Nowadays your customers are more likely to trust a complete stranger’s product review, because they prefer to know what other people think rather than being shown “branded” marketing messages. By developing an online community where customers create the content, share information and interact, your company can deepen customer engagement and influence the purchase decision.
In a recent blog post Chris Brogan says “communities empower users of products or services, or people with like-minded interests to interact”. The idea is to create a customer-centric social network and community tools on your company website. Since this will empower customers to make informed purchase decisions and differentiate your brand in the marketplace. Below are some ideas for creating online communities.
Customer ratings and reviews ~ companies like eBay, Amazon, Zappos and Expedia use detailed seller ratings and testimonials to improve customer information, increase product relevance and build trust. Since consumers naturally follow the crowd and like understanding the selections and preferences of others, try creating a simple customer ratings system for your products and allow space for customers to write a review. This will engage power shoppers who read reviews and ultimately spend more online.
Email-a-friend ~ provide the ability for your customers to send their favorite products or your special offers to friends and family.
Member-to-member news ~ allow members of your community to post notices to other members.
Member content ~ let customers post video, fan mail, product usage or travel tips by creating a customer discussion board or user forum.
Connect to social networking sites ~ allow customers to share the content with others via feeds to Facebook, MySpace, Linked-in, StumbleUpon or Digg.
Company blog or Twitter feed ~ let customers follow your latest news and keep up-to-date with new products, developments or special offers.
By creating an online community and allowing customers to share valuable product insights with one another you can significantly influence the buying decision process, create engagement with your brand and deepen the online customer experience.
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