Once Upon a Time
Every story begins with one word; and with this, I begin to tell mine. This is my first of what I expect to be many more entries as a contributor to the CMA blog. It will be a place where I will seek to share and gain knowledge from the marketing community at large.
As a member of the Digital Marketing Council I am tasked with supporting the association’s efforts in closing the knowledge gap that exists in the marketplace as it relates to the digital realm. The space is changing so rapidly that it becomes difficult for marketers to keep focused on all of the moving parts while translating it back to how it impacts their business. Understanding these inherent challenges, I will attempt to address some of the pressing issues and look to shed light on how to tackle others.
Traditionally blogs are based on the views of one, the contributor, yet I will seek to incorporate industry guests when relevant and possible. Their inputs and perspectives will provide valuable insights within the context of true case scenarios aimed to provoke thought and spur dialogue. I will be leveraging social media where appropriate to gain insights, feedback and contributions from other industry professionals and will serve as the content facilitator and filter to ensure that readers are able to gain value from the content being delivered.
The first topic of discussion will be how to develop successful online communities. With the explosion of social media and technologies enabling consumers to evangelize and share their views with their peers, marketers are looking for ways to nurture and build off this type of consumer behaviour which has resulted in an increased demand for the development of consumer based communities online.
As much value as they may provide the challenge of understanding and developing one raises a series of questions such as:
1. What is a community?
2. Why does my brand need one?
3. What type of community should we create?
4. What resources are required (financial, human, technology, etc.) and who will be responsible for managing it?
5. How do we create one?
I will be providing different perspectives into the answers to these questions over the next several posts with input provided from conversations with industry leading brands. I encourage you to participate in the discussion and to become engaged.
I look forward to creating a great story with you!
Jeff Pontes, Director Digital Strategy, FUSE Marketing Group
