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The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community your Competitive Advantage
208Overview
"This book perfectly marries the psychology of communities, with the hard-earned secrets of someone who's done the real work over many years. David Spinks is the master of this craft."—Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable
The rise of the internet has brought with it an inexorable, almost shock¬ingly persistent drive toward commu¬nity. From the first social networks to the GameStop trading revolution, engaged communities have shown the ability to transform industries. Businesses need to harness that power. As business community expert David Spinks shows in The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community your Competitive Advantage, the suc¬cessful brands of tomorrow will be those that create authentic connection, giving customers a sense of real belonging and unlocking unprecedented scale as a result.
In his career of over 10 years in the business of building community, Spinks has learned what a winning community strategy looks like. From the fundamental concepts—includ¬ing how community drives measurable business value, and what the appropriate metrics are—to high-level community design and practical engagement techniques, The Business of Belonging is an epic journey into the world of community building.
This book is for decision makers who want to better understand the value and opportunity of community, and for community professionals who want to level up their strategy. Featuring a foreword by Startup Grind and Bevy cofounder Derek Andersen, it will give you a step-by-step model for stra¬tegically planning, creating, facilitating, and measuring communities that drive business growth. Attracting and retaining community members who are also loyal customers, brand evangelists, and lead¬ers—that’s the goal for today’s connect¬ed businesses, and this book is the map to getting there.
"A tactical primer for any business embarking on the critical work of actively building community."—Seth Godin, Author, This is Marketing
"This book perfectly marries the psychology of communities, with the hard-earned secrets of someone who's done the real work over many years. David Spinks is the master of this craft."—Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable
The rise of the internet has brought with it an inexorable, almost shockingly persistent drive toward community. From the first social networks to the GameStop trading revolution, engaged communities have shown the ability to transform industries. Businesses need to harness that power. As business community expert David Spinks shows in The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community your Competitive Advantage, the successful brands of tomorrow will be those that create authentic connection, giving customers a sense of real belonging and unlocking unprecedented scale as a result.
In his career of over 10 years in the business of building community, Spinks has learned what a winning community strategy looks like. From the fundamental concepts—including how community drives measurable business value and what the appropriate metrics are—to high-level community design and practical engagement techniques, The Business of Belonging is an epic journey into the world of community building.
This book is for decision makers who want to better understand the value and opportunity of community, and for community professionals who want to level up their strategy. Featuring a foreword by Startup Grind and Bevy cofounder Derek Andersen, it will give you a step-by-step model for strategically planning, creating, facilitating, and measuring communities that drive business growth. Attracting and retaining community members who are also loyal customers, brand evangelists, and leaders—that’s the goal for today’s connected businesses, and this book is the map to getting there.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781119766124 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Wiley |
Publication date: | 03/23/2021 |
Pages: | 208 |
Sales rank: | 228,309 |
Product dimensions: | 0.00(w) x 0.00(h) x 0.00(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1: Why Community Is the New Competitive Advantage
A Customer Community Is Born
The Rise of Community-Driven Business
Giving Customers a True Sense of Community
The Unrivaled Scalability of Community
Community is an Extension of Your Team
The Power of Owning a Topic in People’s Minds
The One Thing They Can’t Copy
Good for Business, Good for Humanity
CHAPTER 2: The Fundamentals of Community Strategy
The Three Levels of Community Strategy
The SPACES Model: The Six Community Business Objectives
Metrics and the Attribution Challenge
Finding Your Community Focus
Growth Engines vs. Cost Centers
Choosing a Measurement Framework
The Community Investment Journey
CHAPTER 3: Creating a Social Identity
The Social Identity Cycle
Who Is Your Community Built For?
Who Doesn't Belong?
Investing in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Day One
What Is Your Community’s Personality?
How Can You Make Your Members Feel “Cool”?
Should Your Community have a Unique Identity from your Company Brand?
Finding Sub-Identities within Your Community
Defining Identity by Levels of Contribution
CHAPTER 4: Mapping the Community Participation Journey
The Commitment Curve
The Four Levels of Participation
How to Attract Members to Your Community
Creating Intentional Barriers to Entry
Designing a Compelling Onboarding Experience
How to Move Members Up the Commitment Curve
Activating Community Leaders
CHAPTER 5: Validation, Rewards, and Incentives
Creating Habits with Rewards
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivations
Avoid Replacing Social Norms with Market Norms
SNAP! A Framework for Effective Extrinsic Rewards
The Thing about Gamification
Come for the Utility, Stay for the Unity
Measuring Community Health and Engagement Using the Social Identity Cycle
CHAPTER 6: Designing Community Spaces and Experiences
The Two Kinds of Community Experiences
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
The 7Ps of Community Experience Design
Curating the Right People for the Right Purpose
Aligning Size with Purpose
Choosing Community Software Platforms
Should You Host Your Community on a Free Social Network?
Designing Spaces that Make People Feel Seen
Starting with a BANG!
Creating Peak Moments
Facilitating Small-Group Discussions
Tell Your Members How to Participate
How to Get Members to Be Open and Vulnerable
Keep Your Rules Short and Simple to Start
My Three Go-To Community Rules
1. What’s Shared Here Stays Here
2. No Self-Promotion
3. Critique the Idea, Not the Person
Using Metrics to Optimize Community Spaces and Experiences
CHAPTER 7: Activating Community Engagement
Engagement Is a Constant Experiment
Personal Invitations and “Doing Things That Don’t Scale”
No One Wants to Be First to Raise Their Hand
Ask for Permission
Don’t Fear the Crickets
Talk Funny
How to Spark Great Debates
Moderation Is Never Personal
Default to Transparency and Admit Your Mistakes
Use Your Authentic Voice
Keep your Energy High and Positive
Go Forth and Build Community!
Bibliography
About the Author
Index