What’s up with on-line communities? Since 2006 Web 2.0 has celebrated the so-called « amateur revolution ». What did we learn in the past 5 years? Are we reaching the limits of Web 2.0?
The evolution of « Online communities » was one of the main session themes during Lift10 and speakers gave some interesting insights.
However, since I also attended a workshop on this particular subject, I thought it could be more interesting to give a practical point of view. Therefor I interviewed Maria Sipka, workshop facilitator and founder of Linqia, the 1st global online marketplace enabling brands and their agencies to identify, connect and engage communities through their leaders across many social networks.
Figures are clearly showing Internet users’ behavior changes (huge increase in social networks vs. decrease in search), and it is no surprise that at netinfluence, we advise brands looking to tap into online communities on a daily basis.
Why? Because it is where people are hanging out, it is where they are sharing what is important to them and listening to what others are saying. But take warning: online communities are rarely used for aggressive advertising. On the contrary these are places where brands have the opportunity to build social capital.
I asked Maria the DOs and DONTs brands should follow in order to successfully engage within online communities.
Maria gives a detailed step-by-step description of the strategical process a brand should follow: it’s about knowing what your brand stands for, what your objectives when reaching for an online community are, what the story, the experience, the content you will want to feed the community with in order to engage with it is, what the success metrics are…
I also asked her about brand communities (successful ones such as Nike+ runners community, or Lego enthusiasts community come to mind) vs. social networks and specialist communities. The key success factor is really the experience users will get out.
I strongly invite you to watch the video interview with Maria Sipka below. If you are interested by the slides Maria used during the Lift10 workshop, you can easily find them here.
I hope you will appreciate the insights and look forward to your comments and reactions.
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