How to Create Community Around Your Brand

How to build a brand community

Businesses that want to build a brand community must establish a clear brand voice and cohesive brand design. It’s also crucial to develop customer personas and understand the unique characteristics of your target audience. These factors will influence your interactions with future community members. 

With your branding and customer personas set, follow these steps to build your brand community.

1. Research existing communities that include your buyer personas.

Start by examining your buyer personas and researching any existing communities to which they belong. Say you sell golf carts and have identified two primary buyer personas: 

• Buyer persona one: Your first buyer persona is someone who lives in a large upscale residential community and wants a golf cart for personal use within the community. For this person, look at homeowners association communities or larger online communities in upscale neighborhoods.
• Buyer persona two: Your second buyer persona is an avid golfer who wants to bring their own golf cart to nearby courses. For this persona, look at golf-interest communities and golf-related groups. 

After pinpointing communities that include your buyer personas, examine how members communicate with each other within the groups. How do they talk? What’s important to them? Are they discussing unmet needs or brand preferences? Can you determine any unexpected ways they might use your product? 

This research will shape what you say — and how you say it — to potential members of your brand community. It can also provide valuable information to guide new product features and innovations.

2. Create a key value proposition.

All successful communities have a sense of belonging where members share a common experience. However, defining your community’s key value proposition, i.e., the primary benefit it will offer members, is crucial. This proposition will be the main reason people join your brand community. Ideally, it should offer something they can’t achieve on their own. 

Here are some examples:

• A makeup company’s brand community could offer makeup tips for specific beauty challenges.  
• A brand community for an outdoor-oriented retail store could focus on providing strategies for supporting natural environments.

3. Decide what constitutes success for your brand community. 

What does a successful brand community look like for you? Create specific goals around the following: 

• Member numbers
• Number of engaged members
• Amount of user-generated content (UGC)
• How long people remain members
• How many leads the community generates
• How many referrals the community generates
• Number of good customer reviews community members submit
• Amount of sales coming directly from community members

These are just examples of potential member and business goals for your brand community. Your unique business and brand will determine your specific objectives. 

4. Designate a platform for your community.

Brand communities can exist in various formats. Here are some popular options: 

• Business website: You can designate an area of your website — either password-protected or open — for your brand community. Post informative content and allow community members to submit comments, advice and other content. Members should be able to interact with each other. For example, Sephora’s brand community is accessible from its website and includes various active groups that focus on specific topics. 
• Third-party forums: A forum is a collection of conversations on various topics members can read and contribute to. They should be searchable to help members find relevant information. Reddit and Facebook Groups are examples of third-party forum platforms you could use to host your brand community. If you use a third-party forum, you’ll typically create a community within the existing structure (like a subReddit). 
• Custom forum: Some larger companies build custom forums from scratch. For example, Spotify’s brand community hosts hundreds of conversations on numerous topics. Building custom forums typically requires help from a developer using a forum system like phpBB. 
• Social media: Social media platforms provide an easy way to host a brand community. Use your business’s primary social media account or create a separate one with unique content for your most valued customers. Ensure you establish your brand community on a social platform your buyer personas use. You may want to create separate social media communities for each buyer persona to better address each segment’s needs, desires and background.
• Branded app: Your most active and engaged community members will likely be willing to install a dedicated community app on their mobile devices. Apps are an excellent way to engage with community members and deliver unique content and promotions. Be sure to build in notifications that will pop up on lock screens to keep users engaged. If you go this route, incorporate a customer loyalty program into the app for additional brand involvement.

