In a digital world built on the importance of connections, Community Based Marketing contributes to the growth of your brand and greater customer loyalty. In this article I explain what it is, what elements it consists of, and why it is so beneficial.
You know it well: today's customers want more than just a transaction from the brands they buy from.
And this is as true in the B2C market as it is in the B2B market: people feel a desire to be part of something bigger, something intangible that makes them feel a real connection to the brand.
So here it is that if you operate in marketing, you cannot help but reconsider and review the different ways useful for attracting and retaining your customers.
An important part of this concerns what is called the Community Based Marketing (or also just Community Marketing), an approach that aims to build long-term relationships between a brand and its customers from two-way conversations.
Have you ever heard of them?
In this article we take a closer look at the topic: we explain what Community Based Marketing is, what it consists of, what benefits it offers and how to make the most of it to ensure your success.
What is Community Based Marketing?
Community Based Marketing (or Community Marketing) is a marketing strategy that focuses on building and engaging a collection of individuals (a community, precisely) who share common interests, values or experiences.
These may be current or potential customers, industry experts, partners, or a mix of these categories.
It is an approach that emphasizes relationships, two-way communication, and collaboration between your brand and your audience.
It aims to create a sense of belonging among and leverage the latter to promote brand, loyalty and foster business growth.
Community Based Marketing is particularly effective in areas where the brand loyalty, trust and authentic relationships play a crucial role: by fostering a community around your brand, you can create an enabling environment where customers feel valued, connected and more likely to support you.
It is an excellent strategy for tapping into people's emotional and social needs-a knowledge that becomes invaluable when it comes time to plan and launch a new product.
What is meant by community?
We human beings are beings Social: means that aggregation with others similar to us is instinctive and natural.
While in the past such a union occurred only on a physical level (i.e., meeting in person), today the Internet and all the tools that come with it (video calls, webinar, chat, etc.) allow us to do the same thing virtually.
Here then, for those working in web marketing, such groups of people become particularly relevant and intended for special attention.
But what exactly is it and what characteristics does a digital community have?
From a marketing perspective, a digital community refers to a group of individuals who share common interests, goals or experiences related to a particular product, service, brand or topic and who interact with each other online.
A community can take various forms, including:
- Groups on social media (Facebook, Linkedin, etc.);
- Forum;
- Blog;
- Online events (webinars);
- Email list.
Each of them is characterized by the presence of three factors:
- People: a group of people with common goals and interests come together and differ in identity level from those outside the community;
- Actions and behaviors: people act and behave in specific ways, which consolidates their culture and meaning;
- Membership and responsibility: people understand the need to help other community members and the importance of working together to achieve goals. This fosters a sense of belonging.
Community Based Marketing: what elements it consists of
What does it mean to do Community Based Marketing?
Let us try to understand it better by considering the main elements of which it consists:
#1 Building a community
This first involves identifying a target audience and their common interests or needs; it then requires the creation of spaces for interaction or sharing, such as groups on social media, forums or dedicated websites; and finally, interaction and active involvement must be encouraged.
#2 Promotion of relationships
When you have built your community, you need to establish an authentic connection with its members; this means facilitating confrontations, conversations and discussions, but also responding to feedback and other requests in a timely manner.
#3 User-generated content.
It is critical at this point to encourage members to create and share brand-related content; this allows you to leverage it for your own marketing purposes, showcasing the stories and experiences of people already involved.
#4 Exclusive Benefits
People who belong to your community should enjoy exclusive benefits dedicated to them, such as discounts or privileged access to products or services. Creating a sense of exclusivity and privilege, in fact, serves you to reward and consequently retain your most loyal customers.
#5 Events
While it is true that people belonging to a community feel united even if they are physically distant, it is also true that nothing strengthens bonds like live meetings. Organizing offline events therefore becomes very important - alternatively, webinars or conferences also help a lot in this regard.
#6 Word of mouth
You know, there's nothing more powerful than positive word of mouth-that's why it always pays to encourage community members to become advocates for your brand, so you can expand your circle of potential customers based on the testimonials of those who are already loyal to you.
Why create a community? 5 Benefits of Community Based Marketing
Building an online community around your brand and products can really make a difference.
It is definitely one of the best ways to stand out in the market, offer value to customers, create a unique experience, design better products and services, and increase trust.
Although not as popular as other digital marketing strategies, community marketing has much to offer in helping businesses of all sizes achieve their goals.
If you're still not convinced, here are the top five reasons why community marketing is good for your business.
#1 Reduces costs
It's easy to spend a lot of money on advertising-and the return on investment doesn't always justify the outlays.
In contrast, community marketing strategies have a low cost, especially when compared to traditional advertising and digital marketing campaigns.
Like the latter, they certainly require planning and reasoning, but they are cheaper to implement, leaving you with more opportunities to use your budget while providing better-performing, personalized customer service.
#2 Increases customer loyalty
With so much choice available in the marketplace, customers have less incentive to remain loyal to a specific brand when it no longer meets their needs. Not only that, without any direct connection to your customers, negative reviews may drive some of them away and prompt them to look for deals elsewhere.
Conversely, when customers feel that a brand truly cares about them and their opinions, they are more likely to remain loyal.
Community marketing relies heavily on being part of a cohesive group and being active within it. These direct interactions with your customers will develop better relationships, thus increasing customer loyalty.
In addition to developing brand-customer relationships and sustaining a sense of appartena and loyalty among them, engagement helps those in the community develop relationships with each other. This identity in turn encourages brand loyalty and enthusiasm, which hold the group together.
