Although it's great to have an established client base, if you're serious about developing deep connections with your consumers, you need to go one step further and create an online community. A product is only a product, and any number of rivals may readily replace it. However, leaving an online community is considerably more difficult.
Importance of building an online community for business
Following are the reasons to build an online community.
1. Encouraging Cooperative Relationship
In addition to providing a means of customer service, an online community also serve as a place where actual people may meet and form meaningful relationships. This form of relationship building, in which trust is built through time, is essential for companies. Building an online community doesn't have to be centered on specific tools or platforms. Rather than serving as an end in itself, these systems serve as a vehicle for connecting individuals.
2. Listening
If you're doing it correctly, you'll be listening just as much as you're sharing in your online community, if not more. This is a terrific method to receive feedback and insight into what your organization is presently doing. In reality, you'll get a response right away in most situations. It might alter your whole company strategy if you can identify your audience's pain areas and interests. Your consumers will feel appreciated if you consider their feedback and incorporate some of their ideas where it makes sense.
3. Customer Empowerment
Customers might be your most valuable marketing tool. Your customers will feel empowered if you engage them as a group and give them a voice in the direction of your business. Brands can use the immense power of customers who feel appreciated and empowered to share their stories with the world. If you're building an online community, it will spread the word about your company.
Image taken from Strikingly
How to build an online community to promote your brand
When it comes to marketing, one of the significant obstacles is how to build an online community. The ideal situation is to have an audience interested in and committed to what you have to say. Most of our efforts are devoted to cultivating a strong network of potential customers. You can take multiple actions to develop a passionate and engaged online community to help your company grow.
- Find out why you want to establish an online community before building it. Even if online communities are popular, that alone is not enough of a cause to go in feet first. It would help if you first determined your ultimate goal to build a healthy community for your company. People won't positively respond to an online community campaign if they don't have a clear cause for doing so. Regardless of the circumstances, it's a good idea to have an apparent reason for creating an online community. Think about your objectives from the viewpoint of your customers, which leads us to our following approach.
- Identify the folks who are most likely to be interested in your online community's offerings. The individuals that will form your online community come from your target audience. Your target audience may not be interested in joining your community, though. People join a community for various reasons, including to obtain assistance with a specific issue or to meet others who have the same interests. Just because a person is part of your target audience doesn't ensure they'll be interested in what you have to offer.
- The individuals who will join your online community should be sketched out in detail. Describe what you can do to meet the needs of your colleagues. Once you know your ideal online community member, it will be much simpler to figure out what they expect from you. Your target audience may be interested in learning about the many types of tea and its income potential, the valuable by-products that can be made from tea, and how to market it, for example, if your company is geared toward selling tea and tea goods.
- Create appropriate rules. The proper use is governed by rules and norms that each society has established. Some communities, for example, require members to complete specific requirements before they may join. Some may also restrict the use of vulgarity, self-promotion, or anything irrelevant to the community's goal. To develop appropriate rules for your online community, you need to know why you're doing it and who you're hoping to attract.
- Assign responsibilities to members of the online community. Depending on the structure of your online community and the number of participants, you may need to hire individuals to help operate it, such as managers, moderators, and influencers. Having clear duties and responsibilities within an online community is vital for any business because it reduces confusion and ensures that the rules are being followed, all while keeping the values and character of your brand.
- Begin the process of creating an online community. You have now assigned positions to those who would govern your new online community and created a set of guidelines for its members to follow. Now is the moment to begin establishing a presence on the Internet. Depending on the kind of community you want to build, there are a variety of paths you might pursue. It may be registering a domain name for your community website, setting up a Facebook group, or opening a Telegram group. In addition, you may include a registration form, captcha, spam filter, or pre-authorization inquiry. It's also a good idea to incorporate your community's logo or other identifying markers so that people can quickly and effortlessly recognize it.
- Make your neighborhood known to others. People interested in growing an online community will want to spread the word about it widely. This is only possible if your community's existence and the benefits of joining are widely publicized. There are various methods to go about this, including the following:
- Extending an invitation to anybody who meets the criteria for becoming a member of the community
- Inquiring about referrals from existing members' social circles
- Promoting it to your audience and describing the advantages of joining
- Establishing collaborations with key opinion leaders
- Advertising
4 Tips to Keep Your Online Community Active and Make It Grow
Let's get started with some of the most acceptable practices to keep your online community vibrant and growing.
1. Upload Compelling Content
To be successful, you must perfectly align your company's goals with the material you create and distribute to the public. Using various visual media (photos, videos, and blogs) will keep readers' interest and encourage them to participate more fully.
Image taken from Strikingly
2. Prefer Client Suggestions
Members' input is critical in improving the current user experience. Customers may share their ideas and opinions about products and services in online communities. Responding quickly to customers' needs is the best way to take advantage of client feedback.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
3. Join the Customer’s Journey
If you want to create a solid connection with your customers, you need to join their journey. Firms may use this extensive network when it comes to keeping consumers involved. Customers who have never heard of the product's most important characteristics may be introduced to them at this time. Additionally, new users have the opportunity to discover online communities with similar interests and join in on the conversation. This strategy will help firms get new customers, but it will also tailor their members' experiences by offering appropriate resources.
4. Giving Rewards
A reward is a long-term approach that firms may use to keep their consumers engaged and loyal. Maintaining a vibrant online community is critical to motivating its members. Creating a feeling of positive competition between users by awarding fan points, rank badges, and medals. Gamification is a great technique to pique the attention of newcomers to a group and keep them interested in the information being shared.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
3 Different Platforms to Create an Online Community
There are multiple platforms to create an online community. A few of them are discussed here.
1. Thinkific
Thinkific is the ideal place when you are creating an online community. Drag-and-drop editor, course administration, and payment options are all included. If you're looking for a platform that gives you greater control over your community's experience and data, this could be it. In addition, you can share any form of material you like, including courses, videos, and articles.
You may use your trusted products and services to help you establish and expand your online community regarding integrations. With analytics, you can see how your content is doing and where you need to make changes to optimize the user experience.
2. Facebook Groups
People who have a similar interest may use Facebook Groups for creating an online community, where they can discuss different issues in their field of interest. These Facebook Groups may be used by businesses to promote their products and services and increase brand recognition.
3. Strikingly
Image taken from Strikingly
Strikingly is a website builder that provides a membership feature in paid plans. This feature allows users to create an online community of website audience by offering them membership on the site. When a user becomes a member of a Strikingly website, they get the privilege of having access to specific content or section on the site.
If you are looking to build an online community, you can consider Strikingly as one of the options. It is a platform where anyone with a basic understanding of browsing and using the internet to build a site. Hop on to Strikingly and register for a free account with us today.
