THE ONLINE COMMUNITY AS A MODERN MARKETING TOOL

Background. Today, a growing number of companies recognize the importance of forming and nurturing a community, making communities an essential marketing tool. These communities bring together like-minded individuals around a brand, enabling participants with shared interests, goals, or visions of the situation to interact, share experiences, and receive support. The works of several Russian authors are featured, which vary in their comprehensive approaches to the challenge of establishing online communities against the backdrop of a dearth of Russian-language thematic literature, in contrast to the West, which began exploring the issues of community development more than two decades ago. Purpose. To examine the community within the online realm as a contemporary marketing instrument and to identify the characteristics of its establishment in Russian reality. Methods and materials. The primary research method employed in this article was the examination of secondary data from domestic and international literary sources. Results of the study. The goal is to determine the most critical conditions for the success of a Russian online community by identifying the essential components of community creation and development processes. This study offers several advantages for companies that incorporate several identified essential elements of community building into their practices. Conclusion. A community enables companies to engage more closely with their audience, fostering a circle of devoted customers and continuously expanding it at minimal financial cost.