#3 Offers valuable feedback
One characteristic of any successful company is its ability to grow, change and improve to satisfy its customers.
How can you get an honest, factual assessment of your company's performance? By asking them, your customers, of course.
Spending time in communities gives you excellent insight into what people like or dislike about your products and services-you'll get valuable feedback and insights you can use to improve your offerings, making your strategies more intentional and effective.
In addition, a disgruntled customer can potentially spread a negative testimonial online before he or she even realizes it: the community gives you a direct path to problem-solving so that he or she does not need to express dissatisfaction far and wide.
#4 Keeps the brand relevant
As time goes by, you will inevitably face market challenges and the development of trends in your customers' preferences. Therefore, you will need to be consistent but flexible enough to keep up.
A brand that leverages its strengths by engaging with its community ensures its relevance within its particular industry.
Constantly listening and interacting with your customer base helps you shape your brand into what your target market responds best to and, in turn, in the industry your business serves.
Focusing on community marketing strategies will help you gain insights that stimulate business innovation and continued relevance within your industry for years to come.
Online communities are able to connect with audiences over the long term, regularly engaging them in two-way discourse and offering value to their daily lives. They encourage people to return regularly, to interact with the community and thus with your brand.
#5 Improves brand reputation
Traditional advertising can still be effective, but much of the public is becoming insensitive or even distrustful of it.
Fraud cases and the massive collection of data from websites and online platforms have also increased people's distrust of using their data for online advertising. This shift in public opinion makes it essential for brands to adapt and explore other, less traditional marketing approaches.
Tips for Effective Community Based Marketing
Building a strong and loyal community does not happen overnight.
Like other marketing campaigns, community marketing strategies often span a significant period, as the quality of the connection is as important as the number of new customers who initially join your community.
Below are some tips to keep in mind when you intend to plan and execute such an approach so as to help your brand secure consumer trust.
# Show who is part of the community
A strong community will surely engage many passionate members and customers. As mentioned above, interacting with them will not only maintain their positive perception of your brand, but will likely attract new customers.
One way to showcase your community members is to take advantage of the user-generated content (UGC): this is content created organically by your customers, as a result of their deep appreciation for your offering.
These posts can be found on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, mainly through brand-related hashtags.
You can interact directly with these posts-and, therefore, with your customers-or use this content to further promote your brand and enhance your marketing campaigns.
Using UGC in your marketing and advertising activities is also a great way to liven up your promotional content, because promotion by real people lends a sense of authenticity to your business.
In addition to improving the way your brand is perceived externally, this practice also strengthens existing relationships with your customers. They will feel that your brand genuinely cares about what they have to say (and your brand should care!), encouraging them to continue doing business with your company and enabling them to provide more positive and honest feedback.
# Allow the public to influence branding decisions.
Many brand decisions involve a multi-step process, the first of which is usually market research. For example, if your cosmetics brand plans to produce and launch a new line of lipsticks, it is essential to research what the market is looking for in a lipstick.
What shades and formulas are or are about to become trendy right now? Who is your target customer? How will your product stand out from the competition? How will you market this new product?
Your existing brand community would be the perfect focus group in which to gather consumer opinions and test your ideas.
One example is using polls or contests on social media to help your brand make a product decision. Using the example on cosmetics, your brand could post a survey or contest on what to call a specific shade of your new lipstick line.
Asking your community's opinion and then acting on it means that your customers influence your company's decisions. Engaging them makes them feel valued as customers, but more importantly it helps you create a better product or launch a more effective campaign.
# Commit and be present
Growing a successful community requires commitment: progress doesn't come from nowhere; your company must help cultivate it over time.
If you run a Facebook group or other online forum, be sure to post and interact with members consistently. That way, your audience will know who you are and understand the value of being part of a group with you.
Consistently participating and engaging in your community allows your brand to build a strong presence within the group and improve your relationship with your customers.
Spending time with them online also allows you to learn from your customers through your observations and interactions with them.
# Be genuine
People value authentic connections: the quality of the relationships you create is just as important as the number of people who join your community.
Being genuine to your customer community involves many different factors. The easiest way is to be genuine and interested in your customers and their concerns.
However, doing this as a brand can be difficult. Being genuine requires a certain degree of intimacy, which may be difficult to achieve if you are a faceless business entity.
Aside from the suggestions we mentioned above, an effective way to give personality to the face of your business is to create a solid brand identity. This involves creating a recognizable presence online and offline using a consistent image, language, tone and personality in every interaction.
Building authentic relationships with your audience is not only useful in community marketing activities, but also means that they will be receptive to your more traditional campaigns.
# Don't forget to promote
Building authentic relationships and having active participation within your community are both essential, but these actions must also be intentional.
All your marketing efforts, including community marketing, aim to increase the lead, sales or business for your business.
Both offline and online brand communities will ultimately serve as an avenue for you to promote your business and your new campaigns. Remember that word of mouth can be as effective as more expensive advertising, so it is important to identify those customers who will become advocates for your products.
Regular promotions keep your audience engaged and updated on your company's activities, giving them more opportunities to participate and connect with you.
Conclusion
Community-based marketing might seem like a huge challenge and make you feel a little discouraged at first.
True, it takes time, energy and foresight, but it is an essential part of growing your business.
Communities are powerful because they tap into the social and emotional needs of human beings.
A strong community behind your business will help ensure stability and longevity for your business. It will enable you to innovate and adapt in real time while maintaining customer loyalty despite changing demands and circumstances.
And tell me, have you built your community yet?
Let me know in the comments!