Online communities are proliferating as companies look to harness the collective wisdom and ideas of their employees, customers, and other constituents in order to innovate faster, reduce costs, and create the relationships that will grow their businesses and bolster their bottom lines.

Beeline Labs, Deloitte and the Society of New Communications Research have produced the first study of its kind to learn from the early experiences of more than 140 organizations on how they’re managing communities, measuring success, and deriving business benefits. The survey and interviews examined online community initiatives at a mix of business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies, as well as non-profits, with communities ranging from fewer than 100 members to more than 10,000 members.

The study surfaced valuable insights, lessons learned, and best practices for moving forward.  Below and at right are highlights and resources for learning more.

To access the full report, register at the top of the right column.

THE MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

#1: Communities are about Delivering Game-Changing Results

• Communities can increase revenue per customer dramatically, i.e., 50%
• Communities will increase product introduction success ratios
• Communities amplify everything you do- increasing effectiveness and decreasing costs

#2: The Rise of the CMO 2.0?

• Communities should be an important part of the CMO’s toolset (but for many large companies - there is an under-investment and scale problem)
• Companies should evolve the role of the CMO into Chief Community Officer (but that will require drastic changes in attitude and approach to marketing)
• If done properly, communities will transform the way marketing works (reduced costs, improved effectiveness, new opportunities)

#3: The Need for New Management Thinking

• Mismatch between community goals and associated investments
• Major gaps between Community Goals and what is being measured
• Communities have yet to combine with major talent initiatives
• Communities will transform most business processes

#3.5: The Worst Practices Enjoy Wide Adoption

• The “build it and they will come” fallacy
• The “let’s keep it small so it doesn’t move the needle” phenomenon
• The “not invented here” syndrome

COMMENTARY + CONTEXT

We have been writing extensively about the study and communities in general over the past few months as we’ve conducted interviews and gathered data. A sampling of recent articles:

• The importance of scale to make in communities
• Understanding the power of communities - even when you do not have a critical mass of users
• The Importance of Affiliating with Others in Corporate Community Efforts
• Are customer communities changing the marketing department?
• Observations from the Community 2.0 Conference
• Communities are still so young - many people still confused
• Why wrong measurements can be bad for your community’s health
• The long tail effects of business communities

Need Help? 

And lastly, wondering how you can get started — or increase the value of your investment in communities already underway? Check out Beeline’s services.