Why Build a Community?

If you have any doubt that the direction of Web 2.0 is moving towards online communities, do you recall that News corporation paid US$580 million for MySpace, Google paid US$1.65 billion, ClubPenguin sold to Disney for US$700 million and Cisco have recently acquired social network company Five Across for an undisclosed sum.  The big boys tend to know which way the wind is blowing when it comes to investing their shareholders cash, and the trend toward user driven online communities is seen by them as the new gold rush opportunity on the net. Short of having a few hundred million dollars to throw around, how does the smaller business make the most out of this new trend? The opportunities to build communities are everywhere.  MySpace may have tied up the broad community model, but there are thousands of niche community possibilities still up for grabs for the enterprising business visionary.   This could include the building of a community around your own area of expertise or business niche. 

“..it would be a mistake to think of the social networking and user generated content phenomena as a simple fad. It’s as much of a flash in the pan as the Internet was in 1995 or as the PC was in 1985.”  Analyst Tom Austin – Gartner 

Why do online communities work? 

•  People have always had a need to join communities – sports clubs, social clubs, churches, business groups to name just a few
• Individuals need to communicate their interests, hobbies, accomplishments, goals, beliefs to others         
• We all have a deep subconscious urge to belong to something 
• Web 2.0 opens up new opportunities to share pictures, video, journals, email, chat, and more
• They are places where people gather to share their passion
• People gather to find or offer assistance to and from others   

What are the benefits of building a community?

•  User generated content eliminates the cost of creating information
• It facilitates the growing of your mailing list 
• It can be a beacon for thousands of potential customers 
• It can be a direct source of income 
• Related products and/or services can be sold through it
• It’s an easy source for surveying and research
• It can act as a vehicle for you to communicate with current and potential customers 
• You can email members to promote anything 
• Idea generation from the members
• Open communication from company to customers builds trust and long term relationships

“Our expectation is that ten years from now, the primary use for information technology even inside enterprises is going to be to facilitate social interactions among the people in the enterprise and the business ecosystem.” Analyst Tom Austin – Gartner 

If you have an existing business web site and wish to add a community to it then careful consideration needs to be given as to how the community will benefit your company

• Do you want to have it known as the industry community and not directly promote your company?
• Could it be a gathering place for your existing and potential customers?
• Do you want to run it as a revenue generating exercise or not?
• If you do how are you going to generate income – advertising, selling product, membership fees?  
• How are you going to set the community up to encourage members through an engagement funnel? The ones at the base become your site evangelists 

When you establish an online community you set yourself up as the facilitator for those interested in your niche to gather and share.  This in itself is a powerful place to be if you are managing the environment where your market meets.  The secret of success in the new era though is to not abuse this power but to allow the users to determine the content as much as possible.  This can make the community a double edged sword in that it may mean users promote your competitors or criticise your products.  You can post answers to criticisms or allow others to do it but don’t over police the forums or your members will react to the lack of openness. There are many benefits possible through online communities but the first step is to work out how exactly it will benefit your company.  Then put a plan in place to build it to achieve your goals.  It may be the single most successful marketing strategy you ever action, if you get it right.

Tags: business community, online community, social network marketing, social networking, web 2.0 community