How to Build a Community Around Your Brand
For business owners, it’s never been more important to be able to create vibrant and lasting relationships with those who make up their customer base. Not only do these customers represent short-term profits, but they can also become valuable assets over the long haul as loyal followers of your brand.
However, creating and sustaining an engaged community of fans is no easy feat. That's why it’s critical for marketing managers and business owners to understand how to establish a community around their brand. This will help them improve customer loyalty, foster new growth opportunities, and ultimately reap higher revenues.
But even if you know that establishing a community around your brand is important, it’s a question of how you’re supposed to do it. Let’s look at some strategies you can use to cultivate passionate relationships with customers that help promote ongoing success for your business.
Why Is A Community So Important To Establishing A Brand?
Whether you're launching a new company or making an effort to increase customer loyalty, developing a strong sense of community around your product is essential. A well-cultivated community allows you to differentiate yourself from competitors by creating meaningful connections with customers, offering them opportunities they won't find anywhere else while reinforcing the value of your products.
4 Top Ways You Can Establish A Community
Looking to get started building a community? Here are some of the popular ways that many small-business owners and entrepreneurs go about connecting with the people who value their brand.
1. Create spaces where customers can connect over their shared interests
After all, they have something in common if they take value from your product or service. When you have a Facebook Group or a hashtag that you encourage customers to use, they are able to share the ways your brand changes their life and even see the effect it has on others.
2. Reason to come together
Sometimes it can be tough to get people to connect even if they have a shared love of your business. So give them a reason to come together. When you incorporate specific values in your business model, you are encouraging your customers to take part in something much bigger than a simple purchase. Maybe you promote environmentally sustainable practices, or you donate a portion of sales to charity. These values encourage your customers to feel a kinship with the other customers.
3. Making use of user-generated content is a great way to encourage community
Not only does this mean free content for your social media platforms but also it encourages your customers to be unofficial spokespeople who promote you. Just as they do in those spaces you created online (such as the Facebook Group), they will enjoy seeing what your brand means to other customers. And on that note…
4. Appoint ambassadors
If you see one of your regular customers doing a great job of talking you up and sharing your brand with others, you should take advantage of that. Provide them with special offers or even give them a discount for every new customer they send your way.
How To Avoid Crossing Lines
It’s important to remember that boundaries exist and avoiding crossing them is essential to maintaining successful relationships. By researching appropriate policies within the industry and modeling best practices for communication, both employees and customers will be better informed of what constitutes acceptable behavior. It’s also essential you have clear expectations and consequences for bad behavior, as well as recognize the value of cultural diversity. By being mindful of all aspects when developing your community carefully, you will find you are able to create meaningful connections that promote growth while respecting boundaries.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
If you are too heavy-handed with marketing and don't foster meaningful engagement with your members, people will quickly become disinterested. It's essential to create interesting content that speaks to your intended audience without simply trying to sell something. Understand what they will find useful and make sure their comments and suggestions are addressed in a timely manner—active moderation is key to keeping the conversation healthy. A successful community is based on mutual respect and understanding. You must stay transparent with your members while proactively addressing any questions or issues that arise with tact.
Businesses That Have Successfully Built A Community
Think of the many businesses that seem to have people flocking around them—people like what the brand represents, and they instantly feel a sense of connection to other people who appreciate the brand. Starbucks is technically a coffee shop, but people like being able to spend extended periods of time working remotely there (even if they aren’t buying a drink in the first place). The Walt Disney Company has expanded its reach from movies to theme parks, a television channel, and even collectible merchandise, all because many people who love Disney want to fill their life with as much Disney as they can. Lululemon, GoPro, Apple, and Harley Davidson are other businesses that have distinctive communities built around their business.