Community Marketing, For Familiarizing Your Brands Or Services

Definition of community marketing

Community marketing is the connection of a brand to a specific community, using a platform to communicate, exchange values and create mutual meaning. The platform does not have to be digital, and communities do not have to be started from scratch. Brands can choose to work with established groups or create their own. Either way, community-building requires marketers to start conversations, establish opportunities for connection (like events or groups) and create meaningful traditions.

What is a brand community in marketing?

Community-building is a long-term process that requires care and consistency. At its core, it is about relationship building, and strong relationships require trust and time to flourish. It also requires marketers to relinquish control to their advocates, who won’t always agree with a brand’s ideas or point-of-view.

How can community marketing impact the business and its brand?

1. Better customer experience: Community marketing, when done correctly, gives marketers a better understanding of their customers and provides an extremely authentic touch point for a number of initiatives like handling customer complaints, gathering product feedback, nurturing advocates and much more. The insight of active community members can provide a treasure trove of information that helps brands figure out how to deliver the most well thought out experience.
2. More relevance and loyalty: Effective loyalty programs inspire customers to repurchase and build a consistent relationship with brands. For marketers, it's an incredible system that keeps acquisition costs down and builds brand equity. Unfortunately, building loyalty programs is not easy. For brands, that means maintaining a constant and timely symbiotic relationship. A strong community helps build this consistency as community members are interacting with each other and relying on each other for purchasing decisions. In the case of communities with online platforms, brands can also be quick to respond to questions or complaints, adding another layer of responsiveness that pushes potential customers in the right direction at the right time.
3. Word of mouth growth: 72 percent of customers stated in a survey that they are willing to share good experiences with others (62 percent also said they would share bad experiences with others). Strong communities are filled with willing advocates that recommend products and vouch for a brand. Depending on the way a community is set up, they can also grow organically as members invite their networks to join.
4. Brand and customer humanization: A common theme mentioned throughout this guide is the importance of brand authenticity. Marketing often feels hollow or inauthentic when trying to make customers feel like their human needs are considered.  Good community marketing gets around this issue by putting the power in the hands of community members themselves. Members will share their honest opinions on products (for better and worse), post authentic user generated content and create their own unique relationships that cannot be replicated by a brand. The end result is a more human, authentic experience for brand fans.

How will you advertise your product & service using community marketing?

In this guide, we’re going to provide steps and examples for 12 effective ways to promote a new service or product. They include:

• Exclusive previews
• Introductory offers
• Google My Business promotions
• Contests and giveaways
• Email marketing
• Blog posts
• Events (virtual and in-person)
• Upgrades
• Trade-ins
• Customer reviews
• Social media posts
• Facebook ads

Who employs community marketing?

Community marketing is important for companies with products that will require maintenance and updates, and companies with products that can be confusing to consumers. Examples of these are car manufacturers, personal computer companies, pharmaceutical organizations and credit card companies (See also Marketing Computers). However, any and all organizations that value their reputation and seek repeat consumers should employ community marketing. In fact, your customers will likely implement community marketing for you organically regardless, so it is important that your brand has its own community marketing strategy in order to monitor your presence and status.

What are the Benefits of having community marketing?

1. Reduce your dependency on paid advertising: Though many inbound marketing gurus boldly claim that paid advertising is dead, companies are increasing their investment in paid search and social media by 10% year-over-year. While undoubtedly still effective in certain situations, paid advertising presents some big challenges that are often hard to overcome.
2. Increase customer retention through ongoing engagement: Customers are spoiled for choice to a degree that was unimaginable just a few decades ago. One sub-par experience or a handful of band reviews on Facebook is often all it takes for them to start looking elsewhere.
3. Give your customers a voice in the direction of your business: More than ever, customer success drives brand success. The more your customers can get out of your product or service, the easier it will be to retain them and inspire brand advocacy. Thanks to the power of community marketing, brands no longer need to conduct costly outreach programs to learn more about customer sentiment.
4. Sell directly to your community: The perfect example of a plain terrible social media brand page is one where there’s a constant barrage of sales pitches. Yet, too many businesses still use their communities for bombarding their members with advertisements in the hope that the numbers alone will yield results. That’s where advertising becomes spamming.
5. Misconceptions About Community Marketing: When it comes to community marketing, seeing simplicity and clarity where there is none often has the effect of generating myths that take on a life of their own. These myths then undermine community marketing efforts and cause companies to waste money. Let’s take a look at 5 myths about community-based marketing currently making the rounds.

What are examples of community marketing?

The examples of community marketing are as follows

• Waves Audiophiles
• Miyoko’s Creamery Taste Mmmakers
• Lego Ideas

Why is community marketing so important?

Community marketing bridges the gap between the direction you're driving your business with the people who are driving it. People are more likely to shell out more for a product or service if it comes with a strong sense of connection, support, and service – and that's exactly what community marketing is all about.