To increase customer acquisition and retention rates, you need a thriving brand community. With a group of staunch and loyal customers, your brand will have thousands of brand ambassadors. That’s why building a thriving brand community should top the priority list of all digital marketers.
But what exactly is a brand community? Can a brand with sufficient awareness be said to have such a group of followers? How can a brand manager or marketer build a thriving brand community? What can companies do to grow such communities? Let’s address these questions one by one.
What is a Brand Community?
A brand community is a group of customers who actively endorse and engage with a brand on various platforms. They also interact with other community members through platforms managed and supported by the brand.
Brand communities can be both online and offline. They could be a Facebook group, a brand’s email subscribers, or followers of its social media page. A brand community can also grow offline, like the famous Harley Owners Group.
The community members would follow the brand’s content across traditional and digital platforms. They would be the first to be interested in new products or new versions of existing products. The members would also be eager to share the brand’s benefits within their networks, both online and offline.
Traditional advertising is a top-down approach where brands talk to and influence customers. This is mostly done at a mass level without customization. It also usually doesn’t offer any room for customers to participate in the communication and engage with the brands.
While there were certain brand communities before digital media, including fans of sports teams and consumer electronics brands, digitalization empowered consumers to meet around their favorite brands. More than the product benefits, what attracts them are the brand identity and story.
Why Should You Build a Thriving Brand Community?
When used well, brand communities can become effective business tools for organizations. With a group of believers—that’s what a brand community is—you can optimize not just your marketing but also your product development. These are the first users who will give you the right feedback that you can use to improve your products or services.
You can also share content with your community and use their suggestions to enhance your customer outreach. Building a thriving brand community will enable you to make decisions that are relevant to your existing and potential user segments. Your strategy will then become customer-driven, which will improve the odds of your product’s or service’s success.
A community also makes it easy to amplify your marketing communication. The members will share your marketing content across their networks, giving your content significant traction without you having to spend much.
Case Studies of Successful Brand Communities
One of the most iconic examples of a successful brand community is Harley-Davidson’s Harley Owners Group (HOG). This community has helped Harley-Davidson build a loyal customer base that actively participates in events, shares their experiences, and promotes the brand. Another example is Apple’s ecosystem, which includes forums, social media groups, and in-person events like the Apple Store launches and WWDC. These communities have fostered a strong sense of belonging among Apple users, driving brand loyalty and advocacy.
How to Build a Thriving Brand Community
The first thing you should know is that, in all likelihood, you already have a brand community. It’s spread over your social media accounts. Your responsibility is to conceive and execute a sustained strategy that will create the right circumstances for this community to grow and flourish. You can follow these steps to achieve that:
Define Your Brand Identity and Character
The first thing to do is to define your brand. Why was your business started? What problems are you trying to solve? What inspires your employees? What’s your mission? For example, is your brand about freedom, innovation, peace, happiness, or families?
It’s also important to know your brand character. Are you traditional, modern, dynamic, light-hearted, or rebellious? Unless you can state what your brand is all about, it will be difficult to get others to believe in you.
Select a Platform
You have to select a platform where most of your loyal customers are already present. If they are digitally scattered, you need to organize your followers on a single venue. It could be a social media group on Facebook or LinkedIn. It could also be a community that you create using the relevant hashtags on Instagram.
You can also create a forum on your website for your followers to interact with you and each other. This will require you to designate moderators to respond to queries and manage discussions.
Make it Attractive for Your Members
Your followers need a reason to join the community, so you need to make it attractive. Everything about it should feel exclusive and aspirational. Even if they like your brand, they won’t join if it doesn’t deliver relevant content.
To create engaging content, you need to know your followers. This is where audience analysis comes into play. Using social media analytics and segmentation tools, you should know your audience, their goals, challenges, and pain points.
Drive Engagement
When they see that their favorite brand has a community, your loyal customers and followers might join it. But if they have to keep coming back and be involved, you need to actively engage them.
Your moderator should initiate discussions on topics relevant to your customers and your brand. You should also ensure that your community members are the first to hear about your product or service. Whenever members ask questions, you should immediately respond. You need to be the most active member of the group.
Tools and Technologies for Building a Thriving Brand Community
Several tools and technologies can facilitate the creation and management of brand communities. Platforms like Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups, and Reddit are excellent for starting community discussions. For more controlled environments, consider using community management software like Discord or Slack or specialized platforms like Tribe or Discourse. These tools offer various features like moderation, analytics, and customization to help you manage and grow your community effectively.
Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Building a thriving brand community is not without its challenges. Common issues include maintaining engagement, managing conflicts, and ensuring the community remains aligned with your brand values. To overcome these challenges, set clear community guidelines, appoint dedicated moderators, and continuously monitor and adapt your strategies based on community feedback and engagement metrics.
Measuring the Success of Your Brand Community
To gauge the success of your brand community, track metrics such as member growth, engagement rates, content shares, and customer retention. Tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and community management software can provide valuable data. Regularly review these metrics to understand what’s working and where improvements are needed.
Engagement Tactics to Strengthen Your Brand Community
To keep your community engaged, implement advanced tactics such as gamification, where members earn points or rewards for participation. Offer exclusive content, early access to products, and special events for community members. Recognize and celebrate active members through shout-outs or special privileges. These strategies not only increase engagement but also foster a deeper connection between your brand and its community.
The Role of Content in Building a Thriving Brand Community
Content is a crucial element in building and sustaining a brand community. Create a mix of informative, entertaining, and exclusive content that resonates with your audience. Use storytelling to connect on an emotional level, and encourage user-generated content to boost involvement. Regularly update your community with valuable content to keep them engaged and informed.
Increase Awareness About Your Community
Your customers need to know that they now have a community they can join. To do that, you will have to promote your brand community across digital media. The first step is to understand your target audience and then focus your promotional activities on them.
Tell them about the community and how it will benefit them. Ensure that your invitation feels welcoming and respectful.
In Short
Gone are the days when brands had to rely solely on campaigns. This is the age of communities. Building a thriving brand community will help you find new customers and markets and grow your business without constantly reinventing the wheel.
By mastering the art of building a thriving brand community, you can transform your brand’s relationship with its customers, turning them into loyal advocates who contribute to your brand’s long-term success.