Higher Logic recommends that all Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla) communities:
- define the purpose of their community by using the SPAN concept and
- identify and put in place a C.A.R.G.O. plan.
These two strategies are described below; we recommend that your implement both to help ensure a successful community.
SPAN
SPAN helps community administrators and planners define the main purpose of the community, which can be beneficial in designing it and setting it up.
Support: The community is where members can ask for support and help others, and where the company can provide official support.
Product: The community is based around the product, giving ideas, sharing feedback, and espousing the virtues and uses of the product.
Ambassador: The community has a focus on a small subset of users who are highly valuable, influential, or active.
Network: A community based on people linked because of work, cause, mission, passion or circumstance.
C.A.R.G.O.
C.A.R.G.O. is a five-step framework that will help you to further develop the specifics of your community, thereby ensuring long-term success.
NOTE: C.A.R.G.O.'s components are Concept, Acquisition, Retention, Goals, and Outcomes.
Related materials
Concept
The concept is the foundation of the community: the who and the what.
- Who are the members of the community?
- Why do they visit the community?
- Which internal teams will own and operate the community?
- What does the community allow members to do?
Acquisition
Acquisition focuses on the new-user journey and ensures that the first steps lay the foundation to long-term engagement. Here, you tap into why people should care and why they'll participate in your community.
- How does your target audience become members of the community?
- What is the first thing users should do in the community?
- Who manages the community day-to-day?
- How are new members of the community greeted?
Retention
This focuses on how the community will retain its members and keep them engaged.
- How often does a community member visit?
- What keeps them coming back time and time again?
- How long does a member stay active in the community (e.g., lifecycle, membership, etc.)?
- What sort of content will be posted in the community? How will categories be structured to accommodate and encourage desired content?
- Who will be your biggest contributors and how will they be incentivized to keep contributing?
Some ideas on how to build a retention plan:
- Ask key members to help with a question they have knowledge to answer
- Create a weekly or monthly newsletter with key content
- Produce video content and solicit feedback within the community
- AMA with senior individuals in your company
- AMA with experts in the field
- Offer some form of intrinsic rewards where more contributions lead to more access to content/staff
Goals
Define the principle goals of your community.
- What do the various internal stakeholders care most about?
- What do the community users care most about?
- Which metrics should be tracked and reported to key stakeholders?
Outcomes
Finally, lay out the desired outcomes.
- What outcome defines a successful community for your team and purposes?
- What milestone(s) would you like to hit after 3 months?
- What milestone(s) would you like to hit after 6 months?
- What milestone(s) would you like to hit after 1 year?
Additional resources