Creating Value In Communities

Creating value in communities is essential for both the organization and its members. Let’s delve into this concept:

Purposeful Value Creation:

A community’s value should be centered on creating tangible benefits for everyone involved. This includes the organization, its members, or ideally, both.

The common interest within the community should lead to value that can be realized and appreciated.

Key threads for community value include:

• Increasing Profits: This could mean more sales, additional subscriptions, a larger customer database, and other revenue-related gains.
• Cost Reduction: Communities can help cut costs by minimizing email communication, reducing the need for extensive advertising campaigns, and leveraging word-of-mouth publicity.
• Nonprofit Goals: These might involve skill development, fostering unique connections, developing leaders, promoting collaboration, and facilitating informal and social learning.
• No Specific Goals: While rare, some communities exist without a predefined purpose. In such cases, individual members’ goals take precedence over any common interest.

A community manager plays a crucial role in understanding the community’s objectives and driving value while making relevant information accessible to stakeholders.

Examples of Community Value:

• Imagine a global community of sellers collaborating on sales trends in their local markets, influenced by global paradigms. Each seller gains value from collective and mutual intelligence.
• Companies that embrace communities and tap into the intelligence of their workforce can find surprising solutions to challenges, such as repurposing failed innovations or identifying new markets.

In summary, successful communities are architects of the future. By recognizing and harnessing the power of communities, organizations can not only achieve greater success but also serve as enablers of continuous learning and growth