• September 3, 2008

Companies that have employed influencer programs are at a competitive advantage to build longer-term loyalty from their community members, according to a recent study published by Forum One Networks' Online Community Research Network.

The study was created to gain insight into how people are measuring engagement in their online communities and to understand how many organizations were using an elite/influencer program, and how those programs were structured.

Most companies are focused on short-term, tactical metrics such as time spent on site, activity on the site, frequency on site and other standard metrics. A smaller set of research participants reported developing influencer programs with an eye toward building long-term engagement.--Gavin O'Malley