An online community is a place and connection (community) for interacting online for common purposes and benefits.
Due to the development of the Internet, especially SNS, and the impact of the new coronavirus, it has become difficult to interact offline, and online communities are becoming more popular.
The benefits of online communities are not limited to the users who participate in them.
“I want to interact with users more and listen to their needs and issues.”
“I want to increase the number of fans and convey the appeal of our products.”
If you are a product manager or marketer who is worried about that, you can solve the above through an online community, so please try it.
This time, we will explain what an online community is, what types of communities there are, and how to get started while introducing recommended platforms for companies considering online communities.
This article will not only help you understand online communities, but also what you need to do to get started.
What is an online community
An online community literally means a community formed online. Communities are formed when people with common interests and goals gather online.
There are closed ones, such as online salons, where only registered members can participate, and open ones, where even members outside the community can see interactions.
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Online communities bring together people with similar interests to interact and receive exclusive information. The number of companies starting to operate is also increasing due to the fact that online activities have become active due to the corona wreck.
According to a 2017 survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, about 80% of Japanese people in their 20s to 70s participate in some form of online community.
Types of online communities
Online communities are broadly classified into six categories as described above. Each of them has different management and objectives.
corporate community
A corporate community is a community operated by a company for the purpose of promoting sales of its own products, marketing, and promoting the use of its products by users .
In addition, corporate communities are operated by companies for various purposes, such as improving customer loyalty and acquiring regular customers by distributing information and coupons limited to registered users.
A representative example of a corporate community is “&KAGOME” operated by Kagome Co., Ltd.
There are many mechanisms to foster Kagome fans, such as setting up a place to post recipes using Kagome products and conducting popularity polls.
At Kagome, the top 2.5% of heavy users originally accounted for 30% of all purchases, so they launched an online community to learn more about these fans and create a place to actively connect with them.
online salon
An online salon is a membership community based on the Web and SNS, mainly hosted by individuals and celebrities .
It is a closed place where you can exchange opinions on common topics and view content distributed by the organizer.
It is common for online salons to have participants pay a monthly usage fee. It is used not only as a hobby, but also as a place to learn how to think and know-how in business, such as management and sales.
Akihiro Nishino’s Akihiro Nishino Entertainment Laboratory is a well-known example of an online salon. As of September 2020, the number of members has exceeded 70,000, and it has succeeded in spreading the name of the online salon to the world beyond the mere personal fan club.
Knowledge sharing community
A knowledge sharing community is a community where knowledge is shared by participants answering their questions.
Typical examples include Yahoo! Chiebukuro and Wikipedia.
Communication within the community is characterized by being open, and knowledge is widely shared with people outside the community. It not only solves user problems but also contributes to the expansion of recognition because it is open and easy to notice.
fan community
A fan community is a community of people (fans) who like a particular brand or person.
There are both cases where fans gather together and are operated informally, and cases where the company itself is operated for the purpose of interacting with fans.
The latter can be said to be the corporate community.
A prime example of a fan-run fan community is Starbucks coffee fan community Starbaholic.
Starbucks coffee has always had many fans, but it has become a large-scale community with nearly 10,000 people participating as a place to talk about the appeal of Starbucks.
hobby community
A hobby community is a community where people with common interests connect through SNS such as Facebook.
Individuals are the main operators. In terms of a community where fans gather together, it also has an element of a fan community.
Facebook’s group function is a platform that is often used in hobby communities. Communities of various interests exist, both large and small.
local community
A local community is a group of people who live in a specific area.
Originally, exchanges were mainly conducted offline, but due to the impact of the new coronavirus, online exchanges are increasing.
For example, on the neighborhood SNS called “Machimachi”, word-of-mouth communication and topics are often discussed in each area, and it plays a role as a substitute for offline regional exchanges, which are decreasing.
Benefits of Online Communities
I will explain the benefits of online communities from both the company (operation) side and the participant side.
Company benefits
There are three benefits for businesses in online communities:
- Listening to users’ real voices to understand their needs and dissatisfaction
- You can become a fan by increasing user loyalty
- Reduce support costs
Listening to users’ real voices to understand their needs and dissatisfaction
Through online communities, you can hear the voices of users, such as their needs and frustrations.
Taking questionnaires offline one by one takes time and costs, but online communities allow users to proactively express their opinions, making it easier to interview users.
For example, you can recruit monitors for new products, or ask questions such as “Is the product ○○ easy to use?” An online community of enthusiastic fans can provide a lot of useful feedback.
Based on the voices of those users, it will be possible to reflect them in product development.
You can become a fan by increasing user loyalty
Close communication between companies and customers in online communities leads to improved customer loyalty . As a result, customers can become fans .
Customer loyalty is trust and attachment to products and brands, and is essential for maintaining long-term relationships of trust with customers. Also, in online communities, there are many cases where members with low interest are influenced by members with high enthusiasm and their enthusiasm increases.
A big advantage of increasing customer loyalty is that the unit price per customer increases .
Purchasing other related products at the same time (cross-selling) or purchasing a higher-end product (up-selling) will increase the purchase price per purchase.
