creating a unified content experience in a thriving and customer suppoer community - diana langston
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Creating A Unified Content Experience in A Thriving and Customer Suppoer Community - Diana LangstonTRANSCRIPT
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
CREATING A UNIFIED CONTENT EXPERIENCE IN A THRIVING CUSTOMER SUPPORT COMMUNITY
Diana Langston
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
About me
Diana Langston Director of Content Strategy & User Engagement at Extole Extole helps marketers acquire new customers at scale by rewarding their existing customers. We are the leading referral marketing platform used by retail, financial services, and subscription brands.
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© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Contact info d l
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
There is a direct relationship between the experience you provide and customer success. This experience shapes
how customers perceive and identify with your brand.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
One Company
One Team
One Experience
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
§ ONE TEAM – How you can come together across the org
to craft the perception of your company and brand and set your customers up for success through a unified content experience
§ ONE EXPERIENCE – How to provide an exceptional content
experience in a community environment that encourages ongoing, long term engagement
Today, we’ll focus on building
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
ONE TEAM Shaping a Unified Content Experience Together
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
You can’t deliver a unified content experience if you aren’t working
together as one team.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
One Team Means… § You depend on one another § You support each other and want team members
to succeed § Everyone has a voice, brings ideas to the table,
and is listened to § Everyone is responsible and accountable for their
role in the team § You trust each other to fulfill your role § You celebrate successes and learn from failures
together § You work together to build one outcome, one
experience
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Product Content
Product Management/
UX
Client Services/
Enablement
Customer Support
Product Marke@ng/Corporate Marke@ng
Sales/ Account
Management
Engineering
Educa@on
Community
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
3 Steps to Unifying the Content Experience
• Define the Customer Journey and how content can support it
The Journey You Build
• Develop the “Story” that resonates throughout content types
The Story You Tell
• Create a community stakeholder team that is commiLed to delivering an experience that supports the journey
The Experience You Deliver
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
THE JOURNEY YOU BUILD Define the customer journey and how content can support it
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
The content a customer encounters along their journey is an integral part of
their success and user experience.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Don’t leave it to users to put the pieces together
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Chart out the journey as a team and unify the experience for your customers.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Example Journey Team § Product Content
§ Product Management
§ Client Services
§ Account Management
§ Customer Support
§ Customer Success
§ Education
§ Community
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
What is it now? § Map out the current journey
§ Who do customers interact with and when
§ What type of content does a customer experience
– Who owns creation and delivery of that content
– What are they being informed of in that content
– How do they access and find that content
§ How are they being guided through their current journey
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
What should it be? § Map out the desired journey
§ Define how they are guided through the journey
§ Who do customers interact with and when
§ What type of content does a customer experience
– Who owns creation and delivery of that content
– What are they being informed of in that content
– How do they access and find that content
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
THE STORY YOU TELL Develop the “story” that resonates throughout content types
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Why Story is Important
§ Multiple teams across your organization shape how customers perceive and identify with your brand by the story they tell.
§ Unfortunately, they are probably not telling the same story.
