With the advent of the internet came a lot of new developments in the way people connect with one another. One of such ways is through the online communities. These communities are commonly referred to in different terms such as virtual communities, e-communities and, of course, online communities because the basic criteria for these groups' interactions is the use of the internet as a connection/communication platform as against meeting face-to-face for their purposes. Weber (2007:88) defined these virtual groups as ‘online sites where people aggregate around a common interest area’ and his examples include WebMD, ivillage and DailyCandy. Whatever the area of interest is to the aggregators, they always patronise these sites for information, networking, news or entertainment. Chaffey & Smith (2008: 163-4) argued for the importance of online communities saying the paradigm shift in communication means that marketers have to focus their attention on these offshoots of the new media. In this write-up, two types of online communities will be examined and they include browser-based and video game based communities.Man is a sociable animal (Chavey and Smith 2008). People are not interested in living in isolation, they like interaction and communication.That is why people embraced virtual communities upon introduction. John Hagel (Hagel and Armstrong 1997) identifies the importance of virtual communities by saying ‘The rise of online communities in virtual networks has set in motion an unprecedented shift from vendors of goods and services to the customers who buy them. Vendors who understand this transfer of power and choose to capitalise on it by organising virtual communities will be richly rewarded with both peerless customer loyalty and impressive economic returns. There some disadvantages of virtual communities that has been noted by scholars. Some pointed out its lack of editorial control (Keen 2007).Others say it affects our culture and values (Chaffey and Smith 2008). However, the advantages are stronger when compared with its demerit. For example, people use it for opinions and views expression on topic, keep in touch with family and friends, dating avenues, have fun playing virtual games and above all expose you to the world of internet where you can access any specific thing you want to do with just a click.
Advantages and disadvantages of online communities
Speaking about online communities it is important to analyze each of their strengths and weaknesses in order to use them in achieving successful business purposes.
For example, video games is a popular subject of discussion at educational organizations, because one of the advantages of video games is the ability to develop children’s motor skills and social behaviour. Video games help to develop better level of concentration and affect kids remembering, memorizing, and linear thinking (PC Magazine 2006).
At the same time there is a problem with playing video games. According to Jane Simms video games develop addiction and promote sitting style of life, which leads to obesity (Director 2006).
Another representative of online community is browser based community, which allows people to interact without any specific equipment installation or software. It makes communication easier and allows many organizations to facilitate online conferences. Such things as frequent download of HTML in order to see new message, difficulty ‘to build the room for every member of conversation’, spam, not available archiving leave the opportunity for improvement of browser based communities (Journal of Website Promotion 2006).
For example, video games is a popular subject of discussion at educational organizations, because one of the advantages of video games is the ability to develop children’s motor skills and social behaviour. Video games help to develop better level of concentration and affect kids remembering, memorizing, and linear thinking (PC Magazine 2006).
At the same time there is a problem with playing video games. According to Jane Simms video games develop addiction and promote sitting style of life, which leads to obesity (Director 2006).
Another representative of online community is browser based community, which allows people to interact without any specific equipment installation or software. It makes communication easier and allows many organizations to facilitate online conferences. Such things as frequent download of HTML in order to see new message, difficulty ‘to build the room for every member of conversation’, spam, not available archiving leave the opportunity for improvement of browser based communities (Journal of Website Promotion 2006).
How company can target the online community ?
Nowadays more and more people have spend their time on Face book, My Space, dating sites or online Game like War Craft and Lord of the rings. They have become a large online community. This group could be a huge potential for businesses to advertise events and products as most of people in this group have disposal income and time.
In order to make advantage of this group, businesses need to have clear marketing tactics. According to Miller, et (2009), companies can interact with online communities by many ways:
· Observing and collecting information
· Hosting or sponsoring communities
· Provide content to communities (such as music , information or entertainment)
· Participating as members of online communities
It is quite interesting that if companies do not have experiences of e-marketing, they can ask a web hosting company to do all jobs for them such as web man
aging and viral marketing to online communities. An example of web hosting in the UK is simplewebhosting.co.uk. All requirements of clients can be meet.
It is also quite effective when companies participate as members of online communities. They can either observe their customers’ behaviour or collect useful information for product consolidation. For example, with Second Life, companies can create their own entities for the purpose of brand advertisement. Also, You Tube is a place for cosmetic companies to post their beauty tutorials. Via clips, they can also receive comments and feedbacks from viewers and of course, if the clips are nice, they might go out and buy the similar products.
It is also quite effective when companies participate as members of online communities. They can either observe their customers’ behaviour or collect useful information for product consolidation. For example, with Second Life, companies can create their own entities for the purpose of brand advertisement. Also, You Tube is a place for cosmetic companies to post their beauty tutorials. Via clips, they can also receive comments and feedbacks from viewers and of course, if the clips are nice, they might go out and buy the similar products.
(Second Life )
References:
Chaffey,D., Smith, P.R. (2008). e Marketing, e excellence: Planning and optimizing your digital marketing. London: Elsevier
References:Chaffey,D., Smith, P.R. (2008). e Marketing, e excellence: Planning and optimizing your digital marketing. London: Elsevier
Hagel, J. And Armstrong, A. (1997). Net Gain: Expanding market through virtual communities. Harvard Business Press
Keen, A. (2007). The Cult of Amateur: How the Democratisation of the Digital World is Assaulting Our Economy, Our Cultures and Our Values. Double day currency
Weber, L. (2007) Marketing to the Social WebNew Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Miller, K.D, Fabian, Fand Lin, S. J, (2009) ‘ Strategies for online communities’, Strategic Management Journal, 30, 305-322
3 comments:
you stated that "Man is a sociable animal" does this only applied to men or female as well, also who said this?
Man in this context covers both sex.(Male and Female). This was said by By Chaffey and Smith in their book e Marketing e Excellence(2008) pg 163.
I also agree that the good way to access to online community is participate the group as a member. This is quite right as I used to promote a product for my company by chatting & sharing info with gamers.
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