member organisations

As always, the best way to answer the question is to think about real life. Personally I find joining an existing community (like a sports club) a fairly stressful business.

On the outside it’s surprising how many businesses rely on the continuing buying habits of their customers when times are hard. For many the assumption is that inertia will prevail despite the economic gloom. On the inside it’s understandable. After all many business models are based on our inertia – our reticence to change.

Different types of online communities require different approaches.  We hear a lot about consumer-driven communities with large numbers of members, or business to business communities for select professionals, but less of the needs of member organisation’s online communities. Understanding the needs of your audience, whether through intensive market research, creating personas of your typical audience types and their needs, or benchmarking what your competitors are offering, all has a part to play.