Forrester have published a pretty good taxonomy, based on the business objectives you have, for branded online communities. Communities can be set up for you to;

1. Listen to your customers
2. Talk to your customers
3. Energise your advocates
4. Support your customers (or let them support each other)

One of the most fascinating aspects of social media and branded online communities in particular - is the intersection (collision?!) between the spontaneous expression of people (consumers, customers, members etc) online and the driving need for corporations (brands, companies, associations etc) to distill structured meaning&insight that they can act on. Yes, the real world played at fast pace...

After computerising every customer touchpoint that we can lay our hands on over recent decades - a return to treating customers individually in online communities doesn't always sit well.

"Surely this can't be an efficient use of resources; where's the economy of scale in answering an individual blog comment ...?!"

Well, fear not - there is light at the end of the tunnel and some great case studies emerging now that demonstrate the efficiencies and scale that can be delivered through online communities.

A Football Club Example