We scour the Internet every week to stay on top of news and emerging trends in marketing, technology, and culture. After looking back at everything we read last week, this is the one thing we don’t want you to miss.

Driving ROI Through Online Brand Communities

The last few years have seen a Social Media Gold Rush with brands running to stake their claims in the territories opened up by the emergence of new social media networks. It’s not at all unlike the following scene from Far and Away, typically with equally bad acting.

But a number of brands are bucking the join-the-conversation convention, choosing to devote time and resources to hosting conversations in their own branded communities. The results are impressive, to say the least. For example, H&R Block drove a 15% increase in business, and Gartner found that community-driven customer support is being used to realize cost savings of up to 50%.

With Facebook now changing its rules regularly and other social media networks struggling to monetize their way into profitability, this is yet another reminder not to place the cornerstone of your digital homestead on property you don’t own.

Take a few minutes today to read Driving ROI Through Online Brand Communities. We think you’ll be glad you did.