5. Brand your community. 

Yes, you’re creating a brand community, so “branding your community” may seem redundant. However, your community needs its own identity apart from the overall brand (while still complementary). Here are a few ways to brand your community: 

• Create a brand community design. Stick with a style, fonts and colors similar to or the same as your overall brand. The colors can be different shades of your primary branding colors.
• Create a brand community name. You must choose a community name that aligns with the brand but identifies it as a group of customers or devotees. For example, Taylor Swift fans are called Swifties. A community of high-income young professionals who are interested in investing might be called the Prosperity Circle, Wealth Creators or Next Level Group.
• Establish a brand voice. Your brand voice should reflect your overall branding but may be modified depending on the specific buyer persona you’re addressing. For example, Lego has two primary buyer personas: parents of young children buying basic sets and adults buying specialized and complex sets. Each community’s brand voice should be very different.

6. Invite customers and prospects to join your brand community. 

Businesses employ numerous tactics to entice customers to join their brand communities, particularly when they’re intertwined with their loyalty programs. For example, if you shop with Sephora online, you’re encouraged to sign in or create an account to receive Beauty Insider points you can use toward future purchases. Here are a few ideas for enticing consumers to join your brand community: 

• Invite customers to join when they’re making online or in-store purchases.
• Include invitations in email newsletters. 
• Provide access to exclusive content for members. 
• Promote your brand community on social media.
• Partner with influencers or brand ambassadors to promote your community. 

7. Create a welcome sequence for your brand community.

Welcoming new members is crucial to community-building. If a community doesn’t reach out in a friendly manner and welcome and introduce new members, they likely won’t continue to engage. 

When someone signs up for a community through a gated process, like a closed Facebook Group, they’re typically vetted. Moderators work to ensure the person meets membership qualifications and agrees to comply with the community’s rules. While this process isn’t inherently friendly, it assures prospective members they won’t be spammed or flooded with irrelevant content from other members. 

Consider the following tips for welcoming new brand community members: 

• Send welcome emails.
• Direct them to a “new members” area to acquaint them with the group’s structure and resources.
• Use badges to encourage participation.
• Direct them to the community’s most popular content to jumpstart engagement.
• Set up automated email sequences to ask if they’re enjoying the community and finding the content they need.
• Inquire about content they’re interested in and send links to that content. 
• Connect them to community mentors to help them engage. 

8. Post original and unique content in your brand community.

Give members a reason to engage with your community by continually posting original content, including the following: 

• Ask for their opinions on products, services and more. 
• Foster conversations among members. 
• Incorporate interactive features like polls, contests and games to make the community fun and informative. 
• Use a ranking or badge system to recognize your most active contributors. 
• Create exclusive events or promotions for community members. 

Creating exclusive events is particularly effective. For example, Sandals Resorts invites its community of mommy bloggers who write about travel to a free family vacation once a year at one of its Caribbean resorts. Naturally, they will all write wonderful things about Sandals and how their families had a blast, furthering the company’s reach with positive user-generated content.

9. Review metrics and make changes accordingly.

Keep an eye on your results against your goals. If you’re not doing well in one or more areas, determine why and make changes to correct the problem. For example, if you are getting new members but they’re not engaging or staying, consider modifying your welcome sequence or amping up your content. If you’re not getting enough new members, increase your outreach and offer incentives, such as discounts and access to exclusive content or events.

How to foster a brand community

After building your brand community, keep it healthy, growing and thriving with the following tips:

• Send email newsletters. Email newsletters are a highly effective way to build relationships and foster community around your brand. Send regular newsletters to your brand community to share your brand’s story, offer exclusive content and build stronger customer bonds. Additionally, sending newsletters to subscribers on your email list can encourage them to join your brand community.
• Focus on building brand authority. If you establish yourself as an industry authority, you’ll boost online awareness of your brand, which will help you foster community. Share your knowledge in brand community forum posts to establish yourself as an expert and garner trust. You can also direct community members to your informative blog posts, YouTube channel and other social media platforms where you discuss pertinent topics.
• Try face-to-face networking. Face-to-face networking can strengthen your brand community. Connect with community members and potential members by attending conferences, workshops and meetups. Networking has numerous benefits, including raising your profile, building confidence and forming real-life friendships. The Meetup app is a great way to organize meetups in your city with brand community members. 
• Host live events. If you have a brick-and-mortar location, host events that interest your customers, who may be current or potential brand community members. These events can be educational, such as lectures, classes and seminars. You can also host parties or even getaways. For example, Williams Sonoma holds in-store events like cookbook launch parties, book signings, cooking classes, wedding registry events and holiday-themed events. Events create personal connections that strengthen the customers’ loyalty to your brand. 
• Encourage user-generated content. UGC, including photos, videos, reviews and written contributions, is a powerful way to strengthen and foster brand community. Customers trust the opinions of their peers and enjoy seeing products in action. Additionally, when you ask community members to contribute UGC, they’ll feel valued and more important to the community. Ask customers to submit photos and videos using products, and then feature what they share in your brand community forum, newsletter, social media accounts and website. 

