Virtual communities are sites created by one or more people in which they establish relationships based on common topics. Nowadays it is very common to see these communities between readers who share tastes for the same genres or for the publications of certain content editors. Editors usually benefit from these communities through groups on networks or their own digital profiles, for example La Revisit Barcelona has more than 500 thousand followers on Facebook and interacts with them more than once a day.
What benefits do virtual communities give to the publishing world?
Not only editors can take advantage of these virtual communities, readers also take great advantage of these spaces since it is not necessary to have someone nearby to share or debate on various topics. It is often believed that it is only possible to benefit from virtual communities by creating them, but this It is not like this. According to Sebastian Pending, an expert in Digital Marketing, the members of these “new tribes” lack leaders and believe less and less in traditional opinion formers, so being able to position yourself as a leader to promote your editions in a not so commercial way can be very beneficial for you.
Benefits for readers
→ Meeting people with the same tastes as you without leaving your home is one of the greatest benefits that these virtual communities bring. It is easier to find people with your same literary, journalistic or academic tastes in these. → There are increasingly more segmented groups of people. Top Childrens book editors for readers and writers show us communities of thousands of people willing to share and read their works.
Benefits for publishers
Before focusing on the benefits that you can obtain by being part of or creating virtual communities, it is essential that you keep in mind that you must add value to it or else you will never get benefits from its members. Some of the ways to benefit the virtual community that you created with your readers or in which you participate are special discounts, exclusive benefits, raffles, previews of what is coming and even asking them what topics they would like for your next publications.→ Building one-on-one relationships is one of the best benefits of these communities since you always have the interpersonal communication that the audience likes so much.→ Saving costs is one of the greatest benefits of these communities since you will not have to spend fortunes on the Internet to reach your potential reader.→ Generate new, more effective products as well It is made easier thanks to virtual communities since you can poll what your readers would like and before officially launching it, do the pre-sale with exclusive benefits. One of the most difficult challenges of innovating is the fear that your audience will not receive this with acceptance, thanks to the communities you can verify it.