"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious."

- Oscar Wilde

Are there "bad" customers to target when you attempt marketing with & through virtual communities? Are there "good"?

We are currently running a branded community for a client and we are experiencing Jakob Nielsens' 1/9/90 rule; "In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all of the action." We are finding that the 90 register and read, the 9 offer input through our anonymous "Suggestion Box" and the 1 are actively commenting on our posted conversation threads.

A little frustrating to get all of those engaged customers to the site and then not have them tell us what they are thinking. Allowing lurkers to vote on the comments of the 9 and the 1 is an obvious and effective way of getting an indication of their views; an approach that is now widely used in blogs and innovation communities (all of the communities we are involved with must have this capability).

And let's be honest, the universe of ideas for the typical consumer - vendor issue is generally quite finite. On one occasion we received 20+ unique ideas, the current project has produced 14 (11 if we eliminate web-site critiques, programme complaints and our catch-all 'off topic' category). So there is a high likelihood that you will receive all of the populist ideas that are in the community from the 9+1. The voting of the 90 confirms priority.

So are the 90 the 'tedious'?

There is temptation to view them this way. A big mistake!

Kelly Mooney's new book makes the point better than I can so I will quote her briefly "...research study supports the majority argument; it shows that a full 85-90% of online consumers acquire enough digital savvy - to become reliable 'experts' to friends and family. The information they share, even within their relatively small spheres of influence, can significantly influence purchase behaviour." Even lurkers are charming to someone.

Online communities are not just about gaining customer insights. The act of sincerely listening to and acting on conversations with many customers builds engagement and then advocacy and then sales.

If your product/service is good enough.