Online Communities Technology Overview

1. Online Communities Technology Overview Online Communities: Technology Overview © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Technology Overview By: Clare Price, VP Research With: Kristen Maida, Senior Research Analyst September 2014

2. 3 4 6 7 Executive Summary Online Communities Overview Online Communities Vendor Landscape Evolution of the Landscape Table of Contents 10 About Our Technology Overview Methodology 8 9 Analyst Bottom Line About the Research Analysts 11 About Demand Metric 3 4 6 7 Executive Summary Online Communities Overview Online Communities Vendor Landscape Evolution of the Landscape Table of Contents 10 About Our Technology Overview Methodology 8 9 Analyst Bottom Line About the Research Analysts 11 About Demand Metric

3. Online Communities and Social Networks have transformed the Marketing landscape in the last ten years. From pioneers like Myspace to the behemoths of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, Online Communities have become digital neighborhoods, hangouts and intersections of commerce. Marketers have found the global Social Networks to be both a benefit and a challenge. The benefit is the ability to reach millions of prospective customers with the click of a mouse. The challenge is be seen and heard in a growing cacophony of marketing noise. Increasingly, marketers are finding that the answer is to create private or company-owned Online Communities set apart from the social mainstream and dedicated to the needs of their unique customers. Company-owned online communities are websites that act as engagement engines. They enable companies to create social relationships with customers and prospects and to foster peer-to- peer relationships that drive engagement with the company, brand, product or service. Activities include blogs, forums, Q&A, groups, contests, Gamification, SEO, and Social Media integrations. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Increasingly, companies are using these communities for crowdsourcing and ideation to drive innovation and new product development. Online Communities are also useful for identifying potential advocates who can be further engaged using the Advocacy and Loyalty platforms. In this report, we examined company-owned Online Communities rather than the large social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For a review of those networks and the platforms that support them, please download our Social Media Marketing Solution Study. Our Online Communities Vendor Landscape provides a detailed look at the landscape, vendors and solutions for Online Communities. The goal is to enable Modern Marketing organizations to make effective investment decisions about the private Online Community platforms and tools that best fit their broader Customer Engagement strategy. 3 Online Communities: Technology Overview Online Communities and Social Networks have transformed the Marketing landscape in the last ten years. From pioneers like Myspace to the behemoths of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, Online Communities have become digital neighborhoods, hangouts and intersections of commerce. Marketers have found the global Social Networks to be both a benefit and a challenge. The benefit is the ability to reach millions of prospective customers with the click of a mouse. The challenge is be seen and heard in a growing cacophony of marketing noise. Increasingly, marketers are finding that the answer is to create private or company-owned Online Communities set apart from the social mainstream and dedicated to the needs of their unique customers. Company-owned online communities are websites that act as engagement engines. They enable companies to create social relationships with customers and prospects and to foster peer-to- peer relationships that drive engagement with the company, brand, product or service. Activities include blogs, forums, Q&A, groups, contests, Gamification, SEO, and Social Media integrations. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Increasingly, companies are using these communities for crowdsourcing and ideation to drive innovation and new product development. Online Communities are also useful for identifying potential advocates who can be further engaged using the Advocacy and Loyalty platforms. In this report, we examined company-owned Online Communities rather than the large social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For a review of those networks and the platforms that support them, please download our Social Media Marketing Solution Study. Our Online Communities Vendor Landscape provides a detailed look at the landscape, vendors and solutions for Online Communities. The goal is to enable Modern Marketing organizations to make effective investment decisions about the private Online Community platforms and tools that best fit their broader Customer Engagement strategy. 3 Online Communities: Technology Overview

4. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Technology Overview ABOUT DEMAND METRIC Demand Metric is a global marketing research & advisory firm serving a membership community of over 40,000 marketing professionals, CEOs, and business owners with advisory services, custom research & benchmarking reports, vendor studies, consulting methodologies, training, and a library of 500+ tools and templates. Using Demand Metric resources, members complete projects faster and with greater confidence, boosting respect for the marketing team and making it easier to justify needed resources. Our 1,000+ clients range from start-ups to members of the Global 1000. To read the rest of this Benchmark Report, become a Demand Metric member today! © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Technology Overview ABOUT DEMAND METRIC Demand Metric is a global marketing research & advisory firm serving a membership community of over 40,000 marketing professionals, CEOs, and business owners with advisory services, custom research & benchmarking reports, vendor studies, consulting methodologies, training, and a library of 500+ tools and templates. Using Demand Metric resources, members complete projects faster and with greater confidence, boosting respect for the marketing team and making it easier to justify needed resources. Our 1,000+ clients range from start-ups to members of the Global 1000. To read the rest of this Benchmark Report, become a Demand Metric member today!