There is no doubt that the way marketing has evolved has changed the way a buyer connects with a brand.
These days, people have a lot of information on their hands and conduct thorough research before buying any product. Online Communities play a significant role in this process.
Online internet communities create buzz and excitement around brands. The reason why Apple, Nike, Redbull have such strong engagement on the internet is because they have carefully nurtured their audience through years of dedication.
But do these communities help small and medium scale businesses? The short answer is yes. Businesses of any proportion can benefit from online brand communities.
What is Community Based Marketing?
The first goal of any business is to gain a loyal customer base. Though constant ads promotion help them get decent customers, in the long term you cannot totally depend on paid efforts. Developing a community is important for any business to thrive. The cost of marketing to new customers is almost 5 times higher than to existing customers. Digital marketing has made community building much easier. There are so many businesses who just thrive on online community management. Same cannot be said about other Internet marketing strategies.
Why You Should Build a Brand Community?
An online brand community can help a business in many ways. From reduced marketing costs to customer support, building an online community never goes waste. Digital marketing has substantially reduced the efforts needed to build an online community.
1. Brand Awareness and Loyalty –
When customers are a part of brand loyalty, they are no longer a distinct and separate entity. You can make your community feel special about this bond and provide them incentives for engaging with your brand. This can lead to a greater brand awareness since they will share your content offers to a large audience. Your community can help you build through word of mouth and online engagement.
2. Improved Customer Service –
When you have a dedicated group of audience, you can reduce customer support since the community will solve the problem within itself. If a customer is facing some glitches while using the product, someone expert from the community can guide them to correction. This way you can reduce your customer service cost and offer better service.
3. Increased Engagement in the Online World –
A community that is focussed on your products and services will also share information about them. This way you can get heavy engagement on social media and other online marketing platforms. Your posts could go viral on social media and community members can become your silent promoters.
4. More User Generated Content –
We all know how content is the driving force behind all marketing activities that happen in the digital marketing world. With online communities the conversations happen around your blog naturally. Audiences are more likely to connect with the content since it is created by their peers.
As a business you can go one step ahead and publish their content on your digital marketing channels. This way you can show that the conversation was authentic and you are keen to listen to your audience.
5. Better Testing Opportunities –
You can save your money on focus groups and other testing methods by asking your online community to use the product beforehand. This way you can make your audience feel heard and test your features before launching in the market. Your community will give you actionable feedback and help create a better product as a result.
How to Build Online Community Around Your Brand?
As you can see, there are many reasons why a brand should focus on building an online community. Let’s look at some of the simple ways to get you started.
1. Create Social Media Groups –
The easiest way to start building your community. Set up a relevant page on popular social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Create regular and useful content around your brand so that users can engage with your brand.
Facebook Groups is the best tool to build online communities. You can create private groups and allow only those who are genuinely interested in your product. With social media you could engage with your audience on a more individual level rather than having a macroscopic view.
2. Using Emails and Newsletters –
Email marketing is not dead. In Fact it is the best way to make your message more personalized. Make your blog readers subscribe to your newsletters. Use these newsletters to send more engaging content around your brand. Have special offers and discounts exclusively to your members.
3. Involve Your Customer Via Video –
Ask your customers to share videos using or explaining the benefits of your product. Everyone loves being in a video and tools like Instagram and facebook are making it easier to spread brand awareness. Videos are the highest consumed content format in the digital marketing world. Make sure you leverage this.
You can also live stream your product launch and invite your community to join the session. Try showing back-stage videos, the audience loves to have a glimpse of the inner-workings of a company they love. Under-produced, raw and live content performs better since it feels more authentic.
4. Start With Your Team –
First step towards building your community is to get your employees engaged with your content. Rally your team with a focused vision and well-crafted brand purpose. Create a system following which an employee automatically becomes more involved in the community building process. Remember, your online community will reflect the culture shared by your company and its employees.
Conclusion –
With new marketing channels, the internet marketing space is getting crowded. The audience is looking for deeper and impactful content. By building an online community around your brand, you are giving your customers a platform to raise their voices. This way you can understand the pulse of your target audience, which is by far the most important thing for any business to thrive.
