Building a Community

When you think of a brand such as Harley Davidson, you may not only think about motorcycles that are manufactured and sold. You possibly also think about the community that has been created. The groups of bikers who gather together, who dress in uniform and are loyal to one another as friends and family. This is an example of a company who have created such a strong community and brand that you can instantly visualise who they are and what they represent.

So how can you start building a strong community for your own brand?

Start off with grass roots activity – this strategy is when brands plan and make content that’s highly targeted to a specific audience. This could be offering product samples or flyers and free gifts at an event. Take time getting to know your audience, especially when meeting them in real life. People will naturally spread word about your brand if you leave a good impression by showing you really do care about their business interests.

Create or join a group of people who regularly interact with your target market – meetings online with these groups or face to face you will gather market information will quickly. You can host casual meetings for drinks to build relationships with your partner group and combine target market contacts to invite too – pulling contacts from a variety of people helps increase everyone’s pool of contacts. Try to gather with your target audience at least once a month if you plan to host events for them.

Using social media is obviously an important tool to build a community.

It can take time, but consistent posting will bring results in time. Videos and adverts that focus on storytelling are important – discussing relatable aspects of your company’s back story could be a good place to start. People tend to share more content that they can relate to or find inspiring so keep this in mind when creating content or sharing others.

Use social media to create groups that can keep your followers up to date with information about your company and events. LinkedIn and Facebook have simple ways to create groups where you can keep in touch with people within your brand’s community. This is especially useful if you would like to host online meetings. Remember to only run these groups if you have the time to do so. Inactive groups don’t look great.

Most importantly, figure out who your target audience is. Find people who care about what it is your company provides. What do potential clients, contacts, colleagues need from you, where they are located and what kind of community might they benefit from?

What position do you want to be in your community?

Find groups or people in areas specific to you that know others who would be interested in your brand, and ask about local events that may be relevant for you to attend. When you attend these events, remember to let others lead the conversation – find out their interests and what it is they need. Hunting for relevant influencers who could give you a shout out or paid promotion would also help with increasing your brand awareness.

It’s especially important to consider how you want your business to be perceived within your community. Thought leaders? Humorous? Friendly? Professional? Make sure all the content you are creating for your brand work together within a theme that represents your company appropriately. Some examples of this could be creating podcasts or blogs with distinct topics. These could be about your business, personal life or professional activities depending on how you want your brand to be seen.

So, in summary, when planning your brands visibility and a community always consider – research, consistency and visibility.

Research who your target audience is, what they need from you, where they may be located and what events they attend. Be consistent with your meetings and online groups whether it is monthly or weekly and having consistent branding. Ensure visibility by attending events yourself, having conversations with potential leads and producing content for your social media.

You will be building your own community and seeing the benefits of it before you know it!