How Growing Communities Will Benefit Your Marketing Strategy

Building communities around your brand and product can be beneficial in a number of ways for your community members. These communities are a chance to learn, grow, and connect with others. While they provide many benefits to the members, growing communities will also benefit your marketing strategy.

One of the best ways to grow your business is through word-of-mouth referrals. When customers feel connected to a community related to your brand or product they are more likely to invite others to join them. For these members it feels less like asking friends or family to buy something and more like inviting them to join a valuable community. As the community grows, word-of-mouth continues to spread and does a part of your marketing for you.

Another benefit to growing communities is that these communities will help increase brand and/or product loyalty. When customers have loyalty they are more likely to try new product lines, remain customers if the price increases, and be advocates for the brand with their friends and family.

Loyalty is built through a process of knowing, liking, and trusting a particular product or brand, and a community is a wonderful place to help customers know, like, and trust your brand. When customers have fierce loyalty, this helps your marketing strategy 

Growing communities can also help you discover brand ambassadors. Within the communities you will be able to identify individuals who are both influential and big fans of your brand. Consider reaching out to these people to enlist them as ambassadors within your community and beyond. You can be confident they already know and love your brand and it will feel authentic when they share it with their friends and family. These brand ambassadors can help move your marketing strategy forward.

When it comes to growing communities there are a few things to consider in an effort to build these communities in an effective way. First, it is important to be consistent with your community. Posting once a month will not likely lead to strong community building. 

In this same vein, strong community building comes through accessibility. One of the best ways to build community is through open and strong communication. Make an effort not to post and walk away, but instead post and engage with community members. 

These communities are also an opportunity to test out potential new products. Ask community members about their needs to find potential product or service ideas, or poll them about upcoming features to know what they value.