Why would customers build communities and how could brands help them, is one of those new goals marketers are dealing with. How to stimulate advocates to lead and engage others to follow ?

It seems now that the first « reason why » a customer would join a community (and share anything on social media) is information. Information that trully enhances his knowledge, that makes him feel a little more smart, that would give him more confidence in life… To learn more about a brand, or an activity is what we need and hope. To share our knowledge is what we do, regardless to any kind of reward we could get. In a recent publication and interview, Esteban Kolsky explains why customer communities are far more efficient than brands… for now ! To share our experiences is increasing our knowledge !

Customer communities are where the knowledge is

Kolsky found that knowledge decays at the rate of 50 percent every minute. The problem with knowledge stored in books or accessed via search engines is that it is not contextual. “If you can ask a person a question and get an answer in 30 seconds, then not only is that person’s reputation increased but your knowledge of where to go for information is increased,” he says.

Communities are going to replace knowledge management systems, because that is where the knowledge resides. There is no value to a knowledge base that decays over time, when you can directly query knowledgeable people. This is the whole purpose of social media. Community members will have reputation scores and earn the trust and respect of peers, where the strongest voice rises to the top of the forum.

Learn more and watch the video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYiJlFXM0M0

Read the full story : http://www.inc.com/disneyinstitute/afshar/what-is-customer-experience.html