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Software - Building A Community
Small software companies that build a community
around their products can benefit from viral marketing.
Community participants will often evangelize software,
assist with support queries, and lend credibility
to your application. Additionally, the community
participants will often detail real-world situations
that resulted in the use of the software in an
effective way. These types of endorsements are
priceless.
Local software "user groups" were once a cornerstone
in the success of a software application. With
the infiltration of the Internet into everyday
lives, geographical boundaries are no longer an
obstacle. The modern day user groups have become
virtual online communities, consisting of participants
from a wide array of cultures and locations. In
order to build an effective community, software
developers can learn from the user groups that
were once a thriving BBS sub-culture.
Use these tips to build your Software Community...
1. Notification Of Communication
Developers must communicate effectively with
their software community. Offer a wide variety
of communication tools, so that community participants
can choose their desired communication method.
Developers should offer email updates, RSS feeds,
user forums, etc. Alerts should be set up to notify
interested parties about new releases, product
enhancements, or other information that might
be of interest. Pre-release versions can also
be offered to the most active community participants,
which will make them feel special and appreciated.
2. Reputation Indicator
Implement a tool that will assess the community
participant's reputation. Reputation indicators
can be determined by the number of posts, length
of participation, or the quality of rated posts.
There are a number of forum add-ons that can be
used to automatically assess a members reputation.
Check with your forum provider to see what add-ons
are available that might assist with monitoring
the reputation of forum participants.
3. Good Feelings
Generate good will by supporting the community,
whether financially by sponsoring meet-ups, or
by providing a forum for them to communicate in
a meaningful way.
4. Rewards For Participation
Whether you use a points system, a post indicator,
or a list of top posters, consider rewarding community
participation by providing beta copies or free
upgrades to top posters. Regardless of whether
the points have any tangible value, participants
will want to see their rating increase over time.
5. Expertise
Encourage community participants to actively
"social bookmark" interesting items that relate
to your software product line. The communal aspect
of social bookmarking is most effective when a
large number of the social community participants
endorse, bookmark, or "vote" for a specific item.
6. Encourage Participation
Encourage community members to actively participate.
Consider giving them responsibilities. For example,
you may want to give moderation access to a participant
who is extremely active and knowledgeable about
the product. Or, if they are keenly familiar with
3rd-party add-on applications, encourage them
to discuss this information and possibly create
tutorials. Sometimes participants will be reluctant
to volunteer such things, because they fear overstepping
their role in the community; but encouragement
can be beneficial to all parties.
7. Define Commonality
The community must contain a common theme that
all participants in the community can rally around.
In most cases, community participants will connect
around the software, but it is possible to develop
a community around an industry or a hobby. An
example might be if you write software for horse
breeding -- the community might be focused on
horse care, and the software may be a subset in
the community. The most effective communities
clearly define the commonality amongst its members.
8. Keep It Open
Many MicroISV's make the mistake of trying to
control the conversation in their forum by stifling
criticism and deleting posts that are negative.
This can be a huge mistake! Software companies
that see criticism, even public criticism, as
an opportunity can then use that criticism as
an opportunity to shine. Most community participants
will not measure the software company based on
the actual criticism, but will react more to how
the company responds to the criticism. Turn the
negative posts into positive resolutions, and
community participants will support you.
9. Publicize It
Include links and information about the community
on your website, within your software, and in
your sales literature. A community must be publicized
in order to grow, thrive, and truly succeed.
Building a software community is not a new concept,
but by modernizing the process you can successfully
build a virtual community that becomes an advocate
for your software.
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Developer
101
Building a Software Community