The Cupcake Conundrum

The Cupcake Conundrum …Turning Lurkers into Contributors

@benfowler, NEEA

Photo courtesy of zigazou76 on Flickr

Little boxes like this will add some context that you would only get from the live

presentation.

This Is About Engagement

๏ Define it

๏ Tie it to business goals

Reference: http://benfowlerworks.com/2011/10/07/determining-your-metric-for-engagement Photo courtesy of mahler711 on flickr

In other words, why is online engagement important for your

organization?

The 1% Rule• Heavy

Contributors1%

• Intermittent Contributors9%

• Lurkers90%

If you’re starting an online community, set the engagement bar

low…

The Pareto Principle

Photo courtesy of lessdoing on Flickr

80% of your content will come from 20% of your members. But can you tweak this? Get a bit

more from your community?

Why Do Community Members Lurk?

๏ Not tied to community vision/goals

๏ Seeking but not finding

๏ Uncomfortable with technology

๏ Unsure of Social Mores

Photo courtesy of Digital Sextant on Flickr

Understanding Group Dynamics

Stage 1: Polite Stage

Reference: http://www.customerthink.com/blog/use_cog_s_ladder_to_build_powerful_online_communities

Stage 3: Power Stage

Stage 2: Why We’re Here

Stage 4: Cooperation

Stage 5: Esprit

I use Cog’s ladder theory to help me

develop communication strategies to drive more

engagement

Gamification

Gamification is the term of the year for online

community management

Components Of A Game

Engagement

Intrigue

Reward

StatusCommunity

Challenge

Reference: http://blog.softwareinsider.org/2011/01/20/trends-5-engagement-factors-for-gamification-and-the-enterprise/

Games can drive engagement. But they

can become tricky when trying to sustain long

term activity

Extrinsic Rewards A No-No?

Credit: Drive, by Daniel Pink

This guy thinks cupcakes are a no-no unless the activity is

uncreative

Latest Research Says Otherwise

๏ Michael Wu, Lithium: “[The Game] just has to work long enough for the player to realize the value he creates. The crucial requirement for this strategy to work is that the gamified activity must create something that has long term value to the player. ”

Reference: http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Gamification-Backlash-Two-Long-Term-Business-Strategies/ba-p/30891

This guys doesn’t. He says cupcakes are

okay, so long as they lead to intrinsic values

of the player

What’s your Destination?

๏ As a community manager, I’m helping users carve a path to their intrinsic values

Photo courtesy of Scott Ableman on Flickr

The Cupcake StoryGoal: To increase information sharing and collaboration in order to

help the region achieve its energy efficiency targets.

Intrigue

Reward

Status

Community

Challenge

- Announcement a couple hours prior to contest

- Cupcakes

- Winners earned a customized desktop certificate

- NEEA internal staff

- Incremental challenge at each quarterly contest

The Conduit Cupcake Hour Contest

My initial engagement pilot for internal staff

I gave away cupcakes to site contributors that

day

The Status Symbol๏ Cupcake Certificates linger

on desks, providing constant reminder of achievement, while increasing brand awareness

Diversify Your Rewards Portfolio

“There is no perfect spaghetti sauce; there are only perfect spaghetti sauces.” - - Howard Moskowitz, psychophycisist, quoted by Malcolm Gladwell during a TedTalk on Choice and Happiness.

Reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

Your games must provide rewards that

meet the unique needs of each member

How Did Cupcakes Help?๏ Huge (92%) increase in

engagement during month of event.

July August September October0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

17%

56%

18% 18%

% Engaged

Cupcake Event

Engagement spiked, but dropped because

there was no tie to intrinsic values

Cupcakes & Other Carrots

๏ Extrinsic rewards definitely work in the short term.

๏ Now more keen on tying to intrinsic motivators

By just talking and listening, we’re

discovering (and connecting to) those intrinsic

values (like thought-

leadership, altruism, the game

itself…)

Post Script๏ Overall Site Engagement

is up

๏ Now more explicitly framing conversations around community goals

๏ Tying extrinsic rewards to intrinsic values

๏ More consistently announcing community challenge updates

% Engaged - Total Community

July August Sept Oct Nov0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%

10.0%12.0%

% Engaged - Total Community

An example of the tie between

extrinsic/intrinsic: If someone values

thought-leadership, make them a guest

blogger.

Thanks!

@benfowler

Benfowlerworks.com

benf70@gmail.com