Every brand needs a community to support it. And we’re not just talking about loyal customers that keep coming back because your product or service is that good. We’re talking about people that want to connect on a deeper level and become a part of the brand.
In our last blog, we spoke about what brand community actually is and why it matters. To summarize, the best way to advertise your brand is by word of mouth. People are more inclined to trust those they know than random reviews on the internet. That’s why you need to have a tight-knit community that could propel your brand’s popularity to new heights.
But what does it take to build a successful brand community? It’s not as simple as many people think because you can’t just create it and let it run itself. A community like this needs the brand’s attention.
When it comes to community creation, we know you may fear that you’ll forget something or won’t cover all the bases. That’s why we’ve curated this simple guide that will help you set everything up.
Ready to help your business grow with people that really care about it? Let’s learn how to build a brand community.
The How To
Deciding to build a community is the very first step, and congratulations - you’re on the right track already! But this kind of creation needs to start from within. You should first gather your team and brainstorm. Your values and ideas need to align before you push this project forward.
Once you and your team are on the same page, you can continue with the community creation steps. They’re as follows:
- Defining your brand’s values
- Coming up with community goals
- Choosing your platform
- Engaging regularly
Defining Your Brand’s Values
The people that want to become community members want to connect with your brand and its story. Not only that but your values and ideals need to align, otherwise people are likely to look past the brand. You shouldn’t only work out your brand’s values, but think about your mission, message, voice, and personality. Who are you trying to reach? Who are you trying to help? The more details you put out there, the likelier you are to find the audience you need.
Of course, it’s natural to want to appease everyone, but not everyone can like your brand. Besides, we’re sure you’ve already found your niche. And also, you don’t want community members that will follow and support you blindly. Having genuine feedback, whether it’s good or bad, is much more valuable. Why? Because it helps you adjust and steer your brand in the right direction.
Community Goals
Now, having a community to back you up is a wonderful thing, but what else is their purpose? Simply supporting a brand can only take community members so far, and they may wind up losing interest. That’s something you definitely don’t want.
So, you need to ask yourself a lot of questions before going forward with the next steps. Ask yourself - what’s the purpose of your community? What do you want them to help you with? In fact, think about how they can help marketing or sales, for example.
But it’s not all about how they will help you. You need to consider what will make them stick around. That’s why you should ask yourself how you’re going to engage your audience and what you can help them with? What brand-related problems will you solve? Maybe you’ll answer their concerns about your product or services, for example.
Lastly, it’s wise to track your community’s progress. So, you need to work out what kind of metrics you want to keep an eye on and how you want to define your community’s success.
These are only some of the questions you should take into consideration. Once you have everything worked out, you can move on to the next step.
Choosing Your Platform
Your community is now as good as ready, you just need to choose a platform for it. The platforms can include:
- Forums - a great choice for community members to share their questions, comments, feedback, or concerns. This is where they can connect with other members too.
- Social Media - similarly to forums, social media can serve as a great connection between the community members. Also, it can help them stay connected to the brand itself and never miss out on any updates. This is where you can introduce branded hashtags, helping community members find each other easier.
- Reward Programs - the best way to incentivize people to join your community. Naturally, people will flock to any kind of rewards, and how will they get them? By supporting your brand. However, you shouldn’t just capitalize on this. You should reward your community members with things like discounts, sneak peeks, and other kinds of exclusive giveaways that will make them feel special.
Regular Engagement
Finally, here’s something you must never forget - sure, your community members love the products you offer, but they’re here for more than that. You owe them all your success, and that’s why you should go above and beyond to keep them interested. For some, chatting with other members or collecting rewards isn’t enough. They want to hear from the brand itself.
That’s why you should keep your eye on what kind of brand-created content performs the best. You can organize AMAs, and Q&As, create behind-the-scenes footage, etc. Using different social media platforms will give you all kinds of advantages too. For example, TikTok is great for short behind-the-scenes videos or relatable content. On the other hand, Quora or forums are a good choice if you’re doing AMAs.
The best way to find out what your community wants is to be transparent and ask them directly. It’s never wise to assume what kind of content your audience will enjoy. W hy? Because you can make the right choice by simply asking people what they want.
Brand Community Has Your Back
And that’s it! All you need to do now is build upon the starting point we’ve created together. We’re excited to see where your community takes you.