Online Communities - A Marketing Fad That Can Kill You
I just read a very interesting article over at Research Monkey, aka Sassy Maven’s blog titled “It’s called Transparency… look into it“.
I think this is really a good discussion. Marketing is really fun in today’s dynamic world. With the online elements coming mainstream, marketers today not only have more tools to use, they also have more considerations. Building communities would definitely be one of the considerations of any modern marketing team. But seriously, how many of them really understand this? Just because the Marketing Manager has a Facebook or Friendster account, does not mean that they know how to “build communities”.
There are companies with so much phobia about communicating, they even warn employees NOT to have blogs. You can read about the transparency stuff over at Sassy Maven’s blog. For me, I want to talk about marketing strategy. Where, exactly where, do you think you want to go with your so-called “community”. Marketers need to understand that communicating with their various publics is a critical activity that should not be left to chance. Just putting together a portal with news, downloads, discussion forum or maybe even a chat box; does not make it a community portal. And building communities is not an online phenomena.
Now that this social science has crossed over into the marketing arena, it would be interesting to see how marketers are going to deal with this. Many are jumping on the train. Problem is, are they on the right train, and did they buy the right ticket?
If you are thinking of creating a community for your company, product or service, it’s a great idea. But before you do anything, learn exactly what kind of creature you are going to unleash. And, if after petting its fur and examining its claws, you still want one, go for it.
Technorati Tags: online communities, online marketing, marketing fad
Research Monkey said,
August 19, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Hi Calvin,
Thanks so much for the compliment on my article on Transparency. Research Smeesearch isn’t Esau’s blog, however. It’s mine - Research Monkey, aka Sassy Maven. Esau is my husband. And while we are often of like mind, he did not write the article — I did.
Cheers!
Marcy
Calvin Warr: Ooops! I will certainly amend my post! :)
Anujk said,
August 21, 2007 at 4:24 am
well I was looking for some more tips … :(
Calvin Warr said,
August 21, 2007 at 11:23 am
Sorry Anujk, was just ranting a little. But its an interesting thought - to do a piece on this. Let’s see. Thanks for dropping by. You have a nice blog.
Laura said,
August 23, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Something to remember, I think, is that if your company is suffering low morale or a bad rapp in the press, an online community (even an effectively built one) isn’t going to save it. An online community should enhance the quality and value that is already there.
Calvin Warr said,
August 24, 2007 at 2:21 am
Laura, that is so very true! Each piece of the communications puzzle needs to be in place and working together. To rely on any single one is clearly not wise. Above all, you can pretend for a while, but eventually, the market will know. With bad press, if the company is essentially solid and have good customer rapport, the community will stand up to defend it. But no one will stick their neck out to defend you. So, in the end, you still need to deal with the bad press directly rather than hope the community can pull you out of the hole.