There are many reasons why an online community could fail to deliver results for a brand.  The most common reasons are that the brand has difficulty getting customers to engage and that the brand is unable to collaborate with customers effectively.

If you have an online community that is not delivering results and you decide to close it down, it is important to plan the closing of the community with the same vigour as the launch.

The following 2 steps summarise our recommended approach:

1. Change Management
Firstly, devise a plan for how to respond to any community backlash about the closure so that you are prepared in advance. Secondly, give advance warning of changes using all available channels e.g. blog posts, Facebook updates, Tweets and email campaigns.  Use this communication to remind members about the reasons for starting the community and be transparent about the reasons for the closure.  Make sure to give the community an opportunity to respond and welcome their feedback.  Finally, if there are any alternative online destinations for social engagement, link to them and list the benefits.

2. Recognition
The “power curve” of participation in online communities (where the top contributors often create a disproportionately large share of the content) means that not all members are created equal.  From the launch of the community, you should have been building a relationship with your top contributors. This hard work will pay off now because you can produce pen portraits for each top contributor that will support the change management and recognition programs.
 
The first step is to communicate one-to-one with these top contributors to acknowledge and thank them for their support and commitment.  They must be first to know about the change.   You could also include an experiential reward for this group e.g. invitation to a real-world event to meet the other top contributors and community manager.  This would also be a great opportunity to personally invite them to any new destination.
 
Secondly, communicate with the broader community to thank them for their participation and share key insights from the community content.  This could include summarising how many ideas were submitted since the beginning, the most popular ideas (as voted by the community) and feedback about how the business has implemented these ideas.

Have you been a part of any online communities that closed down while you were a member? How was the experience handled from your perspective?