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Proving the Value of Community

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Global Head of Community Outreach, Wix

Ashley Gallman Williams

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From The Wix Lounge

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To The Whole World

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Dream the Impossible Dream

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• Companies Grow and Marketing Budgets Get Bigger

• Community Will Never Be a Super Bowl Commercial

• Traffic and conversion become a less realistic measurement

• ROI often not the best way to show value of Community

Let’s Get Real About ROI

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Quality Over Quantity

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• Community has a super power that marketing can’t replicate

• CTA becomes Engage rather than Click

• 1,000 people who meaningfully engage with the product > 10,000 people who just visit the homepage

• Still technically traffic, but MUCH higher quality

Traffic vs Engagement

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“We want customers who need our clothing, not just desire it.”-Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia

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• Bottom line: Engaged users spend more

• Amazing Use Cases and User Stories for PR

• Super Users = Brand Ambassadors and Trainers

• Brand Affinity and Thought Leadership

But let’s start from the very beginning of the funnel...

What Is Engagement Good For?

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Product

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Thanks CMX

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• Cold calling users = 10% response and attendance

• Users Who Attended a Meetup = 50%

• Users in the Wix Lounge Program = 90%

• Engaged Users = More (and Better) Product Feedback

What I Learned from Usability

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Community As Usability Lab• User Interviews and Usability in Person and via Video

• Beta Tester Recruitment

• Product Teams visiting almost weekly

• User Meetups focused on specific products and features

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“It really helps us to understand our users and how THEY see Wix and the Web. It's awesome to have first-hand, real-voice, video user interviews.

“Just wanted to thank you again. Your help was very valuable and as a result we were already able to craft some important changes to the product.”

“The visit changed our roadmap significantly. We gained some usability insights and could improve the product's UX immediately after the visit.”

Rave Reviews from Product

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What We Found

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• Not just Product - every department in the company

• Advise the company how to understand and approach the users

• Knowledge base that is invaluable and irreplaceable

Ultimate Authority on Wix Users

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@AshleyGallman

@Wix | @WixLounge