The word community can mean different things to different people. Religion, place of origin, or background can bring a sense of community. Or your community might depend on where and how you live. Regardless of the cause, community is a powerful part of the shared human experience. When businesses leverage it in the form of a brand community, it can do wonders for company growth and longevity.
The power of a thriving brand community
Many well-known, successful brands have harnessed this sense of community and created armies of loyal brand advocates who engage and interact with each other based on their shared interests, experiences, and challenges.
Through this shared sense of relatability and connection, satisfied customers become steadfast community members who advocate for your brand, its promise, and its solutions. This priceless form of community engagement can create new growth opportunities for your business by:
- Advancing your brand awareness efforts
- Fostering customer loyalty
- Increasing existing customer retention
- Highlighting customer satisfaction
- Encouraging customer feedback and dialogue
Quite often, the biggest determination of success is not the size of your audience but rather the loyalty, engagement, and brand advocacy of individual customers. Focusing on actively building and nurturing your own community can achieve this and help you distinguish your brand as the one to watch in your space.
How to build a successful brand community
If you've not achieved this level of customer engagement quite yet, here are some tips to consider as part of your marketing strategy.
1. Involve your customers
While case studies and testimonials are a tried-and-tested go-to for any marketer looking to build their brand community, user-generated content (UGC) is certainly one avenue to explore.
The battle to be noticed in the age of content saturation makes it harder for traditional content to stand out. Considering the impact of peer recommendations and the power of social proof, many brands are teaming up with their online community to create authentic content that aligns with their customers' shared goals—because who understands those goals better than your existing brand advocates?
User-generated content is a powerful aspect of online engagement that isn't reserved strictly for B2C brands. For example, B2B brands can harness customer advocacy by reposting blogs, testimonials, and case studies that their community has circulated.
In the contract manufacturing industry, sharing UGC through technical reviews from your clients or details about successful collaborations can significantly boost engagement and trust, enhancing your reputation and credibility. Consider how you can involve your existing customers when creating engaging content and media like this. Perhaps a podcast, a video, a photo shoot, or an interview with a satisfied customer?
2. Send a newsletter
Email marketing is powerful because it lets you personalise, tailor and segment your content, further nurturing your contacts and building on your sense of community. The beauty of the newsletter is that (assuming you're practising due diligence with your data) your email lists will be made up of high-quality, engaged contacts who will gratefully receive your emails.
Newsletters tailored to specific segments of your client base can keep your brand top-of-mind. To keep your community engaged, contribute your two pence with valuable, consistent content such as blog articles, tutorials, videos, etc. Also include industry news, insights on manufacturing trends, updates on new technologies, and case studies that highlight your specific expertise.
A regular newsletter schedule combined with valuable content, updates, invitations, exclusive discounts and trials can make subscribers feel prioritised and nurtured. Personalisation is also useful for building relationships with followers and subscribers and maintaining a thriving community environment.
Think of your newsletter as the fuel that ignites your community. Invite subscribers to comment on, share, and discuss the content on your social platforms. Offer talking points, answer questions, and promote your users' experiences.
3. Run a targeted social media campaign
Social media is an excellent way to get your community conversing with each other and learning about others' experiences with your product or brand. Campaigns tailored for platforms like LinkedIn can drive meaningful conversations around industry trends, challenges, and innovations, so set up your social media platforms for conversations around a topic of relevance or importance. Your buyer persona can help you decide what these topics should be.
Be sure to use hashtags relevant to your audience, such as #ContractManufacturing, #EMS, or #PCBAssembly, to attract and engage with your target market and encourage them to become members of your brand community.
One great example is MailChimp, an email and marketing automation company that has created a community through its Instagram platform.
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This specific campaign runs off the back of hashtags #shopsmall and #smallbusinessweek, which are relevant to a shared challenge among their customers—most of whom are small business owners. These business owners have flocked to use the hashtag on their own social platforms, garnering an increase in interactions and engagement for MailChimp.
The campaign is supported by helpful blog content, and likely referenced in their newsletters, too. MailChimp has an opportunity here to segment and tailor their content towards those who run small and large businesses, sending more targeted content based on their needs.
4. Bring the community offline
There are other methods of delivering value to customers and prospects besides writing blogs and producing content. Hosting and participating in industry-specific events like trade shows, technical workshops, and networking seminars can foster stronger offline relationships with your brand community.
These events not only encourage face-to-face networking and facilitate connections with new prospects, but they also help expose your brand to the right audiences. They also allow you to put a face to your brand, humanise your teams, and encourage your community to grow.
Consider events that align with industry focuses and advancements like IoT, Industry 4.0, and sustainable manufacturing practices to appeal to a wider audience. If your budget is low, could you run a workshop or an event at your premises? Or could a member of your team offer to present at a local, relevant event?
5. Use your culture
Last but not least, your brand culture is pivotal for building community both on and offline. Think about how outsiders view you: how do they perceive your team, culture, and values?
Millennials, for example, are sold on companies that align with their moral values, and culture is a huge deciding factor for them when considering whether to buy. Considering that 75% of the global workforce will be made up of Millennials by 2025, it’s worth noting what is important to them.
Mailchimp pretty much nails this yet again. One branch of that culture is their bike culture, which encourages employees to cycle to work more; "Many of our 800 employees bike to work, so we built a bike room that boasts storage for more than 100 bikes, as well as locker rooms with showers so our employees could freshen up before starting their day."
While internal to their employee base, these actions appeal to their audiences. Think small business owners, environmentally conscious millennials, and fitness enthusiasts who will likely share these values.
Which of your brand values align with those of your community? Active ESG initiatives will appeal to environmentally focused community members, while any digital innovations you’re pursuing will be of particular interest to your tech enthusiasts.
B2B prospects and customers will always hold a sense of culture and community in high regard. Chances are they're about to make a large investment that is reliant on a long-standing relationship with you. Being part of something bigger, such as your community, is a unique selling point that could put you ahead of competitors.
Conclusion
Building and maintaining your brand community is an invaluable part of your brand strategy, which reaps long-term benefits for your business. Engaging with your existing customers and attracting prospects to grow your community should be an ongoing part of your brand-building efforts, and the relevant and meaningful use of customer stories, newsletters, social media, and in-person events can help.
Whatever tactics you use to create and foster your community, keep your brand values and culture central to your messaging. These are the intangible points of relatability that'll set your brand apart in the minds of your customers.
Editor’s note: This blog post was originally published in July 2019 and has been updated in August 2024 for relevance and accuracy.