§ It’s time to get everyone on the same page.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Craft stories that resonate with internal teams, relate to your customers, and drive engagement.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Story Team Responsibilities
§ Develop an engaging, tested narrative internal teams stand behind – Craft the main stories and detailed messaging
§ Test stories, ensure feedback is brought back to the story team, and adjust messaging prior to rollout
§ Educate all internal teams on proper messaging to ensure it is adopted and resonates throughout the customer lifecycle
§ Content plan roll-out.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Story
Product Content
Educa@on
Client Services Community
Marke@ng
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Example Story Team
§ Product Content
§ Product Management
§ Education
§ Community
§ UX
§ Product Marketing
§ Corporate Marketing
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
THE EXPERIENCE YOU DELIVER
Create a community stakeholder team that is committed to delivering an experience that supports the journey and your business objectives
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Ensuring you have the right content for your users is not only critical but serves as a foundational
component of your community.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Customer Community Stakeholders
§ Community Manager
§ Product Content
§ Education
§ Customer Support
§ Product Management
§ UX
§ Marketing
**Executive sponsorship is critical**
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Clear Content Ownership
§ Content Owners § Content Moderators § High-level Calendaring
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
ONE EXPERIENCE
Delivering an Integrated Content Experience in Your Customer Community
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
"High quality product content is why customers come to a support portal. A successful community leverages a great content foundation to make customers so successful, they come back to share their experiences. I require products I work with to have a tight integration with product information and the support community. "
Paul Reeves Co-Founder, BetterWorks A well funded, Palo Alto startup defining the future of work.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
3 Steps to Integrating Content & Community
• Define your Business Goal and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Business Goals
• Align content and business goals; develop and implement the best solu@on based on user and internal team needs
Content Goals & Integra@on
• Engage users with content to help achieve your business goals
User Engagement
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Community Showcase
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
BUSINESS GOALS Determine your business goal and KPIs
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Community Goals
§ Engagement – Customers – Prospects
§ Customer Support – Deflect Support Calls/
Reduce Costs – Expert Interaction
§ Customer Success – Satisfaction – Loyalty – Advocacy – Retention
§ Customer Education – Onboarding – Ongoing Learning – Q&A
§ Identify Cross-Sell/Upsell Opportunities – Influence Revenue – Renewal Rate Impact
§ SEO Benefit § Thought Leadership
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Example Metrics
§ Level of Engagement – 90/10 rule - 90% of users log in, look around, and consume
information while 10% is highly engaged by asking questions, submitting ideas, etc.
§ Ongoing Engagement & Retention – Chosen behavior measured month over month (e.g.,
logins, articles read, videos watched, etc.)
§ Self-Sufficiency Ratio – Number of content views vs. number of support tickets filed
§ Impact on Renewal Rates – Monitor customer engagement and renewals; measure
high/low level of engagement and impact on renewals
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Measure the value of the content you generate by tying it to a clear business objective.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Tie product content to a deflection in support costs, ongoing engagement, and an increase in renewal rates.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
CONTENT GOALS & INTEGRATION Align content goals with the business, the community & the journey
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Relevant to the Customer’s Journey
Story Remains Consistent
Measurable & Supports Business Objec@ves
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Community Content Types
§ Discussion Forums (Q&A) § Ideas § User Generated Tips & Tricks § Blog/News § Product Documentation/Help Articles § API Documentation § Videos § Training
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Map each content goal to a specific, measurable business objective.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
User Benefits of Unifying Content & Community • Unified User Experience Between Product & Community
• One Place to Guide Them Through Their Customer Journey
• Consistent Story and Messaging
• Access to Peers & Internal Experts in One Location
• Search Across Content Types
• Faceted Search and Filtering Across Content Types or Federated Search Across Platforms
• Variety of Learning Resources to Cater to Different Users
• Trusted and User Generated Content in One Location
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Content Team Benefits
§ Content goals are aligned with larger business objectives
§ Ability to tie content to revenue and savings
§ Gain visibility and prove value across the org
§ Direct interaction with customers § Deliver a valuable, interactive user
experience
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Integration Options
Community PlaXorm
Use the Built-‐in CMS to Author & Deliver Content
(Small Business)
Build an Integra@on Engine between Authoring Tools and Community PlaXorm (Medium to Enterprise)
Best in Breed Solu@ons
Build a UI, Search, & Analy@cs Framework around Best in
Breed Solu@ons that Delivers a Seamless Experience for Users and a Measureable Experience
for Internal Teams (Medium to Enterprise)
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
USER ENGAGEMENT The role gamification can play in reaching your business goals
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Gamification, done right, can be the heartbeat of your community,
motivating users to participate, engage, and return.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
What is gamification?
Gamification is the use of game techniques in a non-game experience and is most often used to increase customer and/or employee engagement and loyalty.
According to Gartner Research, over 70% of Global 2000 businesses will
employ gamification techniques by the end of 2014.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Gamification objectives
§ Gamification drives continuous action by using game techniques to harness user motivations. The objectives of gamification are:
– Adoption: The motivation & trigger to participate
– Activity: The motivation & trigger to do more
– Retention: The motivation & trigger to come back
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Motivational methods
§ The following motivational methods are borrowed from game mechanics and help create a story of growth for your users: – Learning
– Overcoming challenges
– Making social connections
– Building/finding order
– Obtaining extrinsic rewards
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Before you gamify…
§ Ensure you have relevant content already in place
that can help answer customer questions.