What are the benefits of building a strong brand community?

Building a brand community creates an organic ecosystem you can leverage in several ways, including the following:

• A brand community creates ready-made buyers. If you create enough demand within your community, anytime you drop a new product or service, you’ll have a built-in customer base eager to buy. 
• A brand community creates emotional connections. Customers who feel like a valued part of a community are more likely to buy and recommend you to others.
• A brand community increases brand loyalty. When buying from you and being part of your community becomes part of a customer’s identity, leaving you for the competition becomes an impossibility (think iPhone users). 
• A brand community provides easy market intelligence. A market research plan is more straightforward with a brand community because you have an organic way to connect with customers and determine their needs, feedback and pain points. 
• A brand community fosters customer retention. Fostering a strong community builds a sense of trust with your audience that increases the potential for long-term customer retention. 
• A brand community can improve your reputation. A brand community is a smart way to set yourself apart from the competition and brand yourself as a company that cares about building relationships and contributing to the community. Your community can also help protect your brand reputation if you suffer unwarranted criticism. 

Examples of successful brand community strategies

Lego is a great example of a company with a thriving brand community. By supporting sites like Lego Insiders and Lugnet, Lego has cultivated a system of connecting to its customers that builds engagement and collects valuable customer feedback:

• Lego Insiders: Lego Insiders is a site where enthusiasts can vote on their favorite potential Lego designs. The projects with the most votes go to market. It’s a clever way to validate ideas and make customers feel more connected to the development process.
• Lugnet: Lugnet is an online message board where dedicated Lego fans can chat and exchange ideas. Although it’s an unofficial fan-generated site, Lego has been vocal about collecting insights from fan engagement and using them to influence new products. This is an innovative, cost-effective way to acknowledge brand fans and show that their feedback is valued.

Other brand community examples include the following:

• Sephora Beauty Insider: Sephora Beauty Insider started as a loyalty program. However, the beauty retailer doubled down by creating its own online community where avid customers can upload photos, share beauty tips and help each other with beauty-related challenges. It has specific groups within the community based on topic and makes it easy for members to write and read reviews within the community.
• Rust-Oleum: Rust-Oleum has a passionate brand community around its line of protective paint and coverings. The company gives customers a forum to share details about their latest do-it-yourself projects, get feedback from other members and get tips when they encounter problems. It features interviews with its most dedicated customers along with photos to show it cares about them.
• Lululemon’s Sweat Collective: Lululemon’s community is open to group fitness instructors, personal trainers, gym owners, coaches and athletes who love the brand. Community members get a 25 percent discount on products, are invited to exclusive community events and can contribute to new product development.
• GoPro: GoPro cameras are head- or body-mounted, and the company’s community focuses on extreme and action sports and outdoor adventurers. The community solicits member footage and showcases users’ stories of their adventures to inspire each other and connect with like-minded people. GoPro uses an in-house forum for its community.

Your community is an invaluable resource

Adding brand community-building tactics to your marketing plan will help create a thriving ecosystem of loyal customers. Remember to remain professional in your content and interactions so you don’t appear “spammy.” The focus should be on creating value for your customers. Your community may even yield brand ambassadors and a brand advocacy program that will serve you for years to come.