Community Based Marketing

I like building communities. For me, there’s something special about bringing people together for a shared purpose or because they share a love of someone or something. Ai like seeing the connections people make and how excited they get to find others who care about the same things they care about. It’s also wonderful to see someone who was maybe feeling isolated or alone in their enthusiasm for something blossom and grow when they find others who share their passions and interests. Communities are fun to build, at least for me.

I honestly never thought about communities as a marketing tool until I was introduced to the concept of community-based marketing. Basically, it does what it says on the tin. It’s a marketing strategy that focuses on creating engagement with a specific group of people who share a common interest or like. The idea is to create a space where people can share their passion for your brand and you can use marketing tactics to feed that passion and encourage and reward loyalty to your brand. Basically, you’re working to create evangelists for your brand, people who love it so much that they’re willing, even eager, to help spread the word.

While community-based marketing can be a useful and successful strategy, it should be noted that it isn’t for everyone. Building and nuturing a community is a lot of work, particularly in the beginning. It also requires a clear understanding of what you want your community to be and do and what you want the end result to me. Communities also require a commitment, you have to show up day after day and keep the conversations going and sometimes be the social media police if people get out of line. It can be a lot, but the rewards of creating a community of your own can be well worth the effort.

The Perks of Creating a Community

You give, and get, more value- If you have a community of known brand loyalists, you can reward those people. Maybe they get early access to sales. Maybe you create designs available only to those who are in the group. People who support your brand get rewarded for doing so which, hopefully, encourages more people to support the brand. A community also gives you a built in focus group. Considering a new route for your business? You have a group of dedicated fans to test out ideas on.

Real talk about your brand - Anyone who’s ever built a brand or run a business has times when they don’t know which path is the right one to take. Your logo needs an update, but what do you change it to? How is that new customer service policy you implemented working? What new product should you roll out next? If you have a community, you can ask these questions and get feedback from people who are dedicated to your brand and want it to be the best it can be. Plus, they’re there because they’re loyal, not because you’re paying them to be there.

Better customer service- Customer service is the lifeblood of any business, but it’s hard to give service to anonymous customers who you may only interact with once. If you have a community, you can get real time feedback on what customers like and don’t like about the customer service you offer. You can also create ties with customers and allow them to get to know the company and you. That way, if a problem does occur, the customer will be predisposed to give you the benefit of the doubt and to trust that you’ll find an equitable solution.

Wider reach - It can be both a blessing and a curse, but one thing social media has offered us is a way to increase the size of our megaphones. Creating a community is another way to expand the reach of your message. Engaged community members will share your posts and stories with their networks, which means your messages travel further than they would alone.

Action Items

Build Engagement - Social News Desk - Building and nurturing a community on social media is a commitment and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. This blog post gives some great tips on how to nurture engagement in your community and how to decide which platforms you should use.

Open or Closed Community - Khoros - There are two types of communities on social media. Open communities are communities with no barrier to entry. Anyone who wants to join can join. A closed community, by contrast, is one that where people have to request to and be approved to become members. Both kinds have benefits and debits. This post details those.

6 Questions - Digital Marketer - Before you start an online community, you need to give it some thought and figure out if creating a community is right for you and your business. This article details six questions to ask yourself before you commit to creating your community.

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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.