Community Building & Engagement
Did you know that consumers spend 19%more after joining a company’s online community? With screen time on the rise and digitalization accelerating, it’s become essential for businesses in every industry to have a strong presence online. While that may be stating the obvious, what’s not obvious is how to achieve such a thing. Building and engaging a digital community can be difficult, but understanding the goals involved helps break it down into a more manageable form.
There are several goals behind community engagement, the bottom line of which is simply to build the value of your following. The more engaged your audience is, the more likely they are to buy your products/services, be loyal customers, and spread the word to their friends. One of the goals leading up to this is to educate your followers about your organization. Not only do they want to know what you're offering, but why you’re offering it and who you are. The more informed they are, the more confident they will be in their support of your brand.
Another important goal is to make sure your community members feel valued, as they are. Part of this includes avoiding superficial follows, and perhaps doing an occasional giveaway or discount code. You can also leverage your customers by asking them to tag your products or give a testimonial about your services. Like all people, they also want to feel heard. If a customer offers a comment, question, or concern, listen and let it be known that you’ve really taken the time to hear them. But don’t just focus on inbound communications (responding), because outbound (outreach) is equally important.
It’s paramount that you connect with your audience on a personal and emotional level. People want to see who’s behind your brand. They want to be charmed by your personality and understand that there’s a common ground. We suggest streaming videos of your founder, posting pictures of the team, and reaching out to followers via comments and DMs. For more tips on this, check out our blog, “Being the Face of Your Brand.”
Community building goes beyond digital platforms, and into “the real world.” Connections made in-person are extremely valuable and can lead to word-of-mouth referrals. Networking is the lifeblood of business, and of life, so don’t be shy! Cultivating relationships both online and offline is your best shot at success.
In order to fully resonate with your audience, you have to get inside their heads. You can’t build a community with intention until you have a clear idea of what your target audience looks like. Take some time to write out a profile of your ideal customer — what are their interests, their age range, their values? Pinpointing these specific demographics will help you target your message. While you may want everyone to love your brand, that’s just not a reality. Targeted marketing is the way to speak to people, because people are unique and don’t want to hear a message that is meant for the masses. They want to know that you understand them in all their complexity. To think like your audience, ask yourself — what problems are they dealing with? What other activities/brands/groups/locations etc. might they be following?
For instance, we work with a number of psychotherapy practices. When considering who their target audience might be, I asked myself, "who in New York might need therapy?" Aside from everyone... I remembered when I had just moved to the big city at 18 years old, living on my own for the first time, and going to art school. I needed to set up my support system there, and find a therapist to help me adjust to my new life. Drawing on that, I figured it’s likely that other students going to college in New York could use therapy, and therefore could benefit from targeted marketing. With that insight, I made sure to follow university hashtags, locations, pages, etc. and engage with their community in order to drive traffic to our psychotherapy practices’ profiles. This sort of thing is a win-win, because it helps their business grow while helping consumers get exactly what they want and need.
Overall, the secret ingredient when it comes to community building and engagement is authenticity. Without it, all efforts are wasted. Why should anyone support an organization they can’t trust? Why should your organization want to build a superficial following? No reason at all. So for the benefit of all, stay true to your values and convey genuine messages. Be real, be communicative, and be active in your efforts. You have exactly what someone else needs.
