Communities are about delivering game-changing results - from increasing customer revenue, to introducing product and solutions, communities aid in increasing overall brand effectiveness while decreasing costs. 

How do we know this? Well, recently, Beeline Labs, Deloitte and the Society of New Communications Research have produced a compelling study: "The 2008 Tribalization of Business study" which focuses on the early experiences of more than 140 organizations on how they’re managing communities, measuring success, and reaping business benefits. 

Great Take-away - Lessons Learned 

When asked for the most important advice they had for others starting communities, survey respondents had many good tips to share. Two of the eight "Best Practices" that emerged from the research: 

Keep it simple and intuitive: “Focus on the least common denominator first. Keep it easy to navigate with simple tools to use.” People are busy; they need information in brief, easy-to-scan bits s they can quickly choose what is interesting to them and go right to it.  

Keep it fresh and active: “Keep activity levels up, constantly add new content.” “ Think of how to create ‘events’ – what can you do to excite people and get them to share in the community.” “Update regularly, find topics for discussion’ “Content is king” 

To access the results of the study through an interactive slideshare, go here.  

More Great Resources:

The Long-tail Effectiveness of Business Communities  

Understanding the power of communities - even when you do not have a critical mass of users

Best

Denice MacDonald