A Network Approach to CRM: Detecting Virtual Customer Communities

This paper presents the preliminary results of a wider research about Corporate Blogs as emerging effective tools for a new approach to Customer Relationship Management. Despite the increasing interest on the emergence of a virtual dimension of CRM and the main implications in terms of knowledge sharing, customers retention and reputational consequences, the research on Web 2.0 technologies applied to marketing is still in its infancy. This paper aims to provide a set of guidelines to suggest a more effective way to utilize a corporate blog. We applied Social Network analysis to illustrate a case in which the dimensions and dynamics of a Customers Virtual Community go beyond the boundaries of the official institutional blogs. The evidences from the case show the potential benefits of a network-based approach to help direct marketing efforts and invest in scanning the Blogosphere where ideas, opinions and comments may represent lost business opportunities.