Have you considered community driven marketing for your business? Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or offline, that’d work too) chances are you’ve at least heard of it.
Made famous by unicorns like Notion, Figma, and Airtable (and made infamous by ex-unicorns like WeWork), “community” has officially entered the contemporary business lexicon as a buzzword, keyword, and four-letter word. But what does it really mean, and why do you keep hearing about it?
Let's take a step back.
Acquiring and retaining customers has never been harder, and the bar for engagement and ongoing investment in their experience with your brand has never been higher.
Everybody is looking for stickiness these days, and running a business that encourages employees and the brand alike to interact with customers in genuine, human ways is the new status quo.
So how do you do that?
- First, create a space dedicated to customers. It can be a digital space, and should probably be one they already use, like Slack.
- Second, create a purpose. Maybe it’s to get better at using the product, or maybe it’s for them to interact with other customers. Defining this purpose and communicating it effectively enables community members to be good participants, which in turn builds affinity for the business hosting them - you!
- Third and finally, create feedback loops. Reward participation and recognize effort. Offer incentives for referrals.
Building a community for your business is a long term investment. It won’t bear fruit right away, and like most growth channels, it’s not right for every business.
If you’re wondering whether community-driven growth is a fit for your business, signup for our newsletter - we’ll be sharing the resources we use with our clients to answer thorny questions like ‘is community a viable growth lever for my business?’ and more.
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