When we say short-term we mean anywhere from a few days to a few months. These communities are tactical in nature and are often designed with a specific business problem in mind. Although in theory a short-term Insight Community could host any number of members, they typically encompass smaller groups of around 50 people. A short-term community will often ask for a higher intensity of tasks from its participants and may be a great way of collecting a high volume of qualitative data quickly.
One of the reasons you might opt for a short-term community is that it is one platform with a wide range of tools which can save time and money when compared to using alternative research methods.
Most of our clients adopt Insight Communities for the ability to build on knowledge, dig deeper into prior answers and connect insights together over time. Although a short-term community may solve tactical problems, it is less likely to be effective as a strategic asset to your organisation.
When we say long-term we mean anything from a few months to ongoing. Long-term Insight Communities allow you to explore topics in more depth, get to know your members better and can be used for both tactical and strategic decisions.
Long-term or ongoing communities are perfect for exploring a wide range of objectives within one environment and can house several segments for more detailed discovery. Generally speaking you save money vs traditional research methods when using a community platform over a longer period of time.
If you’re running a community for a longer period of time that does mean a bigger investment in terms of recruitment, moderation, running and handling churn. Incentive structures may well be different for longer-term communities and often have their own redeemable currencies based on participation.
It’s not uncommon for the purpose of communities to become muddled over time. Long-term communities require ongoing commitment from senior stakeholders and there should be a clear plan as to how it will be utilised and how best to keep engagement high. All too often, they can fall into the trap where they are only used for agile research and not tied back to those more strategic goals.
