Cover image: #tweettweet wall art. Photo by Chris J. Davis on Unsplash.
The cultivation of community is essential for a brand to thrive. Whether it’s a for-profit company, a nonprofit organisation, or an individual looking to build their personal brand, having community support will help brands achieve their goals — be it in terms of revenue, online engagement, number of volunteers or so forth.
Digital media enables brands to directly communicate with their target audience, and receive instant feedback. However, in a cluttered online space where everyone is fighting to be heard over the other, the implementation of thoughtful digital strategies will allow brands to distinguish themselves from the crowd.
Telling Stories Your Way
To effectively build an online community, brands need the following ingredients: the establishment of the message or mission they wish to broadcast, finding a tone that fits their brand, and the identification of a suitable medium and platform to tell their stories.
As a side hustle that was grown out of Instagram and now has a cult following, Melbourne tart business Tarts Anon have identified their recipe for success.
What better way to entice new customers then using the photo platform to showcase oozing layers of chocolate and caramel in a tart? The images are also accompanied by tongue-in-cheek captions (and reminders to “live, laugh, love, tart, tart, tart”) that followers have fun engaging with online.
Tarts Anon’s establishment of a loyal online community has led to collaboration opportunities for the brand — when they were looking for a vehicle partnership, their followers enthusiastically tagged car companies, leading to a deal with BMW.
Authenticity and Accountability
Not every move is going to be well received by your audience. At times there may be messaging that does not translate the way a brand intended it to, or perhaps companies have to deal with circumstances that were out of their control.
A brand’s establishment of relationships with their community that is founded on authenticity and transparency will translate to more relatable messaging, and foster a sense of brand loyalty among community members that will be especially helpful in times of trouble.
Upon discovering a packaging mix up with her hair products, Kristin Ess voluntarily recalled them from Target stores, and used social media to carefully lay out the details to her customers and reply to commenters who had additional questions.
As she was meticulous in her explanation and fully transparent with her audience, the response received was positive. Not only did Ess sidestep a potential public relations mishap, but the way she handled the situation earned her praise from her online community, who remained fully supportive and left encouraging messages.
Encouraging User Participation
Brands can boost their online engagement by providing their community members with the opportunity to participate in discussion and interact with one another.
For example, nonprofit organisations may choose to have their volunteers take over their social media or contribute guest blogs for their website. This gives the volunteers an opportunity to share their experiences, and brands benefit from the online engagement with the volunteers and their friends.
Brands can also encourage their community members to engage with them online by asking questions, putting out online polls, or encouraging users to upload photographs using their products.
By reposting community created content, brands encourage users to actively participate in their online discourse and add to the usage of designated hashtags.
By leveraging the various digital mediums and platforms available, brands can cultivate an online community, which is necessary for their continued growth and to meet their business goals.
KHRISTY CHOO 