The Value of Building a Social Media Community

Digital Marketing - Study Notes:

What are social communities?

Before we start looking at social community, let’s first consider what a community is, in general. A community is a social unit that creates a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common interests, goals, and attitudes. 

Social media marketers are responsible for fostering thriving communities on social channels. This can help to drive brand recognition and encourage conversions from people who engage in their community. These are known as social communities .

Remember, it’s not enough to have a huge social following. You need an engaged community to grow and maintain a loyal follower base.

Why are they important?

Building a social community takes time, and involves many factors. These include brand resonance, appeal, tone of voice, cultivating advocates, and distributing content. However, it is worth the effort, because having an engaged community can lead to a better brand experience and uplift in commercial activity online or offline.

These social communities are important for several reasons.

• They promote engagement.
• Every active engagement brings users closer to your brand.
• They increase your brand visibility on the platform.
• They attract more potential customers to your profiles.
• They create a welcoming, engaged environment.
• They foster brand affinity and loyalty, because community members will see your brand as being responsible for their positive experience and growth.
• Communities are incubators of inspiration because they encourage members to share their own stories, which can create connections and inspire others to action.
• They foster trust . If you can get your followers to function as a community, it will be a sign that your brand is trustworthy.
• They attract more followers and earn higher retention rates as a result.

Building a valuable social media community

What tactics can digital marketers use to build a valuable community on social media? Here are some useful tips.

• Define your community’s purpose.
• Develop a content strategy.
• Foster engagement.
• Use social media listening.
• Encourage user-generated content.
• Use hashtags.
• Promote your community.
• Offer exclusive benefits.
• Collaborate with influencers.
• Implement data-driven optimization.

Let’s now look at each of these tips in more detail.

Define your community’s purpose

Clearly communicate the purpose, values, and goals of your community. Determine what sets your community apart and the type of content, discussions, or activities you want to encourage. This could be aided with your channel branding and description – setting the tone for the type of conversation and content a member of the community can expect.

For example, the Canva Design Community Group on Facebook uses a bright and welcoming cover image. It also has a useful About description of the group explaining exactly what should be expected when joining. It says:

Learn how to make the most out of Canva, and get the latest updates, tips, events, and insights straight from the Canva team. This community is also a place for you to discuss anything design-related, so feel free to share your Canva tips and tricks or share your designs for feedback.

Develop a content strategy

Create and curate high-quality content that resonates with your audience. Understand your target audience's preferences, interests, and pain points. Create content that addresses their needs, provides solutions, or entertains them.

Tailor your messaging and format to resonate with your specific audience segments. Vary your content formats, such as images, videos, polls, and live streams, to keep the engagement levels high.

Foster engagement

Actively engage with your community members by responding to their comments, messages, and mentions. Encourage discussion, ask questions, and initiate conversations to stimulate interaction among your followers. Acknowledge and appreciate their contributions to make them feel valued.

Use social media listening

Actively monitor conversations, mentions, and hashtags related to your brand or community. Engage with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and mentions promptly. Acknowledge their contributions, answer questions, and provide support when needed.

Encourage user-generated content

Inspire your community members to create and share their own content related to your community's interests. User-generated content (or UGC) fosters a sense of ownership, increases engagement, and adds authenticity to your community. Regularly share user-generated content to showcase the value and contributions of your community members.

For example, UK-based heritage conservation charity The National Trust often runs photography competitions and call-outs for themed photography from its community across social media – especially on Twitter. It then uses the community’s photos as its channel branding – such as their Twitter cover image for a month as an incentive.

Use hashtags

Another great way to build your community organically is by using hashtags in posts. Hashtags are a great way to expose your content to new audiences. If your content is compelling and engaging, people searching on your posts’ hashtags may be inspired to follow you for more. You could also create your own branded hashtags as a way to encourage UGC.

For example, US fast food chain Chipotle ran two highly successful Branded Hashtag Challenges to engage the TikTok community and help drive users to its profile. The first challenge, #LidFlipChallenge, was inspired by a real Chipotle employee who had a passion for assembling burrito bowls. And the second challenge, #GuacDance, was set to the viral ‘Guacamole Song’. Both challenges featured popular Creators and were very effective in raising awareness for Chipotle's official profile.

Promote your community

Showcase the logos of your social media platforms where you keep an active presence on your website. This will allow your customers to explore the platform that suits them best. You can also add social buttons to the ‘thank you’ pages that appear after someone signs up for your mailing list, submits a lead form, or makes a purchase.

Because those visitors have already connected with your business in one manner, they are likely to connect with you on Facebook or other platforms as well. It’s also a good idea to cross-promote your social networks across other platforms so your followers can easily find you on each platform they’re active on.

Offer exclusive benefits

If you offer special promotions to your followers to reward the community, you’re demonstrating you care about the community and want to reward them for their loyalty and engagement. This is a classic example of positive reinforcement encouraging their continued loyalty and increasing brand affinity.

Collaborate with influencers

You can pay influencers to help increase awareness of your account to help build your community, either by allowing them to take over your page for a set period of time, or creating content with the CTA to follow your brand’s account.

These partnerships can be paid or free, depending on the type of relationship you have with them.

Implement data-driven optimization

Utilize social media analytics and insights to understand what content resonates the most with your audience. Monitor engagement metrics, reach, and conversions to refine your content strategy and optimize your community-building efforts.