In previous blog posts, we've talked about how it is important to have a shared purpose or background for members in a research community.  The stronger that shared purpose is, the more vibrant the community will (likely) be.  For example, a research community of iPhone users is likely to be a really vibrant group...  However, even if you don't sell a "sexy" product like the iPhone that people naturally talk about, you can still build a successful online research community...  You just have to be a little "creative" in the way you define your shared background.

One relatively easy way of defining the shared background for just about any industry is to invite a targeted group of customers to a branded community and position them as trusted advisors to the company.  The shared background in this case is merely the fact that they are all customers, which is usually sufficient for establishing an ongoing research community.  While they may come from all walks of life and may represent any number of target segments, they at least know why they are there and what they share in common with other members. 

Of course, this post is for anyone looking to create an ongoing market research online community.  If you're using a MROC on a very short-term basis (e.g., a few weeks or months), then finding a shared purpose is far less critical to the success of the initiative.

Here's a quick and easy way to determine if you are off to the right start with designing your market research online community (MROC) approach...  Ask yourself this simple question:

Would you want to be a member of the community?

If you hesitate in being able to answer this question, think of ways that you can develop a stronger shared purpose and motivation for participation, beyond merely upping the extrinsic rewards of membership (e.g., honorariums).

For example, could you...

• Share information with your private online community before it is publicly released? 
  
• Send members new products to test out before they are released? 
  
• Make your community a destination for targeted news around a topic through RSS feeds (thus saving members time in finding this on their own)?
• Group the members in such a way as to make their shared bonds stronger?   
  

You get the idea...  Before you launch, take a step back and think of unique ways to engage the audience, beyond mere incentives.  It will work wonders in keeping your community vibrant and reducing attrition levels. 

-- Matt 

eMarketer recently posted an article citing findings from a study about why people go online.  To check out the article, click on the link below:

Why people go online

The reason I'm posting this is because it has implications for anyone running a market research online community (or really any online community for that matter...).  The way a moderator or community manager structures activities should try to appease as many of these motivations for going online as possible.  Here are some examples as it relates to MROCs:

• 92% go online to "connect with others" - The community environment is a natural place for this to happen...  Consider creating a specific part of your discussion forums for a "water cooler," where members can connect with each other on any topics they want to talk about.  
• 96% go online for education - To appeal to this motivation, try pulling in RSS feeds or posting relevant content from blogs/twitter that will help the audience learn more about the given topic. 
  
• 82% go online to "be entertained" - While MROCs tend to have a focus on a given research objective, there is no reason why you can't make the experience entertaining for participants.  For example, start a discussion asking people to post their favorite YouTube videos.  That will get members talking and keep them entertained, far beyond the research activities.

Of course, these are just a few of the ways to appeal to the motivations for people going online while moderating an online community.  There are ways to appeal to almost all of the motivations on the list using online communities if you're willing to be a little creative...  

- Matt 

I know that the literal definition of community is "a group of people living in one place..." but community in the context of research is considerably more than this.

Shared Interest & Common Goals

Research communities are about identity, interest, and common goals. They are living, breathing, organic entities that hopefully result in greater understanding about a situation or an audience. Though we live in a web 2.0 world, communities are not solely about specific features (e.g. forums, blogs, profile pages). For example, if you have a panel of people and suddenly give them a forum section to connect - this does not alone represent a community. These are static tools that are combined to give people a place to connect, but connection and a sense of community do not just happen, no matter what the feature set.

Identity & Life 

A good community needs action, life, interconnected activities and touch-points so that people can feel part of a shared goal and move together as a group. Members need to see and react to other members. They need to have a sense of self and others around them to truly be part of something as alive as a community. They need to be acknowledged, encouraged and engaged. 

Features Alone are not Enough

The tools and features you use to create this engagement do matter, but more importantly, the mix and context of these tools needs to foster connection for members and moderators. If I have a group of people that is solely engaged through surveys, they are not able to meet and see other people with this shared purpose. So, even if they check out the forum section or have a profile section, it can be an awkward experience that does not encourage thoughtful participation. The same theory applies to the use of photos and blogs. Having the features in a platform is great, but you can't expect people to share images of their life unless they are comfortable and acknowledged in an purposeful environment.

Result

The more you can create a shared identity, a shared interest, and shared goals the more rewarding your community will be.

Here are 5 ways to think about the success of an online research community:

1. Progress & Level of Understanding

Did the research community deliver on the objectives you were trying to achieve? What did you learn about your customers? What did your customers share over the life of the community and would this have been possible without the community venue?

2. Replacement or Supplement

Were you able to effectively use the community venue to supplement, refine, or replace some of your non-community research needs over time? How much cost savings did you realize as a result?

3. Internal Stakeholder Satisfaction

How do your internal teams and stakeholders feel about the output from your community research? Did it give them access to insights and ideas to help them be more effective -  compared to the other types of research?  Did having this ongoing venue make you more efficient and speed up product/research cycles internally?

4. Cost/Benefit

Thinking about the output from your community, could you have found this information through another research method? If you were to try to get the information somewhere else, how much time and money would it have required?

5. Affinity & Loyalty

How do your customers feel as a result of participating in this research? Do they feel differently about your brand and the direction of your organization? What are some ways you can use community tools with a wider group of customers in the future?

I’ve always wondered why more people are not using research communities in crisis management research and strategy. They are such a natural fit…

For starters, the most active point in a research community’s life is often the initial launch. For the first few weeks/months, new members are most excited to be part of the process and you see the highest participation rates in this initial period. This would tie in nicely with any type of crisis management project, when there is a fairly finite and urgent period of time to deal with an issue. The more people you have weighing in a given issue, typically the more insightful it can be.

Secondly, user generated content tends to spike when current issues or pop culture directly relate to the central theme of a community. We see this all the time in some of our tech-focused research communities. When a new device hits the market - community members offer the most insightful feedback pre and post product release. They blog about pricing/feature rumors and genuinely check in regularly to see if any other community members can dig up any details about the new release. Since crisis management typically involves very present issues - you could tap raw opinions/attitudes about the crisis as it is happening.

Also, I think that people offer the best solutions and ideas when they are going through a related problem or situation. Typically, the more urgent and pressing the issue is and the more people can relate on a personal level - the more vested they are in a true solution. So, the potential for using research communities to solve specific critical problems is huge. Imagine if we were able to tap into an economist research community to help us deal with the current economic crisis. The suggestions and potential solutions would be emerging at the most appropriate time.

I know that one of the greatest values of community is the ability to establish constant connection with a group of people, and the idea of a finite community limits this window for connection… but this connection doesn’t always have to last forever. It can just be temporary to help save the world. Well, that might be a stretch - but you never know.