Online Communities Academic Publishing Perspective

Defining Online Communities  What is an online community? “A publisher-owned website/platform that offers a common interest around which the community is themed, with interactive communication between the organization and community members and between the members themselves.”  Context for academic publishers

 Why investigate online communities?  PCG’s research builds from an earlier study conducted with Bowker Market Research  Online survey of 15 questions primarily geared toward academic publishers Background and Methodology

What does research address? Questions the research is looking to answer:  How many publishers currently have online communities?  Reasons for development of online communities?  Measurable benefits achieved from online communities  Opportunities for growth of online communities

Key Findings – Current Market

Key Findings – The Motivation Top 4 reasons to develop online communities:  40% Increasing direct relationships with end users  40% Increasing audience engagement (social networking)  35% Increased content usage  35% Increasing knowledge and understanding of the reader

Top 3 reported benefits of online communities:  37% Generated increased knowledge and understanding of the end user  37% Developed direct relationships with readers  32% Serves as a platform to increase content usage Direct Feedback: “Our online community capabilities are helping committees and special interest groups to collaborate.” “Growth of audience engagement but not sales.” Key Findings – The Benefits

Key Findings – Current Success & Future Opportunity  About 50% of publishers believe online communities have been successful in achieving the company’s goals  Nearly 80% of all publishers view online communities as an area of growth for their company and the publishing sector as a whole  Early 2013 study showed that 84% of all publisher respondents think their investment in online communities will increase over the next two years

Summary  Online communities are on the up  Primarily focused on relationship building with end users  Many publishers are still experimenting with online community strategies

Conclusions Publishers see online communities as:  a way of getting closer to their readers  a way of becoming more customer focused  a way to gain understanding of what audiences want (access to metrics)  a way to make to their content go further  a way to support marketing efforts, not generating direct sales