ONLINE

COMMUNITIES

TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
 ONLINE COMMUNITIES
Technology Overview

Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary 3

2 Online Communities Overview 5

3 Online Communities Vendor Landscape 8

4 Evolution of the Landscape 10

5 Analyst Bottom Line 12

Technology Overview Methodology 13

About Demand Metric 14
 ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ONLINE COMMUNITIES: TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 4

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

For a review of those networks and the platforms that support them, SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING VIEW RESOURCE
please download our Social Media Marketing Solution Study. Solution Study

Insights, Landscape, & Vendor Analysis

 ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Online Communities
Overview
ONLINE COMMUNITIES OVERVIEW ONLINE COMMUNITIES: TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 6

Online Communities Overview

Demand Metric defines Online Communities as website, and private Social Networks that enable members to interact in a controlled setting and are
created and maintained by a company or group to foster communication among peers or likeminded individuals. Online Community platforms include
the processes, technologies, and tools that enable a community to be built, managed, and measured for growth, revenue, and profits.

The Power of Online Customer Engagement

Demand Metric’s State of Online Communities
We now know that the buyer travels up to 75% of their for Support study found that for organizations
journey before directly engaging with the company in that have an online community as part of their

50%
consideration. Equally, we know that most of the journey support process, half report a moderate or
takes place online. While offline Customer Engagement significant contribution to revenue.
still occurs, it plays a decreasing role in the buyer’s journey.

Instead, new Customer Experience or Engagement

platforms that offer Personalization, Advocacy, and
Loyalty capabilities enable vendors to reach customers
through other channels with customized offers while
they are physically in the store or shopping online. Increasingly, companies are using these communities for
crowdsourcing and ideation to drive innovation and new
The trend is obvious even in the B2B space where, due product development.
to the nature and size of the transactions, sales teams are
more personally and directly involved. Today’s sales teams Online Communities are also useful for identifying potential
are more likely to rely on tablet-driven, cloud-powered advocates who can be further engaged using the Advocacy and
presentation tools and apps to provide the prospective Loyalty platforms.
customer with the best experience.
ONLINE COMMUNITIES OVERVIEW ONLINE COMMUNITIES: TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 7

The Future of Online

Communities is Private
While the global Social Networks continue to grow
exponentially, a revolution is happening with consumers,
companies, and brands: the private Online Community is
displacing the public network for many groups and activities.
Private Online Communities give marketers and brands
In analyzing this market, Demand Metric has found that among
much more control over information and social interaction.
members trust is higher, loyalty is stronger, and people are
They offer customers more privacy, a higher level of more engaged and willing to participate.
interaction, and stronger trust in both the community and
Demand Metric believes that companies and brands will increas-
the content provided. They can be precisely tuned to the
ingly shift marketing and advertising spends away from the global
needs of a specific group of customers. Private Online
Social Networks and toward private Online Communities.
Communities can have levels, such as newcomer to VIP, be
gamified, and are more secure than the public networks.

Members love them because they can cut through the

clutter and get exactly what they need while sharing their
passions and insights with others who will most appreciate
them. They get their questions answered by members with
more experience and expertise in the subject at hand.

Learn what the customer support landscape looks like and how
effective crowd based, self-service support channels are working VIEW RESOURCE
with our State of Online Communities report.
GAMIFICATION ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 8
ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Online Communities
Vendor Landscape
ONLINE COMMUNITIES VENDOR LANDSCAPE ONLINE COMMUNITIES: TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 9

Online Communities Vendor Landscape

As previously mentioned, this vendor landscape focuses on private Online
Communities.

Solutions from Online Community vendors range from basic web

community-building platforms, such as Disqus and Ning designed for 105
forums, chat blogging, and commenting, to sophisticated Social Community
platforms with web content management, intranet collaboration, and
detailed analytics from vendors, such as DNN, Lithium, Vanilla Forums,
Salesforce Community, and Higher Logic.

Marketers should expect an Online Community solution to provide at a

minimum a fundamental set of community-building capabilities. These
include forums, blogs, chats, reviews, Q&A, badges, contests, photos and
videos, and social widgets.

From that basis, vendors’ solutions focus on specific requirements such

as eCommerce, intranet/workplace collaboration, social curation and
storytelling, and social advertising for media and advertising.

