The latest research on the value of online communities shows the following benefits:

• 35% increasing word of mouth
• 28% increasing brand awareness
• 24% bringing new ideas into the organisation faster 
• 24% increasing customer loyalty

Other research is showing that over 6 out of 10 people who search for products or services say they are influenced by 'peer reviews'. Word of Mouth recommendations carry through to the bottom line.

When you also factor in the near 1/4 increase in customer loyalty you can see it online communities not only attract membership but help retain them.

Certainly the experience of Lego, Dell, HP, GM and others has shown that online communities are highly popular and self-sustaining and generate extra retained and new revenue.

GM are big advertisers - spending about $3b. AdAge has just announced that GM plan to move half their advertising budget online over the next few years. They already spend almost $200m on banner and online ads. The online budget will grow almost 8 times to $1.5b. Traditional TV and radio ads will decline.

Sources close to the company have said

"....The goal is to go well beyond the banner....to encompass gaming, search, mobile and a broad array of interactive applications, according to several executives close to the automaker...."

GM already are very active users of social media, blogs and podcasts but this appears to be a significant increase.

As companies are finding the traditional forms of communication (ads, direct mail etc) are declining in effectiveness they are exploring the social networked approach.