It is a tough task to build an online community when you are launching your new business but when done correctly, the benefits of loyal customer community on social media can be enormous and help establish a core customer base. While this can be a blog aimed at startup founders and small business owners, the truth is that these are precisely the kind of insights you need to understand as you work to develop your loyal fanbase via social media. Join me as we dive into strategies, findings, and some out-of-the-box wisdom on this subject! 🌟
Why Loyal Customer Community on Social Media Matter
Boosting your social media following is not just about acquiring more followers or likes on your channels or in the total community; it’s connecting with people. Customers that have a sense of community spend 19% more than those who don’t, according to The Business of Belonging by David Spinks. It is evident that nurturing this sense of belonging can have profound effects on your conversion funnel.
The Magic Ingredient: Connecting With A Human
The Magic Ingredient: Connecting With A Human1. Crafting Your Brand’s Story
The most powerful impact we can make on the world is by telling our stories and your brands story is no different. Well, Simon Sinek argues in his book Start with Why that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Empathize with us, remain kind but stop telling us your perfect journey. Your struggles and victories. Let your audience in on the human side of your business – that is what builds real relationships, creating loyal followers rather than just fans.
Takeaway: Establish a content series that follows along on your journey towards entrepreneurship. Behind-the-scenes moments, highs and lows, everything is on the table. It should be relevant and genuine.
2. Engagement over Broadcast
According to Forrester Research’s James McQuivey, 1.8 million words is what one video is worth. Incorporate Interaction — Stop talking at your audience and give them the option to respond and have conversations. When they see themselves in the narrative, they tend to care a little more.
Actionable Tip: Regular live Q&A sessionsInstagram /Facebook live This should be a dialog, not a monologue.
Ideas To Creating Engagement: The Core of Community
Ideas To Creating Engagement: The Core of Community3. Grow Advocates, Not Just Customers
The power of your community is in the people. In Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, Seth Godin describes the ways in which a tribe (a group of people either big or small) can be an instrument of transformation. Build leaders locally Si bien, no television was your brand ambassadors — they will take the message forward in an authentic way.
Actionable tip: Find your super fans and focus on them. Give them early access, sneak peeks, or a voice in what you create. Call out their contributions in public as it increases their value.
4. Host Community-Centric Events
People crave experiences. Organising virtual events that cater to interests within your community, forges strong emotional relationships. There are interaction like a webinar, virtual networking event and online game night that galvanize the community as well.
Top Tip: Organise monthly community events centred around subjects your audience are enthusiastic about. Make sure to make these events not just promotional but they are there to add value and learning experience.
How We Use Technology to Amplify the Community
How We Use Technology to Amplify the Community5. Leverage analytics to guide community strategy
In the words of Katie Delahaye Paine author of Measure What Matters, don’t leave your community-building strategies to chance and let data lead you. Check social media analytics to see which types of posts are most popular with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Key Takeaway: Dig into your social media statistics to see what stands out from the trends. Watch your engagement rates, shares, comments, and reach of posts.
6. Adopt Emerging Technologies
Social media and community management are female moving targets. Choose new technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality(AR) in order to create engaging community experiences. Robert Scoble and Shel Israel do a great job of discussing how these technologies are set to change everything about the way we interact when they provide an excerpt in their book The Fourth Transformation.
ACTIONABLE TIP: Dive into VR or AR and create immersive content for your community. Like a virtual store tour or an AR try-on for products
As Well As, The Challenges And Solutions
As Well As, The Challenges And Solutions7. Steer Clear of Over-Commercialization
As tempting as it may be to try and push your products, an online community depends on real conversations. Famous marketing guru Neil Patel talks about the importance of not being too salesy in many of his blog posts. If you want to add value then do so through educational content, entertainment or an aspect of your business that public exposure.
Pro Tip: Follow the 80/20 rule — 80% of your content should add value to the community and only 20% should be promotional.
8. Consistent Engagement is Key
Consistency breeds trust. The more that people see activity and involvement from you, the more likely they are to stick around. Gary Vaynerchuk: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook– Best book to explain conceptual promotion – importance of regular high value good content with promotional references.
Actionable Takeaway: Build a content calendar and publish your posts regularly. Keep your schedule updated for your audience with a diversity of content.
The Unconventional Approach
The Unconventional Approach9. Combining Cross-Disciplinary Insights
Business: No More a Traditional Aspect of Society. The Drunkard’s Walk by Leonard Mlodinow makes the point that outcomes are far more complex and influenced by randomness than we can ever expect. Likewise, incorporating knowledge from psychology, sociology and possibly even art can bring new light to your own community building attempts.
Action Point: Conduct webinars or create content in a joint promotion with experts on topics of interest. This not only contributes to variation in your community discussions but also new perspectives that can add value to the experience.
10. Disprove the Popular Canon
Another type of thought is that the larger the community, an ideal. Yet, studies based on Dunbar’s Number state that the average number of stable relationships any given person is capable of maintaining lies at around 150. Smaller, more tightly-knit communities can also sometimes be more engaged and effective for this.
Actionable Tip: Quality over Quantity. Make engagement your priority, not volume of followers (rescue yourself from the follower-count culture) Personalized engagement rarely fails to result in better customer retention and loyalty.
In a nutshell — What Do You Need To Do Now? 🚀
Creating an online community for your business is not a tactic only but a journey. One is storytelling, second is direct interaction, third is technology and at times some inspirational wisdom. Building a social following that supports you there along the way by being loyal friends and customers is THE most scalable growth strategy.
Takeaway: Learn more about starting an online business & powering online community engagement.quizjuice is here for you when you are ready to journey through that process further.external call> engage with your audience on social. Also, don’t miss the upcoming webinar featuring other experts in the industry who discuss what’s next for community managers. 🌐
Through all of these strategies, you are not just creating a hired army, but a community of individuals who feel valued and at home. This is only the start, don’t forget that. We have so much more to discover as we continue to push the envelope and be better — but this journey is half yours, not just ours.
Get plugged in, get involved and lets build something great together! ✨