Download Demand Metric’s Online Communities Vendor

Matrix to review the key vendors for this space. Vendors are
VIEW RESOURCE
detailed by target industries, key offerings, unique strengths,
and current customers.
GAMIFICATION ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 10
ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Evolution of the Landscape

EVOLUTION OF THE LANDSCAPE
Evolution of the Landscape
The early days of private Online Communities were characterized by
forums, bulletin boards, and chat rooms for Q&A and idea sharing. The
marketers’ role was mainly Social Listening and Monitoring to understand
customer behavior with dialog moderation.
A second stage emerged as Online Communities became destinations
where people went for higher trust information via reviews, tribal-based
knowledge, email and community support, special-interest blogs, and
photo and video sharing.
The third stage, which has emerged over the last five years or so, is
the development of true eCommerce communities. These communities
are designed for Marketing, Sales, and Customer Care Enablement.
They are built specifically for Advocacy and Loyalty applications, include
sophisticated Gamification engines, are connected to Web Content
Management systems, and integrate with Enterprise CRM and Marketing
Automation systems.
Our Advocacy and Loyalty Technology Overview highlights
the advocacy and loyalty technology space at a high-level.
ONLINE COMMUNITIES: TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 11
They also include Social Network channel integration and offer a range of
analytics, from visitor profiles to advanced analytics for tracking customer inter-
ests, behavior, and sentiment. Rather than being “attached” to the company
website as a separate area, they are becoming natively integrated so that
moving from the visitor-based website to the community is seamless.
The future of private Online Communities is clear. Private Online Commu-
nities will increasingly become the company or brand’s primary website
and engagement point with their customers; a virtual “settlement.” Initial
entry will be via a simple intro landing page or portal for basic information
gathering and customer qualification.
That will be followed by a fast push into the community where deeper
engagement, VoC/Feedback, and Loyalty and Advocacy platforms will
enable Marketing, Sales, and Customer Care teams to create more
sustainable relationships for measureable customer lifetime value.
ADVOCACY AND
LOYALTY VIEW RESOURCE
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
ANALYST BOTTOM LINE ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 12

Analyst Bottom Line

Private Online Communities are a key component of Customer
Engagement, providing a destination and a virtual settlement
where customers can have the best possible experience with the
company, product, and service.

Market trends in the global Social Networks are making it more

difficult and expensive to reach and engage with customers
through public channels.

It is imperative that marketers build private Online Communities

that will enable them to provide a unique, highly tailored
experience for each customer and lay the foundation for creating
measurable and profitable Customer Engagement.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW METHODOLOGY ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 13

Technology Overview Methodology

The Modern Marketing landscape is an ever-changing, ever-evolving
environment in which new strategies, technologies, vendors, and
products appear continually.
Demand Metric Technology Overviews provide marketers with a
focus on a specific technology solution set or focus area so that
they are armed with the knowledge, information, and tools they
need to development effective strategies for their organizations.
Each Technology Overview involves hours of analyst research
(mainly publicly available information), is for a specific technology
solution, and is usually accompanied by several practical tools.
Our practical tools are designed to provide marketers with the tools
and templates they need to plan for an initiative in a given focus
area, analyze the vendor landscape, and select the best vendor for
their organization.
Our Customer Engagement series includes Technology Overviews on
Online Event Marketing
Advocacy and Loyalty
Gamification

THE EVOLUTION OF SHOPPER MARKETING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 1

We provide a comprehensive overview of Customer

Engagement in the companion report – Customer
CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT VIEW RESOURCE
Engagement Best Practices Report.

BEST PRACTICES GUIDE

ABOUT DEMAND METRIC ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 14

About Demand Metric

Demand Metric provides Agile Marketing software powered

by 1,000+ practical tools and resources to help our members
complete their work faster and with more confidence.

Our community of 125,000+ global members is composed of

CEOs and business owners, marketing consultants and agen-
cies, marketing executives and managers, and professionals
who specialize in: product management, marketing operations,
sales enablement, customer engagement, demand genera-
tion, content marketing, project management, account-based
marketing, and other disciplines.
VIEW WEBSITE
To learn more about Demand Metric, sign up for a free member-
ship at: www.demandmetric.com
GAMIFICATION ONLINE COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 15

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All Rights Reserved.

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