Community VS Slack Groups

Brian O'Keeffe

This came up in a discussion recently. Why do we need a community when we have slack groups? 

Heather Wendt

Great question @Brian O'Keeffe! The best explanation I have heard shares the following (paraphrased )

Slack
Pros: real time discussions in a chatroom format with a variety of configurations for groups vs individuals, convenient and efficient
Cons: very difficult to track down conversation history and locate something that was talked about in the past. The more volume on your channel, the harder it becomes (not impossible, just very time-consuming). Makes it hard if you have folks in different time zones (nothing like tons of pings in the middle of the night!). Have to download the app which may not be a plus for everyone. If you have other channels of info it can be hard to sync them together (blogs, podcasts...) which creates a need for multiple apps or emails. If you are looking for something that both supports customers and increases the funnel for potential customers, this won't help. Content on this channel will not appear in Google searches. 

Forum/Platform
Pros: ability to keep your content organized. MUCH easier to find things, organize resources, and segment conversations between groups and even types. Tagging can make your search very quick and bring up conversations, resources, etc. quickly. Easier to add images, diagrams, etc within a conversation making it easier to go more deeply into the subject. SEO...raise awareness of your resources to potential customers. Metrics allow you to see what your customers are engaging with, talking about, etc. all of which can then help drive product development and support. Create FAQs, knowledge bases, etc that help customers get answers much more quickly.
Cons: Lack of real-time chat features. You can DM members and have things go straight to their email, but it isn't the same as live chats. The appearance may not be as modern as you might wish. Platforms are working on that, but it can still feel dated. Because it isn't real-time, you can lose someone who was engaged because it drops off their radar (daily digest can help with this). Management - you will likely need someone to help keep things organized on the site and prevent SPAM from taking hold. BUT, on the plus side, you have a lot more engagement tools and tactics available than you do in Slack making it another way to help with onboarding and integration (adoption).

Hope that helps! I think that many companies find that there is a place for both options, but they should have very specific outcome and usage goals to make sure the waters don't become too muddied.

Jeffrey Kushmerek

Also, Slack gives the impression of immediate access, immediate answers. If you want your team to work the weekends, then give your clients access to them on Slack

paulnakata

Jeffrey Kushmerek said:

Also, Slack gives the impression of immediate access, immediate answers. If you want your team to work the weekends, then give your clients access to them on Slack

We serve companies who work with their customers in Slack / Slack Connect, and haven't seen this play out in practice any more than people sending emails.