Three factors

for successful

B2B communities

Three factors

for successful

B2B communities

B2B stands for ‘bound to be busy’. Time is valuable and often limited. This means that surveys of this rather difficult target group are often not so easy to conduct via a panel. This is especially true when not just one, but several studies are in the planning stage.

Three factors for successful B2B communities

We are taking a close look at this important topic. For this reason, we have dedicated a separate research project to the area and systematically examined the motivation of B2B customers.

A community offers an ideal platform for establishing a lasting dialog with your B2B customers and for further developing products and services in a customer-centric way in close exchange with them. But what motivates people in the B2B sector to register with a community and invest their valuable time in participating in studies? As part of my master’s thesis, I got to the bottom of this question and put together three factors for effective community management in the B2B sector.

1. They are curious: exclusive news and transparent results

A community is a give and take. You don’t just want to generate insights into the real lives of your customers and get their feedback. Members also expect to gain exclusive insights into your company and the product development process by participating in the community. Because being part of a community means being part of something exclusive. It is therefore important to convey this feeling to members by regularly giving something back to them for their participation. This could be the first publication of news or exclusive messages intended only for the eyes of community members.

When evaluating studies conducted within the community, it is often forgotten that the insights gained could also interest the members. So feed the results that you were able to gain thanks to your community members back into the community and provide your participants with information. Members are particularly interested in this in the B2B sector. They want to see which new products and services are coming onto the market or which further developments and improvements are planned before anyone else.

2. They want to help: sharing knowledge and expertise

What makes the B2B sector special is that customers are not just customers. First and foremost, they are experts in their field. And they are very happy to share this expertise. They want to actively contribute to improving products and services. Especially if these are or could be part of their everyday work. Let your experts help you. Let participants know that they are an important part of the process and can make a difference by actively participating in the community. Thank them regularly and let them know that you depend on their help and expertise.

3. They want to communicate: Establishing exchange and personal contact

To keep the members of a B2B community motivated and to encourage them to take the time to participate in activities, exchange is the be-all and end-all. Participants not only want to contribute their own knowledge to the community, but also to benefit from the knowledge of other members. Personal contact with company representatives and other participants is also highly valued in the B2B sector. Enable communication with people from your company and among members – for example, in a permanent forum or in the context of group discussions or one-on-one interviews.

Mastering the balancing act

Professional community management skillfully masters the balancing act between your requirements and the needs of your target group. As a strategic consultant, we advise you on recruiting your B2B customers and on planning and conducting your studies within the community. B2B communities are attentive listeners and trustworthy advisors for questions and suggestions from other participants. Use the proximity to community members to generate information for your company. This makes community management a digital mouthpiece between you and your target group and a decisive success factor for your community.

The author

Celina
Project Manager
Communities & CX

Celina Gonzalez Dammers has been working at SKOPOS CONNECT since 2021 – first as a working student and now as a Project Manager Communities & CX. Our community management team looks after communities of well-known companies such as Porsche and Audi and supports them as a strategic consultant from recruitment to the planning and execution of studies and the activation of members.

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