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Internet Marketing Online Community Net Gain or Silicon Snake Oil Positives and negatives of the Internet Optimists Innovative communications Message boards and chat rooms Social interaction Community building ICQ Business-to-business builds on existing community
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Internet Marketing Online Community
Net Gain or Silicon Snake Oil • Positives and negatives of the Internet
Optimists • Innovative communications • Message boards and chat rooms • Social interaction • Community building • ICQ • Business-to-business builds on existing community • Changing role and control of marketers
Pessimists • Isolate individuals and cheapen communications • Tone of voice • Harm social involvement
Community Characteristics • Internet communication tools • Rules that define community membership • Collaborative production of material by members • Repeat use by members
Online Tools • Categorizing • Communication rings - direct • Send messages directly to individuals • Content trees - indirect • Use a central point to collect and store information
Rules • Strong and weak membership rules • Strong communities require strong rules • Weak community is a problem for online marketers • Escalating membership rules • Helps build large groups with strong cohesion – frequent flyer programs and online role-playing games
Rules and Focus • Focus is crucial • Maintaining focus as the group grows • Content focus helps search engines locate a site
Collaboration • Desirable features of member content • Low cost • Current • Creative • Credible • Contributions are skewed • Tilt to heavy users • Online tools expand discussion networks • Who do you talk to?
Community, Private and Public Goods • Public and private goods • Private – owned and excludable • Public – enjoyed by all • Public goods undersupplied • Jointness of supply • Hard to launch a service but easy to grow one
Launching Online Communities • Merge published and member content • Develop focus and attention that starts growth • Combine private and public good ideas • Challenges of mixing content • Balance between quality and member freedom • Brand reputation of sponsor • Legal problems • Real-time vs delayed posting • Level of editorial involvement
Virtual Trade Shows • Identifying prospects • Servicing current customers • Introducing new or qualified products • Enhancing corporate image • Testing new products • Improving corporate morale • Gathering competitor information • Selling at the show
Benefits • Forrester Research • Broader marketing reach – 81% • Increase in sales – 23% • Access to industry information – 15% • Continuous • Lower cost • Leverage face-to-face meetings • Pre-qualify contacts and deliver information
Professional Forums • Strong membership criteria • Guarantees quality of contribution • Guarantees homogeneity • Prevents spamming • Rapidly changing & complicated probs • Need for chat • Need to discuss alternative ideas • Local or regional markets • No competitive constraints • Distributed knowledge
Emphasize Growth First • Increasing returns and community • Content attractiveness, member loyalty, member profiles and transaction offerings • Content Attractiveness Loop • Initial content draws more and encourages people to stay • Member loyalty • Supports personalization and customization
Loops • E-Commerce Loop • Commercial foundation for virtual communities • Value of vendors to build community • Member Profile • Links community information to transaction activity