Choosing the right model for your online community
When you hear the words “online community” do you immediately think of a branded social network? A Ning network? A Facebook Fan Page?
What about a discussion forum or message board? Or a corporate blog?
Many times, businesses get locked into a certain model or mindset when it comes to thinking about online community sites.
The truth is, there are many different models for adding a collaborative, community-building element to your brand’s web presence. It’s important to consider several different factors when deciding how to begin building your brand’s online community.
What’s your primary purpose for building community? Are you looking for a cost-effective customer support channel? Then a message board might be the best fit. Need a tool to educate consumers while providing them the opportunity for direct feedback? You might consider a corporate blog as a logical starting place, and use comments and user-profiles as a starting point for community-building. Want to build brand passion? A branded social network might be the way to go, but you might also be surprised at the flexibility of options available. Regardless of what you choose, if you’re completely clear about your purpose, you can be equally clear in defining success.
What are your restrictions and resources? Maybe in a perfect world, a message board would be the best option–but a message board could require an investment of time in moderating and responding that you can’t support, if it’s successful. If you don’t have the budget for a major website build, then it might be worth considering starting out on Facebook. Are you in the spirits industry? Then forget about Twitter–you’ll be subject to a DISCUS violation right off the bat because of the service’s inability to filter by legal purchase age.
When it comes to cultivating your brand’s online community of enthusiasts, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. On the other hand, with enough thought and research, you’ll find that there’s almost always a solution that will fit out of the many options that are out there.
