Size Matters: When Insight is the Goal, Small Communities Deliver Big ResultsCommunispace: Manila Austin, Michael Jennings, Julie Wittes Schlack, and Katrina Lerman As brand “communities” of all shapes and sizes become an expected element in the marketer’s toolkit, an increasingly urgent question is: How can companies use customer communities to the greatest effect?
When the goal is to achieve deep customer insight and relationship, smaller, private and branded communities are a more effective strategy than large, public ones. In this paper we demonstrate how smaller communities outperform larger ones in many respects crucial to this objective.
In a companion paper, “Meeting Business Needs by Meeting Social Needs in Small Communities: Why Size Matters,” we offer some insight into why small, private and branded communities are compelling—and necessary—for consumers and marketers alike.  |