Online Communities

What is it all about?

Community is at the heart of so much of the internet – it is what builds and drives the internet. So much so that the communities spread beyond the online world to become as significant in the real world as things we are all used to in everyday life.

Over recent years, big players have invested a lot of money into social areas of the internet – by and large leaving many in the business asking “why?” After all there is no obvious immediate return, but there must be something to get from it – the levels of investment show just how serious large companies are about getting involved. Like a great many things on and off line it becomes a ‘bandwagon’ and everyone jumps on board, quite often with no real direction and no idea what they want to do. This results in a lot of big announcements that fail to add up to much.

At Bluhalo we approach things differently – community and social development takes time and trialing, and more often than not goes off in directions that no one even considered at the start of the project. That however, is the key to being successful online with communities and social offerings. The best way of achieving this is to give the project time to breathe – this gives the client the chance to learn from the community and establish what works best and what people would actually like to have. The one thing that has been proven time and time again is that internet communities like to have a say, to feel like what they say matters and they definitely do not like being dictated to.

Is it right for your business?

The short answer is – maybe. The longer answer is; yes, if you are prepared to engage and put the time in. Engaging with people is at the end of the day what communities are all about – allowing customers and companies to communicate, find out what they really think and want, provide new ways to interact with your brands, new ways for customers to tell others how much they like your brand and new ways to find and share information.

Having a direct link with your community can achieve more for your company than the best focus group or most in depth research. Suppliers of technical products have long been aware that forums and newsgroups are the best way to identify bugs and issues so that new releases can be made available to the community. This advantage does however come at a cost and companies have to invest time to allow individuals to interact with and learn from the community. This can be slow at first to yield results, but to companies who make the effort the rewards are extensive and long lasting.

The options

There are many ways for companies to interact with people online. From ‘old fashioned’ forums to Facebook applications, and more often than not a combination of several different channels. Within Facebook alone there are several different ways of creating an online presence and engaging with people. What works for a company depends on the products they sell, what demographic they are targeting and how fast they can respond to ideas and comments. For brands Facebook offers a great way to allow fans to engage and make statements about themselves within their own Facebook profiles – allowing them to show what they are interested in whilst as the same time increasing brand awareness for the a company.

Of course the best things about building communities online is that the technology to do it is available and built by the wider internet community. These tools only exist because a handful of individuals wanted them to and took the time to create them, by utilising them companies are giving something back to the users of their products. There is no clearer way of a company saying that they like their customers than taking a step into the world of their customers and joining in.

What next?

Simple. Start talking. Have an internal brainstorm to see what your employees think you might be able to do – then with even just a few vague ideas find some time to talk to someone like Bluhalo who can not only help you decide on direction and meaning but implement and maintain your solutions as well. Of course there are many companies out there – but here at Bluhalo we are proud of the ideas and enthusiasm that we can bring to a project, so why not pick up the phone or drop us an email and talk to us first.

David C
Programmer