12 misunderstandings about community operations!

There must be many friends around you who are engaged in community operations , and many friends have set up community operations positions in their own companies and are full of expectations for community operations.

My initial understanding of communities was probably around 2013, when the Mi Fan community operated by Xiaomi had a certain influence. Then in 2014, I was fortunate to attend the first Community Leadership Summit in Beijing and visit Xiaomi.

Until now, a large part of my work is still related to community operations, so I would like to share with you the misunderstandings that many people have in community operations based on my observations.

01 Everything can be a community

There are many myths about community operations in the market, and community operation training can be seen everywhere. There are community leadership camps, community president classes, community economic summits, etc., ranging from 99 yuan for a big-name sharing session to tens of thousands of yuan for two days and one night, where you can take home a set of universal community operation secrets.

Some investors will also ask the founders: "You haven't built a community yet? Why don't you build a community?"

After reading numerous reports, attending numerous meetings, and being urged by investors, many founders suddenly thought: “We want to build a community too!”

But in fact, not all projects can build communities, or in other words, not all companies can build communities. Many projects involve low frequency, privacy, short-term services, etc. Building a community is time-consuming, labor-intensive and meaningless.

02 Creating a WeChat group is a community

WeChat groups are indeed one of the most effective vehicles for community operations, but it does not mean that a community is established by creating a WeChat group.

Many companies, without thinking things through, start forcing employees to set up WeChat groups, forward to friends, invite friends to join groups, etc.

What is your purpose in establishing a community? What is the process for guiding users into the group? What are the rules and reward mechanisms of the community? What kind of services does the community provide and how can it provide them sustainably?

WeChat groups are not social networks. Communities have purpose, they have a purpose, and they need to provide services continuously.

03 The more WeChat groups you have, the bigger the community size, the better

Many students who run companies or communities brag about the number of WeChat groups they have created and the number of people in them.

However, what is overlooked is how to ensure the quality, uniformity, timeliness and professionalism of services among so many groups.

Many mainstream operations groups, business school alumni groups, growth hacker groups, and social e-commerce groups on the market are all filled with advertising and silent death without exception.

No one spoke, asked questions or exchanged views, and the official did not provide much meaningful content.

I once led a team to create more than 1,000 official WeChat groups in a short period of time. We regularly posted good morning and good night messages, daily reports, beautiful group leader services, daily topic sharing, daily red envelopes, etc. in the groups. However, we found that the overall quality of interaction was not high, and later the number of groups was reduced to 100.

04 The community has no threshold and no stratification

Many conferences, bloggers or companies will set up WeChat groups and invite their fans to join the groups. However, it was discovered that fans could not communicate directly, the supporters in the group could not create an atmosphere, and the big names that were expected were reluctant to speak.

This is a typical consequence of not positioning the community's target audience or services.

Imagine that ordinary fans and a group of corporate executives are in the same group. How can these executives have the time and mood to deal with them? Ordinary fans want to meet big names, but executives want to make higher-end connections.

In addition, some inexperienced group members always ask for some basic knowledge or discuss some basic topics in the group. Why would some middle and senior managers of companies be willing to do science popularization in the group?

You will also find that there is no threshold to joining the community, and both the quality of communication in the group and the willingness of group members to pay will generally decrease, making the community unattractive.

That is why many communities/activities require members to join by submitting a registration form or paying an annual fee ranging from several hundred to tens of thousands of yuan. The purpose is to keep the community with high standards and quality.

05 Overestimating the initiative of community users

Not all people are easy to get along with, and not all organizations will grow on their own once they have users.

Many companies, after setting up a group and adding people, think that they have built a place for social communication, and users will spontaneously start discussing, communicating, and producing valuable content.

In fact, this is not the case. Most communities have become dead groups or silent groups.

The reason is simple:

1. Users are lazy: most people are used to passively acquiring information and knowledge, not to mention that many people have jobs and many WeChat groups;
2. Users are not good at expressing themselves: many people are unwilling to be the first, and only a small number of people actively share in the community to gain recognition;
3. Users need continuous education: most people who join a community don’t actually know what the community is about or what the rules are. They are all out of curiosity, or attracted by a big shot or a certain service.

Therefore, students in charge of community operations need to constantly promote, strengthen and guide within the community. Let community members know what the community provides and what value it has, and that their contributions can get business incentives and rewards.

06 Community operation is customer service

For a while, I and many bosses or community operation workers mistakenly regarded community operation as customer service.

I think community operation is just to set up a group, review registrations, collect information, send notifications, and answer questions in the group.

But this is not the case. Instead, this will make the community less and less valuable, and the work of community operators will become less and less valuable.

Customer service is just one position in community operations, which may also include event planning, content operations, business managers, service stewards, training instructors and other positions. The type of people needed and how many people are needed for each position will be determined based on the specific circumstances of community operations in different companies.

For example, those that are more tool-oriented will need more business, service, and training managers, while those that are more content-oriented will need more students who are good at activities and content operations.

Although customer service is only one of the positions in community operations, it is a standard feature of most communities, and the service capabilities of customer service have an important impact on community satisfaction.

07 Community operation means selling goods

Many companies set up groups and then began frantically sending products and company introductions to the groups, thinking that after setting up a group and setting up a stall, users would learn to place orders on their own.

You have to know that the operation of any business is a long-term behavior, and short-term profits are unreliable and difficult.

Creating a group is just a process of community operation. Group members have not established any knowledge or trust in the community rules or the brand. Why should users pay for it?

You won't see Xiaomi selling mobile phones directly to Mi fans in the same city, nor will you see NIO selling cars directly. However, Wu Xiaobo sells books directly after setting up a book club group. Even if there is, the amount is very small, and it will definitely be promoted in the community only during important event nodes. In daily life, we are more focused on providing services, communication, resources and problem solving.

