Faced with a constantly expanding and competitive market, creating authentic connections with consumers is a tremendous challenge for all companies. Beyond having a quality product or service, the key differentiator lies in the ability to engage, listen, and empower your customers – pillars that can be reinforced and sustained through the development of brand communities, where they will have the opportunity to build mutual trust and a sense of belonging to increasingly retain buyers.
A good community is much more than a communication space, where only the company sends information and there is no exchange. It is where customers feel part of it, contributing, exchanging, and building together with the brand. It should be built on shared values, mutual trust, and a sense of belonging, with a clear purpose and a reason for existence, which can be the exchange of experiences, learning, or mutual support that delivers real value to those involved – exclusive content, networking, opportunities, and news.
Nela, the idea is that members are encouraged to contribute, co-create, and share, not just to consume what is being posted, whether by the community's managing brand or by other members – resulting in much richer and more consistent engagement. In the end, the audience that will be there is genuinely interested in participating in that environment and is already segmented according to what the brand desires as its target audience.
Many compare the purpose and benefits of communities with social networks, which, in fact, are great for attracting an audience and generatingawarenessof brand. However, communities serve to deepen relationships and generate greater audience loyalty/faithfulness. That's because, while on social media we depend on the algorithm or investments to ensure the message reaches the right audience, in communities it is possible to deliver the message directly to the desired audience, without dependence or competition.
Furthermore, engagement on social media is volatile because it depends on many variables such as format, language, and theme, while in communities it tends to be more consistent. Not to mention the data aspect, where while we are limited to quantitative information provided by the platforms, we can have qualitative and valuable data for the business and brand in the second case. This was proven in a Harvard Business Review study, which identified that companies that invest in communities have a 35% higher retention rate compared to those that do not adopt this strategy.
Any company can benefit from the proposals of these communities. However, some points must be analyzed beforehand to understand if your brand is ready to take this step. Question: Does your company have a relationship culture that goes beyond sales, and is it prepared to open this channel and have its audience co-create with it? What are your goals with this creation? Is there already a customer base willing to collaborate with the brand and interact? And, above all, what resources do you plan to invest in to keep the community alive and the audience engaged, with curation and moderation?
To avoid creating an empty and irrelevant channel for your clients, the community's purpose should go far beyond the brand itself – after all, people do not unite with companies, but rather with causes, themes, values, or shared interests. Understand the channels where your audience prefers to communicate and encourage engagement with dynamic content, such as challenges, polls, live sessions, or behind-the-scenes, keeping the community lively.
Members' prominence should also be shared, encouraging testimonials, questions, and even constructive criticism. Creating rituals and recognitions through commemorative dates, rankings, or exclusive benefits are great strategies to reinforce this sense of belonging. And start by inviting the right people to this group, such as brand ambassadors, loyal customers, or experts who can help set the tone of the conversation.
Technologically, AI can be a powerful ally in this regard. In addition to helping build, deliver value, and scale with this strategy, it can provide content ideas based on the community's goals and members' interests. However, with the use of this technology, many people have access to thousands of pieces of information at all times, so it is necessary to go beyond the basics in this investment, prioritizing relevance in the creation and sharing of content.
To contribute to this result, using bots to send recurring information, such as welcome messages, group rules, and frequently asked questions, is a highly advantageous decision. This, in addition to monitoring feelings and conversations that may generate crises or negative images, and mapping the most active members to carry out specific loyalty actions.
The community is a living organism. Therefore, it is necessary to stay attentive, evolve over time, and always bring new things to avoid losing relevance and causing people to abandon it. Always innovate by introducing new formats, partnerships, and experiences that maintain interest, avoiding falling into sameness. There are thousands of pieces of information available at all times, so find your vertical and delve into it, being relevant and adding value to your community's life.
