Introduction to Online Communities

Forrester are recognised leaders in social media research. In setting social strategy, Forrester describe six major objectives that brands or companies can have in connecting and ultimately changing their relationship with customers:                                                                                  

  • Listening - ongoing monitoring of your customers' and prospects' conversations with each other (often) as a supplement to surveys and focus groups
  • Talking - participating in and stimulating two-way conversations your customers have with each other, not just outbound communications to your customers
  • Energising - making it possible for your enthusiastic customers to sell to each other and to others (word-of-mouth marketing)
  • Supporting - enabling your customers to help each other - from information through to problem solving
  • Embracing - helping your customers work with each other to come up with ideas to improve your products and services
  • Spreading - this is more a B2B objective that can help vendors spread their influence and relationship inside customer accounts as social activities help customers adopt vendor products and services as new business capability 

Our view is that all of these business objectives have a part to play. In particular, we see significant value in communities built on identity and established for insight (listening) and innovation (embracing).

What about Facebook?

Whilst public social sites (eg facebook, youtube, twitter) are important, we see a central role for branded communities. Branded communities provide the control and identity - critical to insight, targeted action and ultimately value for the brand.

Public social sites are potentially transient and are more useful for monitoring and recruitment to a branded environment. This is the "hub-and-spoke" approach described by Forrester. 

"The level of engagement with our online Burger Club has surprised us. Members and, in particular, our advocates have proved to be a source of consumer insight that we hope to develop further."

Jim Wilson, National Marketing Director
Hungry Jacks Australia


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