Best Online Communities

Aaron Strout, Vice President of Marketing at the social networking-focused marketing firm Powered, provided LoveToKnow Best with his expert list of the best online communities with a promotional goal. Aaron has 15 years of marketing experience; before joining the social networking world, ten of those years were at Fidelity Investments. He also brings to the table community manager experience, spending a year in charge of the community at We Are Smarter Than Me. Aaron shares, "Now as the head of marketing at Powered, I practice what I preach by creating valuable content and engaging my constituents in conversation to drive awareness and leads for Powered."

Aaron Strout, VP of Marketing at Powered, shares his list of top online communities.

1.

 P&G has done a great job at creating a community where pre-teen/teen girls can go to chat about things they care about like boys, music and movies versus a feminine hygiene community. However, P&G provides a gentle reminder that if these girls ever want to have a conversation about this sometimes uncomfortable topic, there are areas to go and experts to converse with.

2.

 Nike has created a community focused on lifestyle (running) vs. sneakers. From what I’ve heard, the results have been amazing.

3.

 HP is a customer of Powered, but the company has been running a small and medium-size business community now with us for several years. Given the dearth of business-to-business communities out there, this one has done pretty darn well.

4.

 Rob Harles, Senior Vice President of community at Sears, has taken a tired brand and started to breathe some life into it one customer at a time. Launched just last summer, the community already has over 300,000 members - and continues to grow rapidly.

5.

 Atkins is another Powered client. The thing I like about what Atkins is doing is driving product sales and loyalty and defining important market research insights while providing a “well-lit” community where people that are participating in the Atkins lifestyle can come together.

6.

 Dell is one of the original leaders in tapping into its customers to source new products and services.

7.

 One of the longer tenured online communities out there, Intuit is a great resource for small business, financial and tax help from both Intuit employees and other Intuit customers.

8.

 Edmunds provides a fantastic mix of expert and consumer-generated content. To me, this is the way of the future.

9.

 A true “give before you get” community with results that are off the charts. Our client sponsor at Sony talks regularly about how this community drives referrals, engagement, new sales and is the leading program in terms of driving Sony’s Net Promoter Score (NPS).

10.

 This community is most exciting because Microsoft is finally understanding the fact that it has to have a conversation with its retail customers (it’s been a leader in the developer online community space for years).

Finding and Creating the Best Online Communities

Powered works to build online communities with a powerful marketing presence.

LoveToKnow Best: What does the average user look for in an online community?

Aaron Strout: I’m going to give you the “consulting” answer for this and say that it depends. What I can tell you, though, is that there are really two key elements that will help any online community succeed. The first is content (and it has to be good, engaging content – not an infomercial) and the second is conversation. Think of this like a cocktail party. Nobody wants to show up at your house and find out there is no food and no people. An online community is no different.

LTK: Are there any common factors that the best online communities share?

AS: I touched on this in the answer above but providing a place where people can learn – whether it’s through engaging content provided by the company themselves, or by other users – is one key. The other is having a helpful community manager that can not only answer questions but also has the ability to facilitate conversation among other community members.

LTK: When a community doesn't reach its full potential, what are the most likely culprits?

AS: Nine out of ten times, it’s a lack of content. Or worse, a company coming in and treating its online community like it’s a place to sell. People are pretty smart and won’t come back if they don’t find value in a community. There’s a reason why people don’t like car shopping and that’s because they know that as soon as they walk in the door of a dealership, they’re going to get a steady sales pitch. One other item that should be mentioned is a lack of a good user interface. If you join a community and can’t figure out what to do next, it’s unlikely that you’ll be back.