The State of Community Management 2014

The State of Community Management 2014 is the fifth edition of our annual research. This year, collaborating with TheCR Network members to define objective indicators of community maturity, the research covers a wealth of data regarding emerging standards and evolving community management practices. By defining these objective measures we can now compare maturity across community size, objective and age - helping us learn more about community practices.

The 2014 SOCM research assessed the maturity of online business communities based on the competencies in the Community Maturity Model and sought to answer three main questions:

• How are communities performing?
• What are the standards and strengths of communities?
• What opportunities should community managers focus on to grow their programs?

We surveyed 164 communities across industry, use case, size and age. The average community age was 4.8 years and 43% of survey respondents were members of TheCR Network.

Inside the report you will find research that supports our three key findings:

1. Community maturity delivers business value
2. Advocacy programs increase engagement
3. Executive participation impacts success

In addition to the high-level key findings, the report includes data, analysis, case studies, actionable insights and recommendations related to the eight maturity competencies in the Community Maturity Model.