Communities bring people together. In the offline sense, people gravitate toward communities because they are able to share with others and benefit from team-dynamics. This means resources can be pooled to achieve common goals. In this sense, everyone wins when they join a community that they really care about.
Companies have been in the community-management business for a long time. Athletic shoe stores organize runner clubs and bookstores organize book clubs, but the really successful communities focus on the mutual benefits to members and organizers. These benefits have to be things that the individuals cannot gain or achieve on their own, or would at least find challenging on their own.
The New Age of Engagement…It’s WOM on Steroids
Jeff Hunt
February 22nd, 2010
The fundamental rules of effective marketing are being rewritten. The rapid evolution of social networking technologies is making it easier for customers to get more precise information. It’s making it easier for them to consult one another, and it’s fundamentally impacting the way they make purchase decisions.
Customer experiences have never been more important. Word of mouth has been put on steroids.
So what does it mean to marketers? It’s the arrival of a new era, where engagement is the new currency that drives customer loyalty. But engagement must be defined as a true exchange of value and not just the act of pushing information. Getting someone to visit your web site is not engagement. (more…)
Tags: Add new tag, Commentary, Engaged Enterprise, Reputation
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