Open vs. closed community: Which is better for brands?

An open online community allows unrestricted access to anyone online, enabling them to view all content without requiring membership or a joining request. All community content is public and shareable beyond the community's boundaries. However, to contribute actively, users must authenticate themselves. Prominent examples of open communities include Reddit and Quora. Brands often opt for an open community over a closed one to offer customers effortless access to information and to broaden their reach by fostering brand awareness among potential customers.

• Can boost SEO rankings

• Build brand awareness

• Cost-effective marketing

• Easily attract new members

• Sharing features enables organic brand advocacy

• Brands can’t build deep relationships with their customers

• Public exposure to criticism and negative feedback

• Challenges in moderating content and maintaining a positive community atmosphere

• Risk of brand misrepresentation or the spread of misinformation

• Issues around the ownership and use of user-generated content and ideas

• Inability to ensure the privacy and security of users

Closed communities can be private, invite-only, or have a rigorous selection process to maintain exclusivity. They are only open to members, with content exclusive to them.

These communities typically require login credentials, and resources are accessible only to members, making them more valuable and desirable. Such private communities provide a safe space for interaction, leading to higher engagement levels and fostering trust and brand loyalty.

With a closed community, you can choose who can access the community and easily moderate what’s posted. You can also offer various types of community content, such as blog articles, videos, events, and live Q&A sessions. This approach helps brands foster deeper connections with their target audience and better understand their needs. A great example of a closed branded community is Airbnb’s private community for Airbnb hosts, where participation requires logging in with a host account.

• Create strong relationships and a sense of belonging

• Higher engagement levels

• Keep out spammers, “trolls”, or haters

• Build trust and loyalty with customers

• Eliminates competitor noise

• Ensure member privacy and security

• Easily moderate topics, posts, and who can join

• Can restrict reach to potential new members

• Not suitable for marketing efforts

• Resource intensive

• More effort is required to maintain the community

It all depends on your brand’s goals and target audience. Whether an online community is open or closed directly affects its growth and activity. An open community might make the most sense if your goals are purely to market your brand and increase visibility. Open communities enable broader reach and easier access for potential customers.

Increasing community engagement and building brand loyalty are your goals, so a closed community may be more fitting. Closed communities can foster deeper connections with members, provide a safe space for meaningful interactions, and allow for better control over the quality and type of content shared. This exclusivity can make members feel more valued and appreciated, leading to stronger customer relationships and brand loyalty.

No matter which type of community you choose, investing in robust community management software is crucial. Such software can help your brand streamline the moderation process, manage member access, facilitate content sharing, and track engagement metrics, ensuring the community runs smoothly and effectively.

Khoros Communities is a comprehensive community management software that provides everything you need to build an enterprise-class online community and scale engagement with fewer resources, complexity, and cost. Brands can choose to create an open community that anyone can access or a closed community for exclusivity.

Our unique features include customizable community design, built-in content templates for blogs, Q&A, and more, seamless content management across teams, and community moderation with AI to pick up on discussion intent and sentiment. All while staying up-to-date on your community’s health in your analytics dashboards and reports.

To learn more about Khoros Communities, take an online tour or request a demo today.