How to Build a Successful Brand Community for your Customers

With virtual events becoming more and more of the norm in our everyday lives, a successful brand community is also, simultaneously, at their peak. So what are you waiting for? Have you started thinking about what you should include in your community? It’s alright if you haven’t. It can get overwhelming, we understand - take it slow! Below are step-by-step guides on how you could build a community of your own, try taking a read! It can inspire you more than you know.

1. Find your micro-community

Who makes your micro-community? It’s your existing customers! Start with those customers who have shown a lot of interest in your brand, those who are so invested that they would recommend your offerings to their circle of friends. But how do you find them? Check your social media accounts, your email lists, your membership lists (if any). Look around to see if you have an existing group of customers on Facebook Groups, Reddit Threads, Twitter, etc., discussing your company and product offerings. If you do, it is a green light that you need to consolidate your customers and user-generated content under your brand. Once you’ve got a list of who they are, try and observe what they usually talk about. This step is all about learning about your existing community’s needs and behavior.

2. Define your goal and metrics

As mentioned above, brand communities are a way for you to make customer-driven decisions and spread the word about your business. Before you proceed into creating one, you should first ask yourself the following questions:

• What’s the purpose behind your community?
• What value do customers gain from joining your community?
• How can you engage with your customers?
• How do you measure the success of your brand community?
• What metrics do you want to track? Lead generations? Conversions?
• To what extent do your brand community goals align with your corporate goals?

Answering these questions will make the next few steps easier to handle.

3. Choose your platform

There are several different platforms to choose from, each with its own set of pros and cons. So… which one should you choose? It truly depends on the demographics of the majority of your customers. Here are several common platforms that other brands have successfully used:

• Forums

Setting up a forum is a great way to not only engage with your local customers, but also people outside it, who are perhaps interested in purchasing your offerings, or are interested in the industry that you’re operating in. Let’s take Remo’s own Remo Revolution Community as an example. The forum is an excellent place for Remo hosts and other virtual event hosts to exchange ideas, find inspiration, and make new friends. If you also seek to increase your brand awareness in the market, choosing Forums might be the perfect decision for you.

• Social Media

The following common platform that’s commonly used to build a brand community is social media. This includes creating Facebook Groups, leveraging Instagram hashtags, etc. An editing app ‘A Color Story’ has successfully built a loyal following through their branded hashtag #AColorStory. Encouraging their loyal customers to post using such hashtags allows them to crowdsource their marketing efforts to user-generated content. What’s even better is that they will never run out of items to post as they can freely repost photos under the branded hashtag, adding authenticity to their feed.

4. Manage and engage with community members

Once your successful brand community is built, it’s now your time to interact with your community members. But how should you do that Many large, well-established firms have opted for the hands-off approach, where they let their loyal followings generate some content for one another. Unfortunately, this approach might be a little difficult for brands that lack exposure. But don’t worry if your members seem a little more silent than expected - you can still opt for a high-involvement strategy where your team can post engaging content, thought-provoking questions, etc. to attract your members to break their silences in their community. Some companies have also chosen to gamify their community to encourage members to return to the page daily.

5. Track key metrics and optimize

With your goals set up initially, it’s now time to measure how your community is doing overtime. According to tribe.so, you can mainly  categorize your metrics into the following categories:

• Effectiveness of the user-generated content
• Community growth metrics
• Community engagement metrics
• Community contributions to the organization’s goal

Remember, the ultimate goal a successful brand community is to help you make customer-centric decisions. Though it’s also a powerful marketing tool, you should ultimately ensure that your customers are attaining value from joining your community.

Join the Remo Revolution Community

We introduce to you Remo’s very own community, the Remo Revolution Community. The inspiring community is open for all virtual event creators, trail-blazers, change-makers, or basically anyone interested in learning more about Remo’s offerings and virtual events in general. Weekly events ranging from Quickstart Workshops, Virtual Pizza Parties to Masterclasses and Success Labs are open to particular groups, if not all community members. What are you waiting for? Register to our online community now if you haven’t, and join in the fun as we unravel more about the tips and tricks around Remo, virtual events, or each other’s favorite pizza topping combinations!

Learn more about Remo and how you can unlock your online potential! Sign up for a group demo today!