Are you ready and prepared to let customers roam, metaphorically, through your building and make contributions and suggestions? Are you prepared to become responsive to customers at the times they want to engage? When launching an online community it is very important that companies take a hard look at what the social footprint will do to their operations. For example, f your company's customer care processes are not up to snuff then perhaps you are not ready for an online customer community just yet. And, if you are not skilled at taking input from customers then social media will only illuminate your flaws -shining a spotlight on them in a public way.
That being said, many companies don't have the option of remaining silent. Take the US government for example: They are being talked about in all four corners of the world every day lately with vigor and emotion. They can choose to respond and react, or they can just let it happen and hope it goes away. But it won't, so they need to participate.
So, before you put time and effort into creating a digital community- be it a private community where members need to log in to access information and exchange ideas, or whether you plan to use the open web to engage via Facebook, LinkedIn Groups, Twitter or Bebo, be sure you have a plan for what you will do with the information exchange, who is responsible for interactions, where the information gathered socially will be recorded or captured, and how you will parse the wheat from the chaff.
When companies first start to engage online they tend to treat all information as equal, but that is not the best practice. Be sure to identify the best ways to respond and leverage information gathered through the social channel is often a matter of adopting new practices within the organization.
How has an online community changed your organization?