In a constantly expanding and competitive market, creating authentic connections with consumers is a tremendous challenge for all companies. Much more than having a quality product or service, the key differentiator lies in the ability to engage, listen to, and empower customers—pillars that can be strengthened and sustained by building brand-specific communities, where brands can build mutual trust and a sense of belonging to build customer loyalty.
A good community is much more than a communication space, where only the company sends information and there is no exchange. It’s where customers feel part of it, contributing, exchanging, and building alongside the brand. It should be built on shared values, mutual trust, and a sense of belonging, with a clear purpose and a reason for existing, which could be the exchange of experiences, learning, or mutual support that delivers real value to those present—exclusive content, networking, opportunities, and news.
The idea is to encourage members to contribute, co-create, and share, not just consume what’s being posted, whether by the community’s managing brand or by other members—generating much richer and more consistent engagement. After all, the audience that will be there will be genuinely interested in participating in that environment and is already segmented according to the brand’s target audience.
Many compare the purpose and benefits of communities with social networks, which are, in fact, great for attracting audiences and generating awareness brand. However, communities serve to deepen relationships and generate greater audience loyalty. This is because, while on social media we depend on algorithms or investments to get the message to the right audience, with communities, it’s possible to deliver the message directly to the desired audience, without dependence or competition.
Furthermore, engagement on social media is volatile, as it depends on many variables such as format, language, and topic, while in communities it ends up being more consistent. Not to mention the data aspect, which, while we are limited to quantitative information provided by platforms, can provide qualitative and valuable data for the business and brand in the second case. This was proven in a Harvard Business Review study, which found that companies that invest in communities have a 35% higher retention rate compared to those that don’t adopt this strategy.
Any company can benefit from these communities. However, some points should be analyzed beforehand to determine whether your brand is ready to take this step. Ask yourself: 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 its 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 intend to invest to keep the community alive and the audience engaged, with curation and moderation?
To avoid creating an empty channel that lacks relevance for your customers, the community’s purpose must go far beyond the brand itself—after all, people don’t join companies, but rather shared causes, themes, values, or interests. Understand the channels your audience prefers to communicate with and encourage engagement with dynamic content, such as challenges, polls, livestreams, or behind-the-scenes videos, keeping the community alive.
Members’ protagonism should also be shared, encouraging testimonials, questions, and even constructive criticism. Creating rituals and recognition 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 for the conversation.
Technologically, AI can be a powerful ally in this regard. Besides helping to build, deliver value, and scale this strategy, it can provide content ideas based on community goals and member interests. However, since this technology allows many people to access thousands of pieces of information at any given time, it’s necessary to go beyond the basics in this investment, prioritizing relevance in content creation and sharing.
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 sentiment and conversations that may generate crises or negative images, and mapping the most active members to implement specific loyalty-building actions.
The community is a living organism. Therefore, it’s important to be attentive, evolve with the times, and constantly bring new ideas to avoid losing relevance and causing people to abandon it. Always innovate, introducing new formats, partnerships, and experiences that maintain interest, avoiding staleness. There’s a wealth of information available at any given moment, so find your niche and delve deeper into it, being relevant and contributing to the life of your community.
