THE STATE OF ONLINE BRANDED COMMUNITIES - 2011
The Second Annual “State of Online Branded Communities” is now available.
ComBlu’s study of 78 brands and 241 communities shows significant progress in adoption of best practices and a more strategic orientation to social engagement.
Key Findings
Plenty of good news:
- The percentage of brands exhibiting a Cohesive Strategy jumped from 20% to 33%, and the number of companies that qualified as High Performers increased from 11% to 33%.
- Activity levels are also significantly higher:
- The use of strategically-aligned engagement tools nearly tripled.
- Integration between branded online communities and mass social media increased from 32% to 76%
And, lots of fertile ground for improvement:
- Nearly half of brands have no visible community manager.
- Fewer than 40% of brands have a rewards and recognition program.
- Only 20% of brands have a clearly identified advocate base.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
- Brands are doing a much better job of delivering diverse engagement activities and are personalizing their community experience.
- Companies are applying a more disciplined approach to the deployment of their social assets.
- A few industries are applying a Center of Excellence approach.