In today’s environment, there is a huge demand for “cost effective” research. Multi-Client communities are one of the most cost effective ways to use market research online communities. Here are a couple of tips for those of you thinking about setting up a multi-client community that several clients can tap into at once.

1. Identify a Shared Issue: The best communities are those that involve a shared passion around an issue, topic, or brand. It may be environmental responsibility, volunteerism, or some other issue that several clients can be involved in. The more the community purpose is focused around an issue, the better the experience.
2. Identify a Cohesive Audience: In the absence of a shared issue, you can also build a community around a similar set of people. This could be teens, boomers, college students, or chronic illness patients to name a few. The more your members have in common, the better the experience.
3. Address Privacy & Exclusivity Directly: It can be challenging to convince clients to share a research resource with other clients, but if you can setup private groups of members and reserve certain people exclusively for clients, they will be more willing to take part.
4. One or All: Either choose one client per industry to target for your shared community or target them all. Though clients are more likely to share with those outside their industry, they also don’t want to get left behind if all their competitors are part of something.
5. Partner Up: Target clients that have pre-existing relationships and partnerships with other brands. It can be brands under the same portfolio, or those with a shared interest (e.g. Target & Starbucks).

- Ben