I recently answered a reporter’s request around how to build a community around your brand and wanted to share my answer here. Building community is what we encourage each and every one of our clients to do and what you should be doing when expanding your vision!
Whether you are increasing your online presence or have an established throng of followers - businesses have come to realize the power of community, today more than ever.
No longer do they care about likes and follows, they want to understand how these online audiences can help elevate the impact of their brand and take them into the future.
But how do you take those likes and follows and turn them into a community? To me, the answer is simple, because as usual, it comes back to my first love - Public Relations. In other words; how are you relating to your public?
“Community is formed around the collective feedback and positive sharing among a like-minded group of target customers. It’s a place people can belong, participate and be comfortable. When this happens, you’ve built community.” - A. Sutton
As companies continue to use review sites, feedback forums and ratings tools – businesses are becoming more aware that they can no longer be their best advocate; that it’s time to give more power to the people.
Sharing and engagement is now the number one measurement tool. And companies are desperate to crack this code! This, I anticipate will be a recurring theme as more and more options become available to consumers.
I’ve personally made a $400 purchase in under 5 minutes, based on reviews and one trusted influencer. I’ve also seen the opposite; when a company’s reputation and efforts are in peril from neglect of their online presence and lack of output over months, even years.
The Feels
When consulting with clients about how to gain community around their product or service, we often start by examining the shared values of their customer base. Aside from a good-looking home page, this is the more important factor, which people use to buy, participate and share.
In short, the emotions and reasons behind purchasing (or supporting) a product are more powerful and impactful to your marketing – it will give you greater buy in, greater credibility and greater success in the long run.
Don’t be afraid to stand behind your values! It can be a distinguishing factor.
Go Slow
When speaking to newer brands, don’t expand your reach too quickly through paid or promoted channels. This can be controversial advice - and has been the subject of many a marketing team discussions. However, it’s simply a question of timing. In order to establish a strong foundation of early-adopters and supporters – be sure that all of your local and organic resources are tapped FIRST.
There is no sense turning on the fire hose of promotions, advertising dollars and other blanket marketing methods, before you’ve gotten some solid, organic engagement happening on all channels. (Read: FEEDBACK!)
Think about it - What are you pointing people to? You may reach some eyeballs early on, but if they land on a white space with vacuum messages and cookie cutter images - you won’t be convincing anyone that this is a place where they belong, can participate and be comfortable long term.
Get personal
You are going to be more able to sell and promise results if you, yourself have a story to share in creating this product or service. Frankly, any time people can tie their own stories into a product or service, they are opening the door for others to follow. You may even create a more personalized channel as a forum for people to feel they can be included and share, such as a Facebook group, a podcast, a personal blog or a YouTube channel, while strategically linking back to your site.
Finally, remember that even if they find you, there are other doors they can walk through; millions of them. They are going to try them on like hats - but are searching for what “feels like home”. So if they come to your door, let’s try to keep them there.
TRY THIS:
Here’s the TOP three doors of entry for your community members - and often, where you can shut them out:
1. Your website - it’s going to tell them in very short blink, what they think about you and what they feel about BEING there. *Remember to use inclusive language to make people feel they BELONG there.
2. Your online channels - (not just social media) this is an extension of their website experience, but they get to see how you share, how you interact, what you value and the highlights of how you behave. Consider highlighting client profiles or feature stories as content.
3. Finally, the purchase point - how easy are you to deal with, what’s the process and thought put into making their experience pleasant and “remarkable”, all the way through to the follow through post-delivery and how you bring them back. This could be a loyalty program, or other rewards.
All businesses are unique and each one deserves to ask themselves these questions above and to have these important discussions with their marketing teams. Try on messaging and keep fine tuning until you are shouting your brand loud and proud!