It would be easy to say that customer engagement is core business for just about any business. Easy, but not particularly instructive.

The truth is that the degree of customer engagement required or desirable is going to vary by category and from business to business. Do I really want a deep and ongoing relationship with my gas utility? (Answer: only when things go wrong!)

There are some categories, however, such as membership based organisations - eg. sporting, professional and industry associations where customer or member engagement are clearly and unequivocally core business.

The passion found in sporting clubs such as the Australian Football  League and the vocational self-interest inspired by professional or industry associations such as the Australian Society of CPA's represent an asset to membership organisations that is by and large untapped. And the uptake in social media and online communities frankly should represent the "elephant in the room" to these organisations.

Lets take your typical industry or professional association.

These organisations are often faced with several diverse challenges given their size including:

• The annual membership acquisition and retention tread mill
• Event driven schedules that require "all hands to the pump"
• The sponsorship deal that could make or break the bank
• Staff turnover that reduces critical IP from the organisation (and the occasional "ground-hog" day!)
• How to represent members in the appropriate political forums
• How to identify what members really want so that the Association can remain relevant
• How to get geographically scattered members engaged with the Association and other members

The last two points here I would argue are core business to these associations and are critical to resolving all other challenges.

My experience with associations is often turning up to events every month or so - with very little context around the topic or my relationship with the association and a "hit or miss" with satisfaction with the of the event. Now, you could rightly say that you only get back what you put into these organisations. However, it is 2009, and the threshold to participating and contributing just got a whole lot lower with the "social internet" and the collaborative tools now available.

Setting up and running an online community for such organisations is a relatively straight forward task - with the right specialist advice. Public communities such as Linked-In and Facebook too often fragment from "official" sites and have very few controls around identity and analysis. However, there are hosted open-source platforms available where you can create your own unique site at minimal cost. Creative look and feel can remain the same - meaning that the user has a seamless experience moving from the associations website to various community forums, blogs, polls, surveys etc And whilst some new roles are created internally (eg online community manager) there is inevitably a medium term reduction in headcount and spending devoted to  less efficient forms of communication and research.

For me, as a member, I now have a website resource where:

• Every other member is a potential resource
• There are no geographic boundaries to interaction and collaboration around special interests
• I can express my opinion and preferences instantly (subject to moderation)
• Due to profiling and groups, communication is far more tailored to my interests
• I can qualify the nature of events prior to committing valuable time
• I can promote myself to colleagues (career opportunities!)

From the associations viewpoint, you then have an online community where:

• Opinions, ideas and preferences (polls, surveys) deliver quick, unequivocal feedback from your most passionate members to keep the Association relevant
• Interest in events and new offers can be tested
• Collaborative forums and groups with a specialist focus can be far more effective and efficient (and in-view of the Association)
• Geography becomes less important (perhaps reducing unnecessary regional infrastructure) and special interest groups become the primary focus
• Sensitively handled, sponsors can be involved - creating potentially a new revenue stream

For more detailed ideas, you may wish to check-out the "Top 10 Ways Associations can Use Online Communities to Increase Member Acquisition and Drive Revenue."

Sound too good to be true? Perhaps, but if ever there was a category waiting to benefit from social networking - it is staring our local associations in the face!