Shifting to Digital Corporate Communities

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Mobile Tech and Online Social Communities are Vital to the Future of Corporate Engagement Strategies

The needs of the modern organization are vastly different from just a decade ago. Many factors have driven this change, but in this article we’ll explore the adoption of mobile technologies and online social communities.

At a glance, these two platforms may seem unrelated; yet they complement one another. Both allow for real-time, on-the-go communications and experiences that align with mobile technology. These platforms are at the heart of how enterprise environments operate today.

Every business — big or small — needs to build sustainable levels of employee engagement. Engagement in its many forms can help boost productivity and performance, which always translates to improved output — whatever that may be for your business. Most organizations cite culture and engagement as the top challenges they face today. Despite this, only 50 percent of those same organizations feel that the problem is “very important”, clearly revealing why this issue tends to fall by the wayside.

Companies should also develop the ability to adopt new tech solutions and platforms faster and more successfully. Furthermore, companies need tools that will allow personnel to deliver exceptional customer experiences. But above all, these disparate systems should create a more convenient and productive work environment. It’s a tall order: your business must meet the needs of the average employee and garner approval from external parties like stakeholders and customers.

This can all be seamlessly achieved through the adoption of enhanced digital “communities”.

How Modern ‘Communities’ Help

Communities are the glue that hold discussions, events and experiences together. More importantly, engagement is better achieved in groups of users. This fits neatly into the ‘7 P’s of Community’ rule, which we’ve discussed in the past. By adhering to the seven primary P’s you can ensure the success of any modern community.

The first building block is people. To understand why, you only need to look at popular social media networks and how they drum up community engagement. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram regularly see community-wide trends that are powered not by the platform owners or management, but by the people — the users investing their time in these digital spaces.

This can be referred to as “social alignment”, the general sentiment of a group. Positive mentions about an experience or topic, for instance, might spark additional discussions by others. It’s a natural state of progression and collaboration. This phenomenon also impacts how people feel about the big, open platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Interaction fatigue — being shouted at constantly by strangers sharing their opinions — has encouraged many to begin using more closed networks and group chat platforms. These ‘closed’ alternatives are exactly the kind of exclusive, mobile-friendly platforms leveraged for corporate content apps and event-planning solutions.

There’s something else that makes these CX tech and modern community engagement platforms so enticing. Active online communities also provide additional benefits like:

– Thought leadership or influencer roles where reps can present themselves as topic experts
– 1:1 messaging and communication tools
– Brand hosted events and industry event management
– News and content feeds, alongside activity feeds with social engagements and sharing

Perhaps one of the most useful benefits of community-based environments is that you can organize information into sub-forums based on niche topics. This could include things like sales enablement, marketing, tech teams, C-Suite executives only, and similar channels. This function also allows you to create “entitled” content and that speaks directly to a particular subset of people.

Effective Communities Serve as the Hub

Successful, engaged communities will rise to the top, representing the hub or central touchpoint of a business. When utilized effectively, they will drive deep support, marketing campaigns, product announcements and development and also provide sales value and insights. Communities can help spur innovation, especially in the modern age when mobile and digital technologies garner incredible feedback.

Communities are also self-sustaining in most cases, which makes them remarkably cost-effective. Once you kickstart the community and deliver the tools people need to participate, you can essentially let go — conserving necessary internal resources. That’s not to say you shouldn’t participate within the community yourself, or in an official business capacity, because you absolutely should. However, one of the greatest advantages of building an online community is that it can deliver a nearly endless supply of engagement and interaction for your brand and services, all with an incredibly low overhead.

Learn more about online communities here: http://info.thecxapp.com/brand_community

Diana Serrano
I am a marketing professional with experience in content creation, A/B testing, SEM/SEO and social media management. I am passionate about using clear communication to craft a compelling brand story. I strive to constantly improve by studying in my free time. For leisure, I write and sail.

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