Brands are taking greater control of their communication with the public, making the intermediates, like magazines obsolete. Today, brands publish their own content and interact one to one with their customers through their social media accounts or custom made communities. Branded communities have evolved from simple forums to complete ecosystems, enriched with social features and unique content. Let’s take a look at how brands successfully make use of their online communities.
Extension of customers service:Online communities are a great platform to extend and improve customer service, by taking note of customers’ common issues and addressing problems in a more personable way while providing true value to their customers. Apart from monitoring the community to gather valuable information on their consumers’ problems and shopping dilemmas, brands can generate leads and be inspired by the ways customers choose to address problems themselves or review, use and recommend their products or services. TheBest Buy Communityaddresses customer service issues and hosts discussions on the day to day use of Best Buy products. The community also has its ownTwitter accountthat reaches out to theTwelpforcepointing to the community’s questions that need feedback by pros.
Hewlett Packardis also doing a great job, by breaking down its forums into mini-communities with specific focus like theConsumer Support Forumand theEnterprise Business Community. Integration between branded online communities and mass social media is a hot trend for 2011. (In 2010 itincreased from 32% to 76%.) Implementing a social media login could encourage more visitors to join into the discussions and spread them across all different platforms, like Sears does on itscommunity.
Mixing the offline with the online world:To make the best out of this kind of online conversation, brands try to figure out ways to integrate them into the in-store experience. For instance,Searsorganizes consumer electronics in-store product demos extending invitations to bloggers and plans to organise more events with theBlue Blogger Crew. Sears also broughtKmart’scommunity to life, byincorporating customer reviews onto store shelvesfor select games. Another way would be to allow community members to stay connected by providing easy access to the community via mobile or in-store installed tablet devices.
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Socializing:Building strong relationships, as well as making sales are all about emotion. The fact that someone is a loyal customer to a brand speaks volumes about that person’s lifestyle or the lifestyle he/she aspires to have. Communities can spark conversation on their members’ common lifestyle, and highlight the connection between the brands’ products and their passions.
Many brands have built custom made not product-centric, but lifestyle-centric social networks to connect further with their customers. For instance Patrón tequila has builtits own social network, integrated with Facebook connect, that is content-driven around dining and cocktails. The club also connects its members offline by organizing “secret” dining experiences featuring Patrón cocktails in different cities. Another example is the Monster Energy drink community:Monster Armythat connects extreme sports enthusiasts.
Empowering their customers:Embracing their customer’s success as their own success, many brands have built content-driven communities that empower their members, serving as a source of business information. American Express has built the awarded withPeople’s Choice awardin the nontech companies category for itsOPEN Forum, an online community for small-business owners featuring an expert blogger team. OPEN Forum also organizes live networking opportunities and havea mobile site and app, providing online and offline networking opportunities. TheHSBC Business Networkalso enables business owners to connect and exchange advices, while theThreadless communityhelps designers promote and get feedback on their work.
Crowdsourcing:Companies have embraced crowdsourcing as a way to deepen their relationship with their customers by bringing them into the creative process and making them part of their family.My Starbucks Idea,MySears IdeasandBest Buy’s IdeaXare all promotional tools to ask customers to brainstorm and contribute their vision for the brand’s future. Communities provide great platforms for more creative crowdsourced projects likeToyota’s Ideas For Good, for suggestions on how the brand’s technology can be used for good in unexpected ways, LEGO’sLEGO clickcollaboration platform, for new ideas relating to toys and technology andNike’s iD Nationa community thatchallengesits members to design the ultimate pair of Nikes and share their style and designs.
What are your favorite online communities and what trends do you think will be hot for branded community building in 2011?
Story byAmalia Agathou
Amalia Agathou is the Community Director for The Next Web. She’s studied Information and Communication Systems Engineering and has shared he(show all)Amalia Agathou is the Community Director for The Next Web. She’s studied Information and Communication Systems Engineering and has shared her time between the startup and fashion scene. She has worked as an editor for The Next Web, House& Garden and Glamour magazine.
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