In addition, high loyalty = a state of attachment to the product, so there is no need to switch to other companies, so the frequency of purchase (repeat rate) will inevitably increase.
As a result of these, the unit price per customer increases. As in the case of Kagome mentioned earlier, improving customer loyalty is of great significance.
Reduce support costs
Customer support costs can also be reduced through the use of online communities. You can expect it in the knowledge sharing community.
For example, in the Google search community operated by Google, various questions about Google search are posted every day, and users provide answers.
It is difficult for Google, which has a huge number of users, to handle all of these on its own in terms of cost.
The fact that users can solve problems with each other on the online community leads to a reduction in support costs.
Benefits for participants
Users participating in online communities will benefit from:
- Get more useful information about your area of interest
- Meet people with similar values
Get more useful information about your area of interest
You can get useful information that is not available on the web about the fields and services you are interested in.
For example, on &KAGOME mentioned above, recipes using Kagome products are posted, but there are not many places where recipes using specific products are collected. The only recipes that are easy to find on the web are the recipes that the company itself introduces.
Being able to obtain useful information that is difficult to find is a great advantage for users.
Meet people with similar values
Being able to meet like-minded people is also a great advantage for participants.
Online communities are expected to play a role not only as a place to exchange information, but also as a place where people with common values can connect with each other.
The previous Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications White Paper on Information and Communications also indicates that online communities are being used to complement the decline in offline communities.
How to start an online community
Follow the steps below to start your online community.
- Decide on the purpose and concept of the salon
- decide how to operate
- determine the participation fee
- Define terms of use and operation rules
- Attract customers by posting on the Internet
step 1. Decide on the purpose and concept of the salon
Before launching an online community, first decide on a concept. Every company has its own issues, such as “I want to hear more from customers” and “I want to create a place for fans to interact” .
An online community without a concept doesn’t last long. We will clarify within the company, “Why is an online community necessary?” and establish a concept that can solve the problem.
Step 2. decide how to operate
There are two options for managing an online community: running it yourself or using a platform .
If you want to reduce the hassle of supporting and attracting customers, the platform is recommended. You can easily start without knowledge of coding, but there will be a fee.
If you want to keep costs down or have all the functions you need, you should start your own website. Technology and effort are required for development and operation, but there is no usage fee and it can be operated flexibly.
Step 3. determine the participation fee
Decide whether to collect a participation fee (membership fee) from the participants or provide it for free.
In general, online salons are paid memberships, and other communities are often open for free.
If you charge a fee, the hurdle for joining will increase, but users with high heat will gather.
Participation fees are freely determined by the company, but the market price is around 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen.
Step 4. Define terms of use and operation rules
To operate an online community, terms of use and management rules are essential.
The terms of use clearly state the content of the online community (purpose of operation) and copyright. It is also necessary to be aware of the confidentiality obligation , such as “not to leak information learned within the community to the outside” .
Once you have a certain amount of members, let’s decide the rules in the community and make them known. We will formulate rules that everyone can use comfortably, such as no slander, no leakage or diversion of internal content, no solicitation of information products, etc.
Regarding the operation rules, we will increase the ones that we deem necessary during operation.
Step 5. Attract customers by posting on the Internet
Once the online community is ready to some extent, we will send it out on the Internet and attract customers.
Let’s announce it on various media such as official SNS accounts, our company’s website, and e-mail magazines.
If you use SNS, you should regularly conduct hashtag campaigns and actively RT posts with hashtags on your official account.
How to choose a platform for online community management
When using the platform to run an online community, choose based on the following points:
- price
- Membership
- user base
- function
price
Some are free to use, such as Facebook groups, but basically there is a fee to use the platform.
There are a variety of options, from monthly flat-rate plans to those that pay a percentage of the sales made via the online community.
Since the market is still new and the price system and market price are not stable, it is necessary to carefully examine it.
Membership
A large number of members is also an important factor.
Since online communities are large and active, it is important to determine whether the platform has enough members in the first place.
In that sense, it would be safer to choose a major popular platform.
user base
It is necessary to check in advance whether the user base of the platform and the people you want to gather in the community match.
There are also platforms that are limited to age groups such as working adults and students, or housewives.
Be careful that there is no discrepancy between the user base and your company’s intentions.
function
It is also an important selection criterion whether the necessary functions are available for your company.
Depending on the platform, there are various options such as customer management functions, email distribution, and questionnaire functions.
There are other platforms where you can stream videos or hold seminars.
Alternatively, it is important to have sufficient analysis and management functions, which are important for operating and improving the community.
Make sure your online community has the features you need.
Tips for a successful online community
Here are three things to keep in mind for a successful online community:
- Don’t get too hung up on the number of participants at first
- Consistently provide content and services
- Create a mechanism for participants to interact with each other
Don’t get too hung up on the number of participants at first
At first, you don’t have to worry about the number of participants.
It’s important to have a large number of people in the community, but what’s more important is how many fans are working with passion.
