Why communities are necessary for businesses?
Simple answer, so that the different stakeholders of the business (customers, employees etc.) don't feel a disconnect to others and the companies they do business with.
When businesses invest in community management, they transition from a normal brand to a more human brand — one that takes care of the needs of the people who support them, work for them and interact with them.
Some obvious benefits to Businesses from Community Engagement:
- Enthusiastic members help acquire new members, resulting in lower customer acquisition costs and a tight viral loop.
- Members are less likely to abandon the community, resulting in increased retention and therefore improved lifetime value.
- Members support one another, resulting in high ROI from the community due to a lower cost of service.
Community efforts give way for very real network effects: as the engagement grows, the community gets smarter, faster to respond, more globally available, and generates more value.
- Salesforce
- a cloud and CRM tools giant with a behemoth $140 billion valuation.
- has also created a community of nearly 2 million members who support each other. The company’s annual “Dreamforce” conference, which attracts nearly 200,000 acolytes to
- The company’s annual “Dreamforce” conference, which attracts nearly 200,000 acolytes to San Francisco each year, represents a mecca for its ecosystem to convene, build relationships, and advance its corporate agenda.
- Fitbit
- has a community of more than 25 million members, who share and refine their exercise regimes
- increased loyalty when their members felt like they’re creating a movement instead of just being a customer to the bike giant.
- It has created more than 1,400 local chapters around the world for enthusiasts to get together in person and discuss their bikes.
- Pinterest increased its odds of finding and maintaining product-market fit as it was constantly learning from its community members. This helped Pinterest adapt its product direction with its changing needs.
- Codecademy
- Since the company was founded nine years ago, more than 50 million people have taken one of its courses.
- Users of Codecademy Pro (the company’s paid offering) have access to a Slack group so they can meet, mingle and share best practices with others and gain access to events with industry professionals and peers.