Disney is moving it's digital brands to Google Ads, Facebook is testing 'Today In', Uber receives data breach fine, Australia's SVoD subscriptions are due to outstrip Pay-TV and TfL has banned junk food advertisements

The last week has seen some interesting announcements, not least the fact that Disney will now be using Google Ads as its only ad-technology platform, meaning Google is replacing Comcast's FreeWheel. Facebook is testing yet another new feature, this time aimed at bringing local communities together by keeping them more informed. But what does 'Today In' mean for the platform's attempts to police fake news? On top of these big stories, this week has seen Uber get fined again for its 2016 data breach, the rise of subscription video on demand in Australia and junk food advertising being banned on any part of London's public transport system. Find out more about five big digital and marketing stories this week. …

How to build and nurture online communities

A surefire way to build trust and foster brand loyalty is to establish an online community or membership site. It provides your audience with a sense of belongingness, exclusiveness, and the reassurance that your company is looking out for your valued customers. However, before you get ahead of yourself, remember that a successful community is not easy to establish. It requires extensive planning, research, and time and effort in order to set up an engaging platform. The first step in creating an evergreen community is understand the how the best in the business have done it in their respective markets. Below are seven of the best online communities or membership sites operating today:

1. Blogging on Your Own Terms

Membership sites do not have to be complicated. For example, Blogging on Your Own Terms by Daniela Uslan is built completely on Facebook. It is a community…

10 tips to developing your online community

The emergence of social media platforms, online forums, and company or product blogs has led to a number of consequences for brands, including an opportunity (and compulsion) to embrace new ways to connect with their target audience and a desire to build thriving online communities. The ‘secret sauce’ that gels a community around a brand can be hard to find, but there are certainly a number of principles which can help take the right approach.

How to lay down the foundations

Preparation tends to play a key part in success, and this is no exception.  Make sure you establish a few fundamental pieces as you embark on a mission to develop your brand’s online community through: 1. Internal buy-in Developing and nurturing online communities is an Art. It requires a specific skillset, time, dedication and perseverance. Don’t underestimate the resources required and make sure that you get buy-in from…

Four segments that look to community reviews when selecting products

Leading customer community platform company GetSatisfaction  recently conducted research on the kind of person that values a customer community as part of a purchase or brand experience. This cleverly put together infographic explains the four active consumer types within communities that were highlighted by the research. While the data is largely American I don't believe the types will differ in the UK, although I do wonder whether the grouping is too simplistic. Customer communities are a fast growing requirement for businesses that need to connect with their cosumers (so all businesses in my opinion). Allowing customers to feedback (good and bad) and connect with one another about using your products services. They can help bring new ideas to your business, some you would have anticipated. If your consumer…

5 reasons why organisations should develop their own online communities

In this multi-channel digital world within which organisations now operate, social engagement is a priority for many. With the growing use of social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest many companies see their communities as solely developing on these social networks. But should their online communities be limited to the social networks? This recent social media benchmark research from the CIM showed that just a quarter of companies have their own proprietary online community. So, in this post, I'll be looking at why this may be limiting your options for engagement through social media.

Is Social Media Marketing a burden for organisations?

Organisations have been attracted by participating on the public social sites through the promise of greater brand and business engagement, but for many, whether their investments are delivering…

To grow your online community you need to engage it

For many brands, social media is becoming a significant part of, if not central to, theirdigital marketing strategy. This being the case, the question of whether or not to grow a brand’s online community is often likely to be a matter of when rather than if. Having recently gone through this thought process with a couple of the brands, I thought I’d share some of the insight from this experience.

The advantages of organic online community growth

Growing an online community organically, whether on facebook or anywhere else, has two great advantages. First, it’s inexpensive to do. Second, it will usually attract people who are most interested in a brand. This can lead to a community full of brand advocates and customers who have engaged with a brand’s social media at some point in their buying…
In a commercial world that understands the power of word-of-mouth it continues to puzzle me at how slowly business are catching on to fully leveraging the web to build their brand online (aka "€œthe fluffy stuff"€). Looking beyond search engine marketing, for example, as a means to drive targeted traffic. This post by sixrevisions.com felt topical and started me thinking about how important community building is for sustainable and defensible traffic building. In my mind, communities are a place for fans (fans of your products, services, ideas, beliefs or brand) to connect. They might be customers, but don't have to be. Commercially, they represent a place where you can interact and earn the right to re-convince fans of your brand"€™s worth. The sixrevisions.com post asks three questions and then lists the answers of five highly experienced community builders. Remember, "€˜community"€™ does not necessarily mean building your own walled garden, community can…