from your company or product? What did you do, specifically? When did the project take place? Where is the client located? Why did you decide to take this approach?
In describing your approach, include common elements plus individual design components. That way, prospects know you have a proven system that includes their input and they can see themselves.

R=Results
What was the payoff – higher profits, better results, a new lifestyle?
Many times the value goes beyond just one measurement. For example, an article we placed in a leading trade publication resulted in higher employee satisfaction, a greater awareness in the industry, improved investor relations and yes, more sales. Let your client talk about the results in a quote, video or audio testimonial. And, check back every six months for an update. After images can be graphs, charts, the client’s logo and photos.

Once you have these three elements, you can package them into a white paper, special report or include them as ongoing studies in a newsletter or blog. Before and after pictures with photo captions makes a quick case study for fast readers. Test out a few formats to see which one appeals to your prospects. An mp3 recording of a client interview works for those who like to learn on the go while a printed and first-class mailed formal publication appeals to luxury buyers.

Photo credit goes to Shutterstock.com Disclosure: images provided in exchange for credit and source link.

What client success stories do you share?