Three major reasons to create
Make a place that allows your customers to interact with you and one other. Learn why you need to establish a social network about your brand quickly.
Picture this: A group with like-minded individuals who are committed to achieving the same thing, supporting each other, as well as learning from your material and digital tools.
This is the strength of an online community. Brand communities offer your customers an opportunity to interact to your brand as well as their peers in a unique, dedicated online space.
But first, let's define what is meant by "brand communities".
What is a brand community?
A Brand community is a collection of individuals who are drawn together through a shared interest in your brand and the products you offer.
The members of a community are a group of people who share common goals, issues and beliefs. As a creator, your products will help them meet their objectives, and the community you have created for them provides a supportive social community as they go.
Online brand communities become ever more well-known year after year .
55% of customers are looking for brands that can help connect like-minded people, and 52% believe they could be encouraged to join a brand community.
Community spaces that are dedicated to a particular community are more controlled and exclusive as compared to social media which are more open to members who already have common interests or objectives to share.
Take Sephora's Beauty Insider community and rewards program for illustration. Sephora was one of the first retailers to launch an online forum for their followers to post tips for beauty, receive invites to influencer events, and seek guidance from experts in the field.
Today, the Beauty Insider forum hosts over 76K conversation threads and 1,500 active topics per day. Additionally, there are 42 distinct categories in the community each one with an average of 36K members.
You don't have to be an international ecommerce company or attract thousands of people to gain from an effective brand community. Keep reading for three big reasons to build an online community as soon as possible.
The three main benefits of establishing an online community
1. Engage with your customers
"It's simpler to fall in love with an organization when it love you back." -- Marketing expert Seth Godin
It is impossible to have a successful brand community without a branding. When you are a creator you have your own brand. The first and most important thing is that your community of brand gives the customers access to your brand as well as your work.
Once a community is built and growing, your fans begin to communicate with one another However, it's your company as well as your product and your content that inspire members to join the community at first.
64% of customers want brands to connect with them. 90% feel that values are important in deciding which brands to buy from.
Discussions you have within your community of brands help you create connections and connect over the shared beliefs. It allows you to get acquainted with your audience on a more personal level, and in turn, you'll be able to develop items and contents that meet their needs.
Include specific questions in your blog posts and then respond to comments to make the members feel heard.
Here are some conversation topics you could include in your posts:
What are your most difficult challenges with regard to [topic]?the subject]?
What would you like to find out more about?
How can I assist you to achieve your goals and succeed?
What was your most important lesson you learned from our discussion?
What was your greatest achievement this month? What tips would you offer others who want to achieve that?
An excellent example of how to gain knowledge from your customers comes from Tiffany Williams, founder of Rich Girl Collective .
"I simply ask my students the questions they have, and then the things they would like to know, and if it matches something that I have done that I've been successful with, then I teach it to them."
Overall, asking for feedback creates a better customer experience and will make customers better able to stay committed to your company . In turn, those satisfied customers will be more inclined to provide you with actionable feedback. That's a win-win.
2. Make sure that members make the most of your services and contents
Members of the community can get plenty of support and assistance from fellow members, but the most prevalent motivation to be involved with a community of brands is the hedonic .
Make What Matters is a group for creators looking to create relevant content as well as meet with their peers, so the ability to engage in discussions and reading Jay's blog posts is an important benefit. Communities allow Jay's users to get the most out of the benefits of membership.
In the same way, Becky's Gutsy Boss Club membership includes an online community as one of its many benefits.
In her answer to the FAQ Becky listed these frequent benefits of joining her group:
Twice monthly sessions of group coaching
Monthly journaling prompts
Quarterly book club
Quotidly-held trainings with experts from outside
Private community
These recurring benefits make evident why Becky's customers renew their memberships month after month. In the words of Becky put it, "You don't have to take it on by yourself."
Therefore, whether members are looking to talk about your most recent newsletter or need help getting a grasp of a course, your community provides an opportunity for them to connect and learn from each other.
3. Build brand loyalty and turn your customers into brand ambassadors
Being part of your network people feel emotionally connected to your brand. And when people feel connected, they're more likely to endorse your products and brand to friends and family members.
Connected customers emotionally :
You will get a higher 306% cost of living (LTV).
Stick with the brand to an average of 5.1 years as opposed to. 3.4 year.
Will recommend products at a more expensive rate.
Loyalty to customers is the most important business benefit from creating an online social network. Customers tell their family and friends networks about brands that they love, and word-of-mouth is one of the most potent advertising tools.
This is particularly true today, in this age of social media. Your customers have bigger opportunities than ever before to promote your business. If your customers are engaged in a genuinely emotional part of a social network, you can turn your loyal customers into brand ambassadors.
72% of customers say they share good experiences with friends, and 65percent of the new business generally originates via referrals. As Dharmesh Shah the founder of HubSpot stated "The greater the number of advocates you can have more advertisements you'll need to pay for."
Brand communities can also be the best source for User-generated Content (UGC) including reviews and testimonials. Across industries, potential buyers who are interested in UGC have a 161% higher rate over those who do not.
As an example, Jay Acunzo's Make What is Important subscription costs $1000 per year. Jay makes use of testimonials from members to demonstrate the benefits members can get from the subscription.
For gathering UGC members of your group Inviting them to share the biggest lessons they've learned from your courses or content. Also, you can ask them what advice they'd offer to someone considering becoming a part of your community and/or enrolling in your course, or even working towards a similar objective.
Let's get to the point:
The creation of a solid brand community can help you connect to your clients, provide a better member experience, and increase brand loyalty. For this to work, you'll need the best social media platform.
Build your brand community by using
We spoke to creators on what it takes to run and build an online community.
We did it because we wanted to launch Community.
The community feature lets you to connect your audiences and your work. The community members are able to:
Make sure you purchase your goods
Consume your content
Post and join discussions
...all in the same place. Since they're already signed in to shop for your goods or to consume your content there's no reason to develop the habit of connecting to a standalone platform.
The Community feature lets you design a range of topics and posts to encourage participation from the community. Your members can follow topics, comment on discussions, or even write their own content.
You are in complete control of access to and visibility to different plans, topics, and postings. Because your community is built on your site, you own the details of the members on your community.
All in all, Community allows you to:
Build a community around yourself and what you do.
Create opportunities for interaction and discussion.
Bring your work and audience and your audience together in one place.
If you have a account the feature is available with all plans. If you do not have an account, don't fret because you are able to create an online community using the free plan. The only thing you'll need to do is create a free account .
Connect your products, content as well as your audience to a brand community
A brand community is an online community that is exclusive to individuals who share ambitions, needs, and values.
Within that community are your name including products, content, and even your brand.
For a recap, here are three big reasons creators should establish brand communities:
Discussions in your community let you build emotional connections with your customers. Once you've gotten to know your target audience, you can create items and contents that they will love.
If you build an online community for your business, members can discuss your posts, exchange tips and assist each other maximize the value of your offerings.
Customers who are connected to each other are loyal which is the best marketing tools. A brand community boosts branding awareness and brand recognition.
We're eager to see what you and your fellow community members can create togetherand we're there to support you in every way .