In my previous post, (link to post on go-to-community strategy) I talked about the exciting new business technique that is allowing us to rethink how we do business called go-to-community strategy. There are some key companies that have taken the initiative to help other companies develop their go-to-community strategies. They do this through community growth softwares that allow the user to learn and implement elements of communities that they previously could not have.
“Community software refers to any software that allows users to interact and share data” (link to source). Essentially, community software helps the user learn things about their environment that previous outdated modes of information gathering simply could not, whether it be because of the sheer size, magnitude, or mode of data. There are several qualities that make community software unique. Some of the most notable include instant messaging, knowledge base, self-service portals, discussion forums, and collaborative real-time editors.
An interesting subsection to this new business technique and the software that accompany this idea is what is known as “enterprise community software.” This type of software is all about connectivity. It facilitates a joint network between employees, partners, and customers with the ultimate goal of streamlining efficiency and communication in and surrounding a company.
Right now, one of the largest promoters and developers of go-to-community software is a company called Orbit. Orbit is built around their concept of the Orbit model (see previous post). Orbit’s community growth softwares allows the user to do a multitude of things within their community including: integration with anywhere that community happens, monitoring members’ activity, collaborating to make strong communities, measuring the impact your organization is having on the community, automating manual tasks to eliminate busy work, and understanding trends and insights.
Although Orbit is a major player in the rapidly growing go-to-community strategy world, they are not the only company that offers software to assist in go-to-community strategy. All forecasts lead to predictions that North American companies will dominate the community software market for the foreseeable future. This is due to a “strong demand for a transparent community experience that has been observed among end-users” (link to source). With that being said, Asia is predicted to be rapidly expanding in their usage and production of community software next. The bottom line is that in the near future there is going to be massive demand for and growth in the sector of community growth software as companies see the need to utilize and analyze massive amounts of data and information to help create better futures for themselves and their clients.
To learn more about community softwares, visit these helpful links:
Overview of community software: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/community-engagement-software-market.html
Orbit model: https://orbit.love/
One Desk software: https://www.onedesk.com/community-software-good-for-businesses/
Future of community software: https://www.wicz.com/story/44844029/global-online-community-software-market-size-and-share-2021-top-players-next-wave-connect-jive-exo-platform-vanilla-explosive-growth-opportunity-and and https://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/community-software-market