Emphasize communication with them, exchange opinions on how they usually use the service, what they like and dissatisfaction with, and make use of it in community marketing.
Then, from the fans who have the amount of heat, that heat will gradually spread to the surroundings.
The ideal is to start with a small group of enthusiastic people and gradually build up the momentum.
Consistently provide content and services
Even if the members are actively interacting with each other, the organizer should provide content and services on a regular basis.
In order to reduce the withdrawal rate, it is necessary to devise ways to keep the community lively.
For example, Pokka Sapporo Food’s “Jikkuri Kotokoto”, which was introduced earlier, regularly conducts product gift campaigns, and constantly provides content that makes new and continued participants want to participate in the community.
It is also important for the organizer to provide content and services.
Create a mechanism for participants to interact with each other
Create an atmosphere and space where users can speak freely, and create an environment where participants can interact with each other.
Community users especially want to “connect with people”, so we are conscious of creating exchanges that are valuable only within the community.
Specifically, there are various possibilities, such as holding online/offline events and providing user posting and commenting functions.
Let’s create a mechanism that makes it easy for users to interact with each other.
Common online community problems and workarounds
Common problems in online communities include:
- Members get into fights within the community
- Financial troubles between members
- Sexual harassment issues occur between members, but there is no consultation place
- Notoriety will be set up as “different from the advertisement and description content”
In recent years, there have been many reports of troubles caused by online communities, and many companies are worried. In order to realize safe and secure operation, we should also take preventive measures in advance.
Members get into fights within the community
It is possible that members of the community will quarrel with each other and develop into trouble because it is communication between people.
In a management method that allows members to post freely, fights between members are especially likely to occur. If there is a clash of opinions or an offensive post within the community, the whole community will get excited.
Furthermore, if it develops into a serious situation such as mental illness or being unable to work as a result of the fight, the organizer may be sued for damages. In order to prevent this from happening, let’s clearly state the response in the event of an emergency in the disclaimer in advance.
For example, clearly state that “the organizer does not guarantee any troubles that occur in exchanges between members”. At the time of joining, we will indicate that the organizer will not intervene in trouble.
It is important to prepare terms of use and operating rules in advance.
Financial troubles between members
In communities such as online salons where close communication is possible, financial troubles may occur between members.
In order to prevent financial troubles , the organizers will take measures such as prohibiting lending and borrowing money, and clearly stating in the terms of use that the organizers will not be involved. There have been quite a few cases of members lending and borrowing money from each other, and getting into trouble when they ask for investment because they believe it will be profitable .
Also, financial troubles can occur between the organizer and the members. Depending on the online community, there have been reports of troubles such as “paying a usage fee on an annual basis and it will not be refunded even if you wish to cancel in the middle” or “cannot withdraw for several months after joining and continue to pay usage fees in vain”. is increasing.
The organizer should also decide on the rules for withdrawal and settlement (whether monthly or daily), and take measures to prevent trouble when withdrawing.
It is also true that there are malicious communities in the online community, such as information products and groups that solicit “you can definitely make money”. There are many cases of money being defrauded on the street, and the image of “online community = suspicious” is planted.
Many people hesitate to join because of the negative image above. When collecting membership fees, the organizers need to set particularly detailed rules about money rules.
Sexual harassment issues occur between members, but there is no consultation place
In order to deal with issues such as sexual harassment that are difficult for members to consult, it is necessary to provide a consultation place such as setting up a consultation form within the community . Furthermore , if you make it possible to consult anonymously , it will be easier for members to consult.
Within the online community, there is also the issue of sexual harassment, such as insistently inviting people out on dates while interacting with other members. Sexual harassment issues are less likely to surface because it is a closed place, and members who have been victimized have only two options: to give up or quit.
Notoriety will be set up as “different from the advertisement and description content”
There are many members who feel that they are different from their image after joining, and many of them express their dissatisfaction on SNS . In order to prevent the spread of a negative image, the organizer must first convey the content of the advertisement correctly.
For example, if you promote a gift project that is held only a few times a year, some users will misunderstand that “membership = free product”. It is necessary to announce the outline of the events that are definitely held, such as “interaction between fans” and “recruitment of monitors once a month”.
The online community cannot confirm the contents in advance, and some members are dissatisfied after joining, saying, “It was different from the advertisement” or “It was different from the explanation.” This trouble is unique to closed online communities.
summary
An online community is a community that interacts online for a common purpose.
Online communities can be broadly classified into six categories.
- corporate community
- online salon
- Knowledge sharing community
- fan community
- hobby community
- local community
For companies, there are many benefits, such as being able to directly ask users about their needs and dissatisfaction, increasing customer loyalty, improving the unit price per customer and improving profit margins, and reducing customer support costs.
When running an online community, you have two choices: prepare your own site or use a platform.
I think that it is technically difficult to prepare a community site on your own in many cases, so in that case it would be better to use a platform.
We hope that you will consider the platforms introduced in this article as an option.
Also, the online community is not the end after it is launched, but the operation after that is the key.
While paying attention to the troubles introduced, please try to create a system that will make exchanges more active.