Even if you set up a flash sale welfare group and run it every day, group members will become tired of it.

Communities have a certain function of selling products, but selling products also requires skills and methods, and you should not just focus on a few groups. Instead, community members should be allowed to become promoters, distributors, and experience officers of products or services. Many services and products can be enjoyed and experienced by core members of the community, who can give their opinions and then spread the products through them.

In social e-commerce operations, a flagship new product or a hot-selling product will give priority to recruiting free experience officers in the community, with the number ranging from a dozen to hundreds or thousands. Then, through the in-depth experience and usage of these community team leaders, the content is fermented and precipitated in channels such as Moments, WeChat groups, short videos, and Xiaohongshu. When the product is really sold out during a big promotion or when it is first launched online.

08 Get everything done online

WeChat has, to a certain extent, broken the limitations of geography and time, allowing people from all over the world to become members of the community. Many social e-commerce companies or other enterprises think that community operation is just an online operation and they never think about or are reluctant to spend money on offline community activities.

Although an offline community operation activity has a long preparation period, many projects and high costs, people are all kind-hearted. Community members not only need warmth, but also need to see it with their own eyes and encourage with their heart.

A successful offline event can not only fully demonstrate the charm of the brand and deepen the user's mind, but also expand the value and influence of the community. Xiaomi holds campus tours and city meetings across the country, all press conferences have Mi fan channels, and there is also a family dinner at the end of the year.

The annual New Year’s Eve speech by Luo Pang, a teacher of Logical Thinking, is not only a fan meeting, but also a perfect community event. There are so many examples like this.

A good offline community activity will give community members a sense of participation, organization, and honor, and continuously enhance their trust and loyalty.

For a community gathering of a thousand people, from event registration, selection, travel, attendance, and departure, community members will help promote the brand in their circle of friends for at least a month. Moreover, many social e-commerce/community training customers are converted after participating in the event.

09 The community must be active every day

Many bosses tend to fall into the trap of so-called social activity. They go to the WeChat group every day to conduct routine checks like a customer service representative, and even ask the customer service to count everyone’s comments.

The most important point of a community is to provide valuable content and services. If a community organization is valuable every day, it will become worthless.

The more valuable and scarce the content is, the more likely it is to attract attention and be shared by community members.

If we look at the community's comments individually, most of them are meaningless chatter.

Another very important point is that the larger the group, the smaller the precision value, and the less focused the content and help provided. This is also why many communities have sub-groups, such as interest groups, industry groups, local groups, and temporary groups.

10 WeChat groups are reluctant to disband

It is always emphasized that WeChat group is just a carrier of the community, and so is QQ group. It’s like a class. We were once classmates, but that doesn’t mean we are no longer classmates after graduation.

Communities are long-lasting, but WeChat groups do not need to be long-lasting.

We often find that many community members are repeatedly pulled into: research groups, opinion groups, gathering groups, membership groups, activity groups 1, 2, 3, etc.

Not only is social media information repetitive and meaningless, but it is also unmanaged over time. Community members don’t know which group to ask questions or consult. Such community management is disorganized and will gradually lose its value and user recognition.

11. Over-reliance on big names

Many communities often rely on some big names during their operations. Although big names have endorsements and influence. But this is not an asset to the community.

Including some social e-commerce platforms, there is also an over-reliance on top micro-business celebrities, excessive packaging and publicity, which has led to many team leaders subsequently having problems such as non-cooperation and high demands, and even leaving the team. This is the case with Yunji, Beidian and many other fresh food e-commerce teams.

The platform must transform from an initial organizer to a controller of interests and resources. Community members need freshness and a change of taste, and the platform also needs to provide possibilities for more people. If the platform relies too much on big names, it will lose control and the right to speak, and it will not be able to hit or scold them. Once the big names leave, there will be silence, and once the group leader leaves, sales will plummet.

12 Community operation is omnipotent

Community is a good remedy, but not a panacea.

Many startups regard social networking as the only way to build their brands, establish channels, and increase user growth, but many businesses that rely on social networking actually have great limitations.

For example, when it comes to selling cars, kitchen appliances, or houses, the effect of community operations in the short term is definitely not as direct as sales, advertising, etc.

There is also the core growth business, which, in addition to social media, includes channel placement, cross-industry cooperation, short videos, door-to-door marketing, telemarketing, etc. Business growth should be a combination of measures, and do not rely solely on any one item.

It is undeniable that many industries or individuals have achieved great success in the short term with the help of communities. Some have sold dozens of cars in just one or two months by providing consultation, services, content, gatherings, etc. to car enthusiasts over a long period of time. Some companies have sold tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of cars by relying on communities.

But if you want to go longer, the community is just a starting point or a stepping stone. Enterprises still need to build a more professional, richer and more efficient operation system.

In short, the community is built on emotion, trust, and common cognition, and it is a long-term and dedicated service. Community operation is not about short-term arbitrage. It is necessary to gradually build the community brand, community influence, and community KOL in the community operation. These are the core assets and competitiveness of the community.

Related reading:

1. Demonized growth, fission and community!

2. Community operation: How to create a good community atmosphere?

3. Community operation: 6 thoughts on community operation!

4. Community operation: How to use the community to achieve a daily turnover of one million?

5. Community operation: Why are more and more communities dying?

6. Community operation: How to increase the conversion rate of fission communities by 10 times?

7. Community Operation丨The essence and gameplay of "private domain traffic" in 2019!

8. Community operation: replicable community marketing case!

9. Community operation: 9 minefields of community marketing!

10. Community operation: teach you how to easily build a high-conversion rate community!

11. Community operation: operation skills of community content!

12. Community operation and promotion: How to build a successful community?

Author: Shili Village Source: Shili Village