---
title: "Research Skills: A Simple Guide to Online Communities"
description: Sign up to receive a brief three-part email series containing an introduction to online communities, examples of online communities in action, and an explanation of how to best maximise the value of online communities in research.
---

[Resources | FlexMR](https://resources.flexmr.net)

# [Research Skills: A Simple Guide to Online Communities](https://resources.flexmr.net/online-communities-guide)

 Written by [Chris Martin](https://resources.flexmr.net/author/chris-martin) | 15 October

**Learn all about online communities in our new 3-part email series exploring the fundamentals, 2 real-life examples, and the benefits and limitations of dedicated online research communities.**

As a staple of market research, online communities are a brilliant platform for valuable insight generation when used right. After re-familiarising ourselves with the purpose of online communities, explore who usually partakes in a community, and the reason why they're so popular. 

After a brief introduction, we'll take you through two brilliant use-cases of brands who have mastered the online community for research purposes: Formula 1 and The Coventry Building Society, with each examples showcasing different ways of utilising online communities and what the insights have achieved in each brand. 

Then let's take a look at the benefits and limitations of online communities, and what this means for your own research project. Do you need an online community, or are you better off using a panel or individual research tasks depending on your budget, deadlines, and research capacity.

Sign up to our email series to:

- (Re)Discover the basics of an online research community, what it is and what it is capable of achieving in the name of market research
- Explore two brilliant examples of different online communities and how they contribute to the research efforts of each brand
- Discover the benefits and limitations of online communities and how this can dictate that research projects that you conduct on the platform
- Gain links to further resources to help you further build your knowledge of dedicated online research communities.

[View full post](https://resources.flexmr.net/online-communities-guide)

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