Brands should seek to develop a personalised online community in order to maximise the return on investment of their marketing strategy according to Reality Digital, the leading social networking platform provider for brands and businesses.

The creation of an online community as the focus of a marketing campaign has the potential to be used in many ways. The data collected from users can be used for research purposes, providing a reliable and valuable insight into the wants and needs of the consumer.

Also, brands can monetise their network through the use of advertising and customer revenue, as those consumers who are part of a brand focused online community will often invest more in the brands products. Highly populated online communities receive higher advertising rates, so it is important that the community is as attractive to its intended audiences as possible.

Online communities also have a much better record of customer retention, due to their qualities as an efficient message delivery platform for brands, helping to promote both brand awareness and key messages. In addition, a well structured network with features such as user generated content will benefit from much better search engine rankings, with potentially viral content helping to bring in links.

Robert Proctor, Head of EMEA for Reality Digital, said: “The flexibility of rich media and the wide variety of features available is what makes online communities have such a big impact on marketing strategies. As such, the return on investment for marketing campaigns that implement such networks is far greater than those that don’t.”

Reality Digital’s Opus video social network provides brands and businesses with the means to create a cutting edge video social network, tailored precisely to the specification and needs of the brand.

By employing online community software, brands can significantly enhance the brand experience enjoyed by their target audiences, by using it as a communications tool that will portray a message much more accurately and efficiently than any other marketing tool, whilst providing the opportunity to get involved in their users conversations.

For more information please visit realitydigital.com, or call 0203 1785 883.