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Research Reinvented have polled the Twitterverse (I hate that word!) to find the most influential people in the market and consumer research areas to follow. At FreshNetworks we make the most of strong research credentials, both in our specific online research communities , but also helping all of our clients make the most of the insight they can get from online communities . Rather ingratiatingly I’m one of them and now get to wait to see if I make the top 10. You can read more of our recent research posts from making online research better

On Friday we posted about an experiment running on one of our online communities , comparing paid and organic search strategies . This is just one of the ways that our clients measure the ROI of their online community - by increased traffic from organic search or significant savings on their paid search bills. Measuring ROI is an important topic in social media, all the communities that we build at FreshNetworks have very clear ROI cases. Image via Wikipedia We spend time during the planning and strategy phases working on the objectives of the online community

We’ve written before about the real power that online research communities can bring to a brand, and also of the way in which you can get insight from any online community . At FreshNetworks we have built online communities from scratch, and also worked  with organisations who have an incumbent online research community that isn’t living up to its promise. The promise of rich insight is great - real people talking to each other about your brand, market and competitors. They provide a real hub for innovation and co-creation and give you

common debate among those working in marketing and social media is between engaging people on your own domain - in an online community that you build and manage yourself - and engaging people where they are - out in social networks like Facebook and MySpace or on YouTube, external blogs or forums. Your own online community, on the other hand, is better suited to real engagement - something that is long-term and sustainable rather than a one-off hit. Image by MattRhodes via Flickr A

Use it to engage people in Twitter just as you might engage people in Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and other social networks and online communities. Then provide your own site or online community that you can take people to. It is when they are on your own community that you can really work with them, share and discuss ideas with them, get a better understanding of who they are and what they think. Image by MartinPhotoSport via Flickr This week I was asked to talk to the Marketing Directors Network in London about how organisations are using Twitter.

In February this year a survey on the market research industry in 2009 showed two very different pictures. The research, sponsored by online-oriented companies Cambiar, MRops and Peanut Labs, found that whilst clients and agencies alike predicted a small growth in the market of about 1%, this did not tell the full story. There are a number of reasons for clients bringing research inhouse. Although they saw the market growing slightly in 2009, they thought that the proportion of work that was brought inhouse would increase significantly. The current economic climate is making

For the second in our series of Online Community Examples , we move on to look at online communities in the retail industry. Online communities in the retail industry This is where online communities can come in handy. One good In an economic downturn, we’re seeing a real shift in retail shopping  patterns. Here in the UK there are reports of people switching from their usual supermarket brand for what they believe to be a cheaper alternative (as shown by the current price war between competitors Tesco and Aldi ).

Matt Rhodes Required reading Social Media Blog blogging Brand Business co-creation Conversation customer communities David Alston freshminds FreshNetworks innovation market research marketing Marketing and Advertising online communities online market research qualitative market research Radian6 Simplicity Social marketing social media Social network Twitter Virtual community web2. Image by FredArmitage via Flickr For any brand using social media , an important first stage is to find out what people are saying about you online and then monitor

Feb 24, 09 About Stuff Shelter Cities Community Business Politics Planet Cliff Figallo and the Evolution of Virtual Community Jon Lebkowsky August 27, 2007 7:34 AM Cliff Figallo is a man with deep roots in the evolution of the social internet. As the second director of The WELL -- founded in 1985 -- Cliff managed its transition from a Bay Area computer bulletin board system for an eclectic combination of authors, journalists, deadheads and forward thinkers, to a globally