74% of large and 40% of smaller businesses have a community A recent study found that 74% of larger organisations surveyed in the United States had an online community, while just 54% of smaller businesses surveyed had established such a community. This perhaps suggests the difficulties associated with developing an online community. It also points […]

74% of large and 40% of smaller businesses have a community A recent study found that 74% of larger organisations surveyed in the United States had an online community, while just 54% of smaller businesses surveyed had established such a community. This perhaps suggests the difficulties associated with developing an online community. It also points to how important they can be if used well.Part of the difficulty associated with building an online or, indeed, an offline community is attracting members. Building an online community requires two things – an attractive product or community to become a member of andcommunicating the attractiveness of that product (the community) to potential members. Not surprisingly, this tends to be more efficient online.Effective modes of communication in building an online community include: Offline customer engagement and incentives Social media and content marketing Online advertising – traditional and native Each customer who enquires, either online or…