Five ways to grow community around your business or brand

In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, I’m excited to be seeing and hearing a welcome shift in perspective. Once heralded as the ultimate ruler in the realm of digital and social marketing, the phrase "content is king" is now being challenged by a new contender: "community is king." But let's go ahead and take the gender away (and we've probably had enough on the royals lately) and let's say "community is key".

Prioritising community and building lasting relationships around your business or brand is music to my ears. No more churning out disposable content to feed hungry algorithms - instead focusing on helping, learning, teaching, sharing, exciting, amusing, intriguing our customers and clients.

While the creation of compelling and valuable content remains important, business owners and marketers are increasingly recognising the impact that a vibrant and engaged community can have on their success.

In today's highly connected world, businesses like yours have an incredible opportunity to go beyond simply selling products and services. By building a vibrant and engaged community you can create and nurture long-term relationships with your customers or clients - developing brand advocates and champions of your business.

But you want examples don’t you? Let’s dive into five ways you can cultivate community around your business or brand using marketing platforms you already have in your toolkit.

1. Create a community group or forum

Let’s say you are a dog trainer or sell products that are related to dogs - what better way to build community, than to literally build an online space where dog lovers can come and chat to each other about their fur babies. Creating a fun and friendly space to talk dogs not only allows you to market easily, but it allows you to listen to your potential clients. Being able to listen directly to what is happening in your community will give you the insight you need to create content, shape your services and more.

You're not a dog trainer? What do you do or sell and how do people use your products and services? Do you think your customers would like to chat with each other about or around your products? Are they already? Go and do some research.

2. Engagement matters

I know you’ve heard this before, but people still ask me how to do this in an authentic way. The simple answer is to be strategic but genuine in all your engagement. Create content that invites comments and discussion and then keep the conversations flowing. Use tools like Instagram/Facebook Stories to encourage direct messages and be there to respond.

Sharing user-generated content is also a lovely way to show your customers they matter and will encourage new customers who want to be a part of your community. Sharing how your customers are using your products is such an inclusive activity and one that builds trust through social proof.

If you've been 'all about the sales', then shifting to an engagement-first strategy may take some time but by moving away from sales calls to action (CTAs) towards sparking conversation CTAs, you will see the shift happen. You might like to pick one of your channels to test this - perhaps the one that you have the most trouble converting into sales.

Note: if your sales messaging is working then please don't stop!

3. Personalise your connections

It’s pretty easy to personalise your emails these days, even a first name can make someone feel more connected. I try to clean my email lists to make sure the first name is added correctly but of course as your list grows this becomes harder and harder. It’s still worthwhile though. Take that personalisation through all of your contact points. If you have an online store, you can collect relevant details at checkout that allows you to personalise each screen. You can encourage people to sign up so you can track them as customers and personalise their experience even further - a handwritten card, a birthday gift, a discount for loyalty. When someone engages with you on social media, a couple of taps might reveal their first name over on their account - do the taps and use their name in your reply.

4. In-person events

No better way to connect than in-person and it's back in fashion now! This isn’t for everyone, but if you have a store or offer a service in a certain town or suburb, then you might find it worthwhile to hold the occasional event. In-store product releases, new-season fashion shows, pre-Christmas sales, workshops, networking events…maybe collaborating with some other like-minded businesses can make this even easier for you.

Attending markets can also be a great way to introduce your products to new customers and get direct feedback and build relationships. If you have a product that people need to touch or taste to really get it, see if a market approach will help you. Once you build up some customers and some user-generated content and reviews you'll be on your way and might be able to revert to online sales only.

5. Partner with influencers or ambassadors

Again, this might not be for everyone, but if you have a growth strategy and the budget for it - one way to fast-track community building is to reach into a community that already exists. Be choosy with who you partner with - identify influencers who align with your brand values and have a genuinely engaged following (there are ways to check - ask me how if you need to).

Recommendation is a shortcut to trust and trust is one of the key drivers of purchase. If your partnership or collaboration works, you will find their community more likely to purchase from you, more quickly. You can fold them into your own community.

Note: Influencers don't have to have hundreds of thousands of followers. Identifying people in your own networks can be a great first step to building your business. If someone has a thousand followers or friends who trust their opinion, you might have more luck than trying to stand out in between a professional influencer's other advertising contracts....just sayin.

. . . 

Building a community is an ongoing process that requires genuine engagement, active listening, and a commitment to delivering value. Implementing one or more of these strategies (adapting them to your specific business), will help you create a thriving community that not only supports your products and services but also becomes an integral part of your brand story.

I hope this has given you something to think about. 

. . .
❤️ Hi I’m Erika ✌️ I’m a marketing specialist with a BA in Media and Comms, Masters of Marketing, Certificate in CX (Customer Experience) and over 25 years experience. I’m well placed to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming world of marketing and social media. I work with you one on one or create fun and action-oriented workshops and webinars for groups, organisations and businesses. Book a free discovery call with me or simply email me to get the conversation started.

For more tips, connect with me on Facebook and Instagram or just get in touch, I'm always happy to help.