Communication and Community

If you asked the average person, he or she would probably tell you that marketing is about sales. It’s about getting the word out to the most people who might want to buy your product and inspiring or encouraging them to do so. They’d talk about calls to action and conversions and all sorts of ways to coax people to buy and to measure how many of them are buying and tell you that’s the way you decide if your marketing campaign has been a success. And, in my opinion, they would be wrong.

For me, the biggest powers in the marketing arsenal are communication and community, and they’re the two that are often ignored when companies are developing marketing campaigns. Often the goal of a campaign isn’t to communicate, it’s to shout a message at people in hopes they’ll be so overwhelmed they’ll make a purchase. And social media profiles for companies don’t tend to be about getting to know each other and building a community, they’re more like the vans with the speakers on top that drive down the street blasting a message at everyone. The goal isn’t about connection and sharing, it’s about dominating the area and getting noticed.

I’m not here to say those methods don’t work, because there’s clear evidence that they do; people wouldn’t continue to use them otherwise. I just don’t think they’re the best methods or the most effective methods to build a loyal customer base and to inspire them to support your company and buy your products. Studies have shown that people are more likely to make purchases and stay loyal to companies they trust and to which they have a sense of connection. Done correctly, marketing can be the vehicle that helps you build that

The 2 Cs and Your Customer Base

A glimpse behind the curtain - People are social animals, they like a sense of connection and, particularly when doing business with smaller businesses, they like to feel they know the people behind the company. Share bits of your work day on social media. Share your triumphs and your screw ups. Let people see who you are and what running your version of a business is like. If they feel they know you, people are more likely to support you and your business.

Engage - No, I’m not Captain Picard from Star Trek TNG (although if you’re a dedicated TNG fan didn’t you hear that word in his voice when you read it?). The sort of engagement I’m talking about is being responsive when your target market communicates with you. And reponsive beyond “Thanks” or a like on a post. Answer questions. Ask questions. Have a dialogue. Be genuinely interested in what is being said.

Create groups - It could be a literal Facebook group, or it could be a core band of followers who comment a lot on your profile. What matters is that you get to know your fanbase and that they get to know each other. Community can be a very powerful thing and it can be a great way to bring people together and inspire them to do something, in this case support your business. The trick to creating groups is to be genuinely interested and to keep the lines of communication open. And to remember to nurture the group. Pay attention.

Be transparent - There’s a lot of talk about being transparent on social media and oftentimes those discussing it aren’t really clear about what they mean. To me, transparency means being honest, dealing with mistakes and issues out in the open, and being very clear about what the rules and policies of your business are. Don’t make promises you can’t keep or claims you can’t back up. Most of all, be yourself. If you’ve created a fake persona because you think it will go over better on social media, odds are you’ll be found out.

Action Items

Start a Facebook Group - Buffer - While I don’t agree with absolutely everything in this article (boo for anonymous posting), a lot of it is right on the money. This is a good guide for setting up a Facebook group and how to make it successful and relatively easy to manage. If your customer base is on Facebook, this might be worth doing.

Have a Social Media Strategy - Speak with People - This post talks about a specific situation, but it has some good tips for how to successfully use social media in general. I definitely agree with the advice to be transparent and authentic. And to ask for feedback. Having two way conversations is the best way to create connection.

Form a Community - Higher Logic - You know a marketing technique has become mainstream when it gets its own name. Community based marketing is, as you might have guessed, based around the idea that humans are social beings and like being associated with groups. This post has a good overview of what community based marketing is and when and why it might be valuable.

About Me

My name is Kristine Shreve. A Marketing Director for over a decade, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Marketing and what works and what doesn’t and why. Good marketing grows businesses and growth for everyone is what I’m rooting for. Visit my website to learn more about me.