Network Solutions® and Communispace:
Building Business by Creating a Circle
of Trust
Listening to build relationships
Network Solutions® helps small businesses start and market their businesses on the Web. While it began as the original domain registrar, today Network Solutions offers a full range of web-related services. In addition to domain name registration, it offers website design and hosting, e-commerce solutions, online security products, and search engine marketing and optimization.
Vital to its success are “Web Professionals”—web developers and designers. This key customer group has been moving away from using Network Solutions in recent years, and instead choosing cheaper competitors like Go Daddy® and Bluehost®. By creating a private online community of 300 Web Professionals, Network Solutions rebuilt its relationship with this important target segment by understanding and listening to their needs and challenges.
Built by a community, for a community
This private community, managed by Communispace Corporation, has been instrumental in the development of many key marketing initiatives for Network Solutions. One of the most crucial has been the development of LinkTogether.com, a public community that serves as an “online destination” for Web Professionals to find the tools and resources to build their businesses online. The private community of Web Professionals has given their input on every aspect of LinkTogether.com—from features to tools and resources, to the design and promotion of the site.
Early on, the community of Web Professionals informed the business model of LinkTogether™ to include a free community where members could connect to share their business thinking and challenges. This was a change from Network Solutions’ original model of focusing solely on sales, by expanding its goals to include education and community.
The private community also surfaced the need for LinkTogether™ to be more than just a place to network, but to provide real business solutions. In response to this, Network Solutions co-created, developed, and vetted new features like Downloads and Media Sharing, and a repository of Web Templates, Legal documents, whitepapers, video tutorials, and smart guides among other business tools. The Web Pros have even provided items from their own “collection” that they wanted to share with their colleagues. Network Solutions provided a platform that allowed members to showcase and share their work, which has resulted in more than 100 pieces of user generated content available for download to date.
Features and functions built on understanding their reality
One of the biggest challenges Web Pros described was keeping their pipelines full of projects. Partnering with ODesk®, Network Solutions built an engine for leads and job networking on the LinkTogether.com site. The idea for this tool was inspired by what it heard in the private community, and members helped Network Solutions create the right approach, enhancing the collaborative relationship.
In other instances, Web Pros talked about the desire for help managing their client relationships. The “Statement of Work Builder” was developed to streamline the contracting process for them and make it faster and easier to get started on jobs. The Coupon Creator was developed as a means for Web Pros to share Developer Discounts and recommend products for their customers. Network Solutions initially created this tool after hearing members discuss their desire for discounts and promotion. Yet it became even more valuable by providing a way for members to spread goodwill and word of mouth about Network Solutions services.
Look and messaging that resonate
As building the site and generating content is only half the battle, Network Solutions also listened to its community of Web Pros when it came to marketing LinkTogether™ in a way that resonated with this audience.
Based on discussions in the community, it became clear that Web Pros were not looking for ‘just another social networking site,’ but a place where they can go to get tips, tools and resources to help their businesses grow. As a result, Network Solutions revised its homepage and marketing collateral to focus more on the meaningful content of the site with the tagline of “Grow Your Business.” In addition to giving their thoughts on the marketing itself, members also gave feedback on where to market. As a result, Network Solutions launched an ad campaign on Facebook®, which was highly successful. The click-through rate on this ad continues to perform above the average Facebook ad click-through rate.
Creating real relationships based on trust pays off
With the goal of “creating a circle of trust,” Network Solutions has been able to use this new public community, designed and inspired by its private community, to repair and improve the relationship with Web Pros and further deepen its understanding of this group’s wants and needs. LinkTogether.com has truly become a key resource for Web Pros, helping them work smarter and faster, and ultimately giving them access to a community of peers to expand their networks and get support.
LinkTogether.com launched in October 2008 and already has over 7,000 members, 65% of whom are new to Network Solutions—surpassing their expectations for driving new business. The new site was designed and built in only three months and at one-third the cost of traditional research because of its direct access to the members.
While the intention was to create a great resource for Web Pros, by using a private community to build its public community site, Network Solutions has achieved so much more—generating trust and creating brand advocates through a reciprocal relationship that powers its growth. Furthermore, this private community allows Network Solutions to keep the needs and interests of this target group in mind along the way for all of its marketing initiatives—whether it be rebranding and redesigning its website, or co-developing and promoting new products and services.
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