Find Your Perfect Match: Tips for Choosing the Right Community Software Platform

Looking to select a new community software platform? This guide outlines the key factors to consider when choosing the right platform for your organization's specific needs. Whether you need an internal community for your employees, or an external one for your customers, let us save you from a costly mistake.

Define Your Overall Business Objectives

When it comes to selecting a new community software platform, it's important to first define the business problem you're trying to solve. This is because not all platforms are created equal, and choosing the wrong one can be a costly mistake for your organization.

So, what exactly is the business problem you're trying to solve? Is it external, like improving customer engagement? Or is it internal, like Increasing collaboration and communication among employees? Streamlining processes and workflows? Once you've identified the specific issue you're looking to address, you can begin to evaluate community software platforms that are tailored to your needs. Regardless of your business purpose there are common considerations you need to think about when selecting a platform.

One key factor to consider when selecting a community software platform is its functionality. Will it provide the necessary tools and features to address your specific business problem? For example, if you're looking to improve customer engagement, you'll want a platform that includes features like user profiles, forums, and gamification to encourage participation and interaction.

Another important consideration is the platform's ease of use. Will it be user-friendly for both administrators and users? A complicated platform can be a deterrent for users, leading to low adoption rates and ultimately failing to solve your business problem.

Security is also a crucial factor to consider when selecting a community software platform. Will the platform protect sensitive information and maintain user privacy? This is especially important if you're dealing with customer data or confidential company information.

Lastly, it's important to consider the platform's scalability. Will it be able to accommodate your organization's growth and evolving needs? Investing in a community software platform that can't keep up with your organization's growth can be a costly mistake in the long run.

Prepare Your Questions For Potential Vendors

When looking to select a new community software platform, it's important to prepare a list of questions to ask potential vendors. This will help ensure that you have a comprehensive understanding of the platform's capabilities and can make an informed decision about whether it's the right fit for your organization. Here are some key questions to consider:

1. What specific features and functionality does your platform offer? This will help you determine whether the platform can effectively address your organization's specific business problem.
2. Can you provide examples of other organizations that have used your platform and achieved similar goals? This will give you a sense of the platform's effectiveness in real-world scenarios.
3. How user-friendly is your platform for both administrators and users? This will help you evaluate the platform's ease of use and potential adoption rates.
4. How does your platform ensure data security and user privacy? This is especially important if you're dealing with sensitive customer data or confidential company information.
5. Can your platform be customized to meet our organization's unique needs? This will help ensure that the platform can accommodate your organization's growth and evolving needs.
6. How does your platform handle customer support and technical issues? This will give you a sense of the level of support you can expect should any issues arise.
7. What are the costs associated with your platform, including licensing, implementation, and ongoing maintenance? This will help you evaluate the platform's overall cost-effectiveness.
8. Can you provide any training or resources to help our team effectively use the platform? This will ensure that your team can make the most of the platform's features and functionality.

By asking these key questions, you can ensure that you have a thorough understanding of the platform's capabilities and how it can effectively address your organization's specific business problem. This will help you make an informed decision and choose the right community software platform for your organization.

Create a Shortlist Of Potential Platforms

When it comes to selecting a new community software platform, creating a shortlist of potential platform partners is a crucial step in the process. This will help you evaluate different options and ultimately choose a platform that best meets your organization's specific needs. 

Here are some tips for creating an effective shortlist:

1. Define your requirements: Before you start evaluating potential platform partners, it's important to define your specific business problem and the requirements you need the platform to meet. This will help you identify which vendors are best suited to your needs.
2. Conduct research: Once you've defined your requirements, conduct research to identify potential platform partners. Look for vendors that have a proven track record of delivering effective community software platforms and that have experience working with organizations similar to yours.
3. Evaluate features and functionality: Once you've identified potential platform partners, evaluate their features and functionality to determine which platforms offer the tools and capabilities you need to address your business problem.
4. Consider user experience: Evaluate each platform's user experience to determine how easy the platform is to use for both administrators and users. A complicated platform can be a deterrent for users, leading to low adoption rates and ultimately failing to solve your business problem.
5. Assess security and compliance: Ensure that each platform on your shortlist meets your organization's security and compliance requirements. This is especially important if you're dealing with sensitive customer data or confidential company information.
6. Evaluate scalability: Ensure that each platform on your shortlist can accommodate your organization's growth and evolving needs. Investing in a platform that can't keep up with your organization's growth can be a costly mistake in the long run.
7. Consider cost: Evaluate each platform's overall cost, including licensing, implementation, and ongoing maintenance. Ensure that each platform is cost-effective and fits within your organization's budget.

By following these tips, you can create an effective shortlist of potential platform partners and ultimately choose a community software platform that meets your organization's specific needs.

Evaluate and Decide

Getting to the shortlist is the hard part. After the vendors answer your questions you typically will look to get the short-list down to 2-4 vendors. Follow-up demonstrations and deeper dives into key areas will be conducted. The vendors and any service partners will provide proposals which would then allow you to make the most informed decision. 

Social Edge’s Expertise

We have worked with over 600 companies since 2012 focused entirely on the community industry. Our clients have chosen a variety of internal and external platforms based on their needs. We can work with you on a platform selection project to help you find the right platform for your specific requirements. Our expertise and experience will also allow you to compare and contrast across platforms to help you decide which software vendors might best meet your needs.  

‍

‍