In today’s modern world, companies are no longer selling products. Although they are, the product is no longer the show’s star. What matters nowadays is the brand. Brands sell you more than a product. They sell you a particular lifestyle, feelings, a way for a customer to perceive themselves, a community to be part of. It does not matter which industry the company is in; branding makes or breaks a business.
Marketing campaigns are great ways to create awareness, but building a community and a brand that is robust and meaningful is now much more critical. Creating a community attracts the right customers and engages them further than just a sale. A brand will become part of the customer’s lifestyle if done correctly.
However, before you can build a community, you need to have a strong brand. Brand design firms will help you look at your business objectives, values, and purpose, to create a brand identity that targets your target audience and makes them relate to your company.
When thinking of marketing and community, most people will immediately conclude that you can only pair those two on social media. But the reality is that you can create a massive amount of community-building opportunities if you know how to use them right through your website. That is why here we have a few tips and tricks that will help you foster a community through your website.
Honesty and authenticity are very appreciated in the overcrowded space that is the internet and business world. By sharing your brand’s journey through your website and platforms, you create awareness of your values and interests, and most importantly, a sense of relation to your brand. Customers will not just see the results of your journey, but they will know your story and start caring for your success.
Keep in mind that although sharing your story is a one-way conversation with your customers, it is still a compelling way to connect with them. Especially if you are being honest and open, don’t shy away from telling the ups and the downs of the story; allow your brand to connect with your customer’s human and caring side.
Start fostering a sense of community by telling the story of the people related to your brand: team, sponsored professionals, brand ambassadors, and even happy customers. Telling their stories can be done through a written piece, a video, or even a combination of both.
Using your website to tell these stories and maybe having a “owners” specific section can help your customer or the “average Joe” feel like they are becoming part of an inclusive and unique community.
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You can share unique content for your customers on your website’s events and blog sections (if you don’t have them yet, we highly recommend you do). This way, they will feel cared for even after making a purchase and that they are part of something way more significant than just a customer base. This is also a great way to keep them up-to-date with your latest product releases and owner’s events. Additionally, for prospects, you are sending the message that being part of your community is worth it, thanks to all the promos, events, and content they will have.
And last but not least, all this content will be beneficial for your website by increasing the content in it and improving organic SEO.
Let your Community Participate
A great way to start creating, fostering, and developing a community around your brand is by adding a forum to your page. Although they are not at the height of their popularity as they once were, forums are an incredible way to connect with customers and allow them to strengthen their community.
Even though forums are great, and we advise you to have one, they can also be mined territory. This is why you will need to establish a system and a plan to moderate the chat and allow it to connect and not constant fighting or unwanted internet content. However, its benefits outshine this internet-world drawback.
Keeping a Blog
One of the things that business owners care about when it comes to their website is to be better ranked at Google. Although SEO won’t necessarily impact your brand’s community, it is fundamental to have good SEO to reach a wider audience and grow your community. By adding fresh and relevant content to your website regularly, you will be improving your SEO like crazy.
Keeping a robust blog section on your website is the perfect opportunity to attract, educate and engage with your audience and, at the same time, improve your SEO. This also allows you to have more content to share to increase your activity and engagement on other channels and platforms.
By educating your audience and proving that you care for them more profoundly than just advertising and marketing campaigns, you increase their engagement and relation to your brand. And you can allow your users to comment and share your articles so that there is further involvement and strengthening of your community.
If Applicable, Set Up an E-Commerce Store
You might be wondering, “how can an online store truly help me build my community?”. That answer is brand uniform. It is well known that people like to show off the brands they are proud of. One way to share this brand passion is by using branded clothes and apparel. The better looking these products are, and the more they align without values and interests, the better.
Although your website is the best place to see your clothing and accessories (yes, even if you are not an apparel company), setting up a store on an e-commerce site is also a great idea. There are some great sites like WooCommerce and Shopify for you to try out.
Create a Newsletter Campaign
Creating and launching a newsletter campaign is a must nowadays. Being able to communicate directly with your customers, right in their inbox, is key to maintaining your relationship with them. Additionally, it is a great way to get even your first-time website visitors to start learning about your brand, product, and service, just by asking for basic contact information (at least their email).
Showing up regularly (without overdoing it and always being clear that they can unsubscribe from the emailing list) on your customers’ inbox is a great way to let them know that your brand is alive and well. And that you are thinking about your community.
In these newsletters, you can share what you think is best for your company; these could be promotion codes, your latest blog article teasers, or community events. Work closely with your creative team’s imagination because there is genuinely a limitless well of opportunities for email campaigns. And lastly, don’t forget to leverage the existing and cost-effective tools to make your strategy an outstanding success.
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Creating a community around your brand is becoming more and more critical for your business’s survival. Showing that you care, have values, and have a real purpose is essential for attaining attention. Creating a community will create a bond that is much more profound with your customers. It will also help you with word-of-mouth marketing and gather information to understand what you are doing well and what needs some improvement.
A brand community will help you and your customers create a unique and thriving brand that will make customers and business owners proud. Take the brand your branding services will help you design and build an incredible and close-knit community around it by following all these tips.
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