Data-driven Community Strategy

 

In this episode of the Community Strategy Podcast, you’ll hear a conversation. Podcast Host Deb Schell talks with Richard Millington, the founder of FeverBee. They talk about the insights he’s discovered on his journey as an international community consultant.

Richard is also the author of Buzzing Communities, Indispensable Community, and Build your Community,. Richard’s clients have included Google, Facebook, Oracle, Wikipedia, EMC, Greenpeace, and many more. Before FeverBee, Richard interned with Seth Godin in New York.

Show Notes

2:55 Richard shares how he built his first online community for a client in the gaming industry. He discovered that he enjoy building online communities and get paid to develop a place for others to connect. He started blogging and stuck with it in the beginning. 

5:11 Richard describes his entry into the community industry in terms of gaming. The people he built for had time and wanted to connect as players. He shares that he doesn’t work much with companies in gaming now. But, he thinks they will always be ahead of the rest of the industry about technology. 

6:12 Community-building is like solving a puzzle for Richard. He describes how he supports organizations by providing clarity on their strategy. Deb describes community-building as the “ultimate puzzle,” Richard explains how data is the key to understanding how communities work. 

8:37 Richard shares one example about his clients. He describes an online community experiencing declining engagement. They are debating the next steps. Richard shares that he helps guide leadership to decide the company’s next move. This means continuing with the community, changing directions, or choosing to close. 

12:36 As a community consultant, Richard shares that he brings a “wide-angle lens” when supporting clients. When he started his consulting business, it was more about what worked for building engagement. Now, it’s transitioned to data-driven metrics that can be reviewed and help guide the decision-making process. 

16:06 Every organization has complained about the same issue. They say, “we don’t have the data.” Richard’s team has worked to crack that challenge. The data shows what people do, not what they say. For this reason, we build a system with three parts: What is the value of the community? Can you show a clear, undeniable impact? Secondly, Is the community healthy? Data should inform every decision instead of listening to a few voices, which can give a biased opinion. What’s important? What’s not? Thirdly, people collect a lot of data but don’t know what to do about it. 

18:54 Richard shares how he uses data to analyze and predict the actions and needs of members. Retention is just a word, not a metric. It always begins with the community impact, and that’s what we focus on, he shares. 

29:35 Community platforms can be complicated. Yet, there are some great tools out there. Richard says these tools help to create a community experience. You don’t always need to have the “best” platform. He usually tells people, “What’s the best car?” when they ask him. This highlights the diversity of the platforms. There are lots of options, but it is not an “all sizes fit one” scenario. 

32:50 Richard shares that there’s a difference between what we, as community professionals, want to happen. There is also a difference between what is occurring in online communities. He started his community-building journey in 2010.