§ Have a strong strategy in place to get users to the
community and make it easy to navigate around
and find the information they need.
§ Map out the KPIs out want to achieve and then
target the behaviors you want to motivate in order
to reach each KPI.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Ways to gamify content
*Image from Bunchball
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Player Profile & Showcase
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Gamification Success Story § First week = tripled user engagement, meaning users
logged in and performed a desired behavior, such as answering a question or contributing an idea.
§ First year = doubled their long-term engagements, had a positive impact on customer renewal rates, and benefited from a steep incline in loyal customers and brand advocates.
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
COMMUNITY SHOWCASE
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
The Optiverse
“It’s imperative when trying to grow momentum in your community that support, product documentation and resources are in the same place. Users will then start to realize that they can always find the answer to their question in the community, regardless the author.”
Heather Watkins Director of Customer Marketing Optimizely – A/B testing you’ll actually use
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
The Optiverse
§ Lithium – Community Features
§ Zendesk – Content Produced by
Education Team – Support Functionality
§ Apache Solr – Unified Search Across
Platforms and Content Types § Qualaroo
– Survey Tool
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Optiverse Content Goals
§ Deliver a complete product ecosystem
§ Create a competitive advantage by delivering a valuable, sticky community
§ Provide users with the education resources they need regardless of type
§ Generate thought leaders and leadership pieces
§ SEO benefit by having user generated and trusted content created in a public community
§ Ability to build marketing and customer education campaigns around community content
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Zendesk “If there’s no activity in your support portal, then customers will not come back and therefore the community does not grow. So you’ve got to seed the activity by attracting customers to your support portal and interacting with them and answering their questions so that they’re successful using your product. You build momentum and then customers begin to contribute by answering other customers questions. Once this happens, you’re on your way.”
Anton de Young Director of Customer Education & Community Zendesk is software for better customer service
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Zendesk Support Community
support.zendesk.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Zendesk Community Evolution
Ar@cles Created by Documenta@on
Team and Open to Comments
Support Community Manager
Product Knowledge &
Ar@cle Modera@on
Documenta@on Community Manager
Long Term Community &
Content Strategy
Community Moderator Program
16-‐20 Volunteer Moderators Who Answer Ques@ons and Create Their Tips & Tricks
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Community Management
Support Community Manager
Customer advocate
In-‐depth product knowledge
Monitor comments & provide answers
Documenta@on Community Manager
Long term community strategy
Customer par@cipa@on & engagement
Company generated content
Community moderator program
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Customer Education & Community Team
Customer Training
Community
Documenta@on
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Self-sufficiency ratio
# content views:# of support @ckets
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Marketo “Marketo isn’t just software. The minute you become a Marketo customer you join the Marketing Nation - a talented network of over 50,000 marketers and technology experts. Our community is a one-stop shop for our customers to get the information they need to become better marketers and connect with each other. The Community also gives our customers a voice that helps shape our products and features.”
Liz Courter Senior Customer Community Manager Marketo is a customer engagement platform you’ll never outgrow
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Marketo Community
§ Help answer one another’s questions
§ Share ideas and inspiration
§ Showcase their marketing & product skills
§ Build their careers and find jobs
§ Talk with other marketers
§ Find the information they need
§ Get real-time support
The Central Hub for Marketing Nation Members
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
community.marketo.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Community Evolution
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
What’s Next?
§ Watch where they continue to take and grow their user experience
§ Currently investigating best in breed solutions to streamline internal efficiency and provide an exceptional user experience
§ Considering federated search across best of breed solutions
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Salesforce Community
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
EMC Communities
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
EMC Docs & Community
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Splunk Community
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
What we covered
§ ONE EXPERIENCE – Business Goals – Content Goals &
Integration – User Engagement – Community Showcase
to Spark Ideas
§ ONE TEAM – Journey – Story – Experience
© 2014 Diana Langston www.langstonstrategies.com
Thank You