Some observations from our research.
The first is around 75% of external communities today are based around customer support. These are the ones hosted on large platforms. These have the easiest links to a clear return on investment. Many now refer to these as customer portals. If you include health-related communities this number rises.
The second is that passion (or retention) based communities have moved almost entirely to Facebook pages, groups, or have closed. The communities which encourage people to talk about their passion for the project have largely closed or been shifted to the cheapest platforms supported by a social media manager. These are the furthest removed from ROI.
The third is internal communities based around knowledge sharing and collaboration are thriving and growing. Most organizations are creating internal communities on various platforms to improve how people collaborate.
Consider this in your next career move.
