Book: Message Boards and Forums (part 2)

Last week I started a section about Conversational Marketing in Message Boards and Forums. Here is the continuation of that...

First, here are some supporting stats for Message Boards and Forums

1. 48% of the active Internet universe claim they have consulted message boards for information on products and brands in an average month (source: Universal McCann)
2. 71% of moms surveyed by BabyCentre think companies should interact with them through communities.
3. In an online survey of women by iVillage, respondents said they used message boards to "get information" (68%), "share opinions" (70%), "seek advice, recommendations" (49%), and "provide advice, recommendations" (49%).

Now, continuing from where I left off last week...

Standard of Ethics
A standard of ethics should be considered when marketing to consumers in message boards and similar communities. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) has taken the lead on compiling a list of guidelines to help industry professionals navigate through the communication process. Though there are several principles that WOMMA enforces, all which can be found here, there are two of particular importance when developing any message board marketing strategy:

1. Honesty of Identity & Opinion - It is essential that marketers engaged in dialogue within discussion forums, fully disclose their identity in order to establish trust and credibility with members of the community. Additionally marketers should never tell consumers what to say or provide community members with unfounded testimonials or endorsements.
   
2. Respect the Rules of the Venue - Respect the rights of any online discussion forum or venue to create and enforce its rules as it sees fit.
   

Best Practices
After becoming familiar with ethical standards and guidelines for marketing within these communities, industry professionals can begin crafting and executing their strategy by implementing these best practices:

1. Research - Devote several hours to understanding what topics are discussed and how they are discussed. Learn who the major voices are within the community and who speaks only on occasion. Understand how to communicate within the community and pay attention to which posts get rejected and which lead way to greater discussion.
   
   
2. Join for the Long Haul - Do not jump into a message board and start marketing. You must devote a minimum of 3 months just to gain some rank and recognition. And be wary of abandoning a community when you are done with your project. Message boards are often made up of very strong personalities and they will notice when people have left after accomplishing what they set out to do. The lineage of your posts are always available and members can track your whole process of entering the community, doing your marketing, and then leaving. Try your best to remain in the community as close to permanently as possible.
   
   
3. Join for the Bigger Discussion - Join the board to contribute to the larger, general discussion taking place around the vertical or topic(s) of interest to the board. Your participation and expertise in the overall space will do more for the brand you represent than any overt advertisement/endorsement of your products and services.
   
   
4. Be Transparent with Identity - Transparency with identity is not just a best practice, but part of an accepted code of ethics (See the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) for this explicit code)*. To properly implement this guideline, you should first establish yourself in the community, and then cautiously proceed with promoting your brand / product. When you do so, introduce the fact that you work for the brand/product you are discussing. This is best served when responding to a discussion topic. It is much better to say, “I can comment on that because I actually work for that industry. I represent Product X and we do it this way…” than to simply start a conversation around your brand/product.
   

More next week.


*Fanscape belongs to the trade organization WOMMA and follows their code of ethics:

Trust: WOMMA members are committed to engaging in practices and policies that promote an environment of trust between the consumer and marketer.

Integrity: WOMMA members pledge to comply with the requirements of applicable laws, regulations, and rules concerning the prevention of unfair, deceptive or misleading advertising and marketing practices. In particular, WOMMA members promote honesty and transparency in their practices and methods, such that all forms of consumer manipulation are rejected. Indeed, advertising is a creative enterprise that strives to convince the consumer that the advertiser’s product or service is necessary and valuable, but in the course of engaging with the consumers, WOMMA members are committed to avoiding consumer deception as an end result of their marketing practices. As a result, WOMMA members engage in practices that are designed to enable the reasonable consumer acting rationally to make better informed purchasing decisions.

Respect: WOMMA members promote and abide by practices that focus on consumer welfare. WOMMA members believe that the industry is best served by recognizing that the consumer, not the marketer, is fundamentally in charge and control, and that it is the consumer that defines the terms of the consumer-marketer relationship.

Honesty: WOMMA members believe that consumers should be free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Simply put, WOMMA members do not support any efforts that tell others what to say or how to say it.

Responsibility: WOMMA members believe that working with minors in marketing programs requires sensitivity and care, given their particular vulnerability to manipulation and deception.

Privacy: WOMMA members respect the privacy of consumers, and encourages practices that promote the most effective means to promote privacy, such as opt-in and permission standards.