Build and Grow Authentic Communities to Increase Traffic, Build Lists, and Sell Products
By Heather Robson

Optimization, automation, and artificial intelligence.

What do these three things have in common?

They all work to streamline a business’s processes, increasing conversions and lowering costs, leading to a higher overall return on investment.

What else do they have in common?

They tend to leave people feeling like they’re buying from companies that are trying their darndest to not ever have to interact with them in any sort of human-to-human way.

Smart companies recognize that while people want easy and streamlined, they also want connection and a sense of belonging.

And the way many companies are fostering connection and belonging is through social media communities, either public or private.

Why Go to the Trouble of Community Building?

Now, building a thriving social media community is no small task … not if you want a community that is healthy, vibrant, and helpful to both members and the company hosting it.

It takes work to build a community. Attracting people to a social media group takes time, effort, and investment. And then getting those people to regularly interact with each other in a positive way takes time, effort … and, you guessed it … investment.

It’s not a one-and-done prospect either. Once your community is thriving, you need to be hands-on to keep it healthy. Answering questions and comments … planning contests and events … starting conversations … upholding the group rules … The work that goes into a social media community doesn’t end.

So why would a company go to all that trouble to build something that is difficult to streamline and impossible to automate?

The answer is simple. A thriving, active community can support a company’s goals at every stage … from coming up with product ideas to increasing brand awareness … from driving traffic to boosting sales … from bringing in more word-of-mouth and referral business to improving retention. When surveyed, 90% of marketers say an active online community is essential to success.

And no wonder. A healthy community helps every common business objective you can think of, but only if … and this is a big if … the goal of building the community is to provide value, support, and connection for the members.

For now, let’s accept that the main goal is to support customers and give them an experience they can’t find with other companies.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at how a community can help a business achieve its main objectives.

Growing Brand Awareness

Depending on how a community is positioned, it can be an excellent way to build awareness about a brand or company.

For example, imagine a health and wellness company that specializes in supplements meant to promote better metabolism and energy in middle age. That company might create a private community that’s all about having conversations around the topics of energy improvement and overall health.

They would promote this community to their existing customers, sure. But they could also make it available to anyone interested in that topic. People who aren’t customers would get to know more about the company and its products through their participation in that group.

More Website Traffic

In today’s fast-changing landscape, companies are finding that it works best to take a multipronged approach to website traffic.

A combination of paid ads, search engine optimization, public relations, email, and social media is what the most sophisticated companies use.

And now many of them are adding communities to the mix.

An active, engaged community gives companies a place to share new resources, articles, and news with an audience who has expressed interest in what the company has to offer. The members of the community are already primed to click through and read more.

As an added bonus, when a company shares a resource or article within a community, they are likely to receive comments and feedback. They have the chance to have conversations about what they’ve created. That helps community members feel connected and valued. And it also helps the company learn more about what the community wants. Which means, when the company creates future resources, they’re even more likely to earn traffic.

Earning More Leads

When people join a community that is hosted by a company, they become a soft lead in that moment.

As a soft lead, they’re in a better position and mindset to become a firm lead — to join the company’s email list.

Periodically, the company can offer something of value to members of the community — something they don’t offer through their website — in exchange for a sign-up.

So, imagine that our health and wellness company hosts a webinar showcasing five functional exercises that boost metabolism. They offer this webinar to community members first, maybe a month or a quarter before making it available on their website. Or they might opt to make it a community exclusive.

Members have to sign up for access. When they do, not only does the company earn new subscribers to their list, but they also learn about who on their list is interested in knowing more about metabolic exercises.

And the community members get access to valuable information that isn’t available to the public at large. Everybody’s happy.

Smarter Product Development

Companies that have an engaged community have an advantage. They can get feedback and advice from their target audience, more or less on demand.

That means these companies can see what products and services their audience is interested in.

Not only that, but they can also go to the community for their input on what to develop next. This gives companies a chance to learn from existing buyers and highly targeted prospects which features and benefits they’re really excited about.

Having this kind of market input readily available can make product development faster and easier … and it can result in much more successful products, too.

Imagine that our health and wellness company thinks about creating a new cognitive clarity supplement. They go to their community and ask some questions, only to discover that what the community is more excited about is information and education on how diet affects cognitive function.

The company can switch gears before they ever spend a dime on research and development and get to work on the product the community (future buyers) really wants.

Of companies that have online communities, nine out of 10 say they use suggestions from community members to improve products and services.

Making More Sales

And of course, when you’re making products based on inside information provided by your community of customers and interested prospects, it becomes easier to make more sales.

In fact, a company might do a community launch in advance of a public launch, creating buzz and generating early social proof around the new product.

And a company can also periodically offer its community special discounts or extra bonuses on products that already exist. That’s another way communities can help a company increase sales.

One study found that online communities increase the amount customers spend with a company by 19%.

Better Retention

Finally, people in a community, who feel a sense of connection and belonging with the company, its product, and other people within the group, are more likely to stay with the company.

They’re more likely to recommend the company to others.

And when they do have a problem with or question about a product, they’re going to bring that to the community, giving the company a chance to help them solve the problem, which means fewer returns and fewer poor reviews.

The numbers in a recent Forbes article are impressive … 66% of customers who have joined a brand community say they are loyal to the brand, and likewise 66% percent of companies say an active online community helps with customer retention.

As you can see, just about any common objective a company might hold has a better chance of success when the company has built a thriving community around its product and brand.

What companies need now are talented individuals who can help them create the materials, establish the calendars, and direct the strategies that will keep a community engaged and continually provide value and connection to the members. That takes someone with writing talent, creative skills, and a good understanding of social media … someone like you!

You can also use these skills to build a community for your own zero-client business. Learn how you can build greater wealth from your writing skills — with zero clients. Check out the details here.