In some circles the role and value of online communities for marketing is unclear. As a result of a recent discussion of this topic we produced these 10 high level things which are important for marketers to know about online communities and the role of marketing.

1. Online Communities:
10 Things for Marketers to Know
walter.adamson@kinshipdigital.com
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2. Online Communities:
10 Things for Marketers to Know
1. It's all about understanding customers better
2. Communities enable the collaborative trend
3. Communities are a path to a bigger goal
4. Community strategy is key
5. Communities are market intelligence
6. Communities give marketing a stronger seat at the leadership table
7. Communities feed brand development
8. Communities enable speed to market
9. You must Plan, Do, Check, Act
10. Communities need to be planned as part of a total social
architecture
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3. #1 Communities & Marketing are Aligned
It's all about understanding customers better.
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4. #2 Communities Enable Collaborative Trend
Marketing is becoming a collaborative effort between
brands and their customers.
Communities enable and enhance this collaboration.
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5. #3 Communities are Path to a Bigger Goal
All social initiatives need to be serve a broader goal.
Ideally you have a big vision.
Communities are a path towards that vision. They
themselves are not the goal.
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6. #4 Community Strategy is Key
Poor strategy is the #1 cause of failure
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7. #5 Communities are Market Intelligence
Building a large, engaged following of consumers /
businesses is a huge asset to any brand.
You can [must] analyze all aspects of the community,
content, behaviour to determine the key topics/issues
that resonate most and will drive marketing initiatives.
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8. #6 Communities give Marketing a Stronger
Seat in the Leadership Group
CEOs are saying they want to create a more collaborative
environment to change their approach to markets, by
developing their products and services and interacting
with their customers.
Communities can position Marketing in a leadership role
in this discussion (and action).
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9. #7 Communities feed Brand Development
Effective use of communities allow you to differentiate
your brand, create loyal customers, mine for marketing
insights and influence the market.
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10. #8 Communities enable Speed to Market
Social platforms including Communities help you scale
and create speed that allows you to capture market
share so it’s a competitive differentiator.
It allows you to grow faster, particularly in new emerging
markets where you may have a difficult time
connecting otherwise.
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11. #9 You must Plan Do Check Act
Community Monitoring & Improvement
Monitoring and Analysis is 1. Assess
vital. 8. Monitor 2. Strategise
Social
Business
7. Engage Community 3. Create
Framework
Continuous Improvement
and Strategic Alignment. 6. Share 4. Protect
5.
Participate
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12. #10 Communities need to be Planned
as part of a total Social Architecture
Participating Wikis
Listening, establishing reputation
(I’m one of you)
Managed
Listening, supporting, building
reputation, marketing
External
Communities
Owned Closed Network
Listening, supporting,
building relationships,
collaborating
Example: customer communities Internal
Example: channels, members
Communities
Example: Intranets, communities of practice

13. Examples

14. Examples
Cisco Learning Community (B2B)
• 2m+ members, education, training, hiring
• Has become Industry resource e.g. far more than just Cisco products
• Unrivalled insights into technical needs, HR trends, product innovation
Samsung Nation (B2C)
• Allows Samsung to connect to buyers, otherwise unknown (buy at retail store)
• Strong Gamification and rewards
• Buyers solve problems and become advocates
My Starbucks (B2C)
• Ideation – product innovation looking for new ideas
• Year 1 75,000 ideas, 43 implemented
• Strong advocacy, brand development, product launch success guaranteed
DELL Ideastorm
• Looking for improvements to existing products
• Massive customer contributions to improve products
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