Online discussion communities have been around for a long time. The first global community platform was on CompuServe in 1979, long before the internet was even imagined. Since then, there have been many companies offering online community technologies – the list is long and the communities they have provided are extensive. But throughout all that time, the basic structure of the technology hasn’t changed much. It has its advantages, and its inherent limitations, no matter which vendor or platform you choose. Digital or online communities can be a tremendous asset for a company, the beginnings and the foundation for an expanded corporate ecosystem that can generate leads, increase retention, and drive expansion sales for years — if properly designed and managed.
Many companies over the years have thought that all that is necessary is to choose a vendor, do an implementation of their technology, open the doors and announce the availability of the new community — only to discover that it doesn’t work that way. To succeed in establishing a vibrant, useful online community takes a serious design process that begins with clear identification of the strategy and the results to be produced.
If you’re ready to create a strategically significant online community for your company/product, or if you already have an online community in place, and want to take it to the next level, we’re here to guide and accelerate that initiative. Please contact us for more information.
Online Community Case Study
The Customer Success Association’s own Customer Success Forum was founded in 2009 on LinkedIn with an initial 350 members. It has since grown to over 63K international members. Part of its success is from the advantage of being on LinkedIn, which has an enormous worldwide membership together with high levels of activity. Unfortunately, LinkedIn’s Groups technology offers minimal functionality and very limited forum management tools. Even with the limitations, the advantages can still be obtained by careful design and management.
