1. July 10, 2014
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B2B Online Communities:
Certain Future or Passing Fad?
Recently, one of our longtime clients came to us needing help with something that we
are seeing more and more of in the B2B space. This Fortune 100 manufacturing firm,
with several mature brands and a global presence, was having difficulty connecting
and engaging with its customers. And like most modern marketers, they began
seriously exploring the idea of creating a new digital experience to help bridge the
gap. Their first thought was an online community.
They had many of the same questions about communities that all marketers ask:
• Is it possible? Is it even possible for a B2B business to harness the current sense of
social media “community” that is so prevalent in everyday life and translate it to
our business in our industry?
• Can it really drive sales? Could our online community *actually* drive sales (or at
least produce qualified leads) in a practical sense – not a Six Degrees of Kevin
Bacon roundabout sense that cannot be tracked back to inform an ROI?
• Is this for real? Is this the way of the future, or a blip on B2B’s radar, soon to be
forgotten (à la “The Macarena of B2B Marketing”)?
First, some history and perspective…
While all the rage today, online communities actually began in the IT sector for
customer support purposes. Over time, people began to see online communities not
only as a place for users to obtain technical advice, but also as a place for people to

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interact on a personal level with other human beings possessing the same interests and
skills.
Due to this growing popularity, marketers have begun to zero in on online communities
as an ideal lead generation environment. In fact, almost 80% of B2B marketers across
all verticals plan to increase or maintain their use of online communities in the coming
year for lead gen purposes (second only to the use of Twitter).i
A LOT of marketers are on-board. But what is drawing B2B marketers to social
engagement? In a recent survey polling senior B2B and B2C executives on the effect of
social engagement in their business, 84% stated “improved marketing/sales
effectiveness” while 81% cited “increased market share.”ii
Based on this information, setting up your own online community sounds like a slam-
dunk. However, there are a few important stats to keep in mind for even the best-in-
class communities:
As you can see, online communities are riding a wave of popularity right now and
many decision-makers are placing big bets that they will be critical to future successes,
seeing them as a linchpin between engagement, content, and 1:1 relationships. Yet, as
with any bet, there are inherent risks. Through our experience, the best way to mitigate
the risks of a failing or stagnant online community is through a thoughtful, strategic
foundation.
In future posts, we will write more about online communities and how to make them
work for you. We will cover how online community acts as a linchpin to customer
relationships, the “Three Goals” of a strategic foundation, our content strategy
framework, and why simple doesn’t mean easy.
i O’Neil, P. (2013, January 23). B2B Marketers Prefer to Create Their Own Content Mostly For Lead
Nurturing. Forrester research.

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ii Source: eMarketer. (2012, May 1). For Brands, Social Media Shows Returns but Measurement
Hurdles Remain. Retrieved from eMarketer.com