How to create a social network or a community site? Where to start ? What are the key success factors? All our tips for successful creation of your social site or dating site.

Creating a social network or a dating site is one of the royal ways of success on the Internet. The start-ups that managed to create and impose their community have seen their valuation immediately explode: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, Airbnb, Blablacar, Viadeo ... Yet create a social network is a very demanding adventure, which involves more risk of failure than chances of success. WikiCréa will help you to put all the chances on your side.

Definition: A social network is a website organized in the form of a community in which members interact with each other, either publicly or privately. Members must register to interact; registration is often free. The site is paid in different ways: advertising, offers or paid features, commission taken on transactions ...

The different types of social networks.

What kind of social network to create?

There are different types of community networks:

• Generalist community networks: Facebook,
• Professional social networks: Viadeo, Linkedin,
• Teen sites,
• Thematic social networks, focused on a hobby, an art, a problematic or a passion (for example video games, stopping smoking ...),
• Content sharing sites (images, videos, articles, questions-answers ...),
• Social networks for sharing offers or solutions: announcements, house exchanges, rental of apartments or houses, childcare, carpooling,
• Dating sites: they are more and more often geolocated,
• Communication solutions (chat, voice, video ...): Viber, WhatsApp, Skype, Telegram ...
• Social music networks: Deezer for example,
• etc.

The key success factors of a social network.

The success of a social network is based on 5 fundamental elements:

• Innovative: the concept of the site must stand out from everything that already exists,
• Its usefulness: the site must bring a real value, that is to say a real help or an interest for the user,
• Its simplicity: the user must very quickly understand how the site works,
• Interaction: only social networks that are highly interactive (between the members and the site, and between the members themselves)
• Its success at launch (virality): it will require a large number of users from the launch so that the word of mouth can start and immediately take over. Everything will be played in the first weeks of the life of the social site: if the pump is not properly primed, the site will die.

In the spirit of the startuper, creating a community network or a meeting site consists of 5 successive stages:

1. Elaborate the concept,
2. Create the platform (the site),
3. Launch the site,
4. Attract users,
5. Monetize.

The order of these steps is adapted if you have a revolutionary concept and many means (method 1).

In fact, the order of these steps must be reversed if you want to increase your chances of succeeding. Rather than starting from the idea to reach the user, it would be better to start from the user to get to the idea (method 2).

Method 1: From the concept to the user.

This is the classic way to create a social network or a dating site. It has the advantage of speed, but is risky and consumes a lot of money. It consists of:

1. Develop a concept for the future site. You must be visionary and aim right. It is highly recommended to test your concept through a market research .
2. Create the site. It will take a substantial budget to create a custom site. A first fundraiser may be considered for this, but investors will be cautious in the absence of clear evidence that the concept will work.
3. Launch the site. This is the most delicate step. You will have to attract thousands or tens of thousands of users in a short time. Indeed, if your social network does not grow fast enough, users will flee the lack of content and little interaction. For this several solutions:
   • carry out a mass communication campaign (expensive),
   • use your personal network if you have one and if it is easy to mobilize: professional network, university, associative, sports ...
4. Monetize.

See also our article: The steps of creating a start-up and financing.

Method 2: From the user to the concept.

This method is to place the user in the center, without having a fixed idea about what your future social network will be. We are talking about inbound marketing : the goal is to attract visitors to oneself with content, rather than to design a service that may not appeal to anyone. It is a longer method but less risky and sometimes less expensive than the previous one.

Creating a community network through this method involves:

1. create content to attract qualified visitors to the topic of interest. Some examples :
   • If you want to create a social network on stopping smoking, first create a blog with dozens or hundreds of articles on stopping smoking, to attract visitors to the target,
   • If you want to create a social network on the theme of running, first create a Facebook group and attract a maximum of enthusiasts; test yourself on the animation of this community,
   • If you want to create a social network on the theme of cooking, first create a series of Youtube videos and make your channel grow,
2. get as much information as possible about the people you interact with: personal data, tastes, expectations, etc. Observe their behavior. Ask them. Test your social network idea. The ideal would be to have a few tens of thousands of visitors, members or "fans".
3. refine your social network concept
4. look for funding. The fact that you already have a network around you will reassure your investors.
5. build your social platform and test it with your members.
6. launch your site: invite and involve your community members Create a big event.
7. animate your community, amplify word-of-mouth by soliciting your members and their entourage,
8. Monetize.

Create a dating site or a social network: means and budget to predict.

Creating a social network or a dating site is often very expensive: it will be necessary to provide:

• an important investment in time: to design the platform, test it and adapt it, but also to communicate and animate the community.
• an important investment in money:
  • in case of subcontracting for the creation of the internet platform (counting tens of thousands of €),
  • for the financing of communication campaigns.

Partnering with someone who understands the technical aspects or who has a large personal network can help limit these expenses.

About Brahim