Each brand has to attract the attention of their target public, and when you get customers, you must keep the attention of them. This is where a brand community comes in handy.

If you know how to create a social network around your brand and your brand, you will be able to ensure that your customers stay on top of their game and are engaged.

Later on This additional contact boosts the chance of repeat purchases, word-of-mouth marketing and better customers' retention.

Find out more about the top strategies for how to create a community around your brand, and real-world examples of brand communities to get practical advice about how you can make your community of brand ambassadors a success.

Jump to:

•    What is a brand community?
•    How do you build a community around your company's name
•    4 additional example of community building for brands
•    Three essential elements to help you build a community around your business
•    What is it that makes a brand community effective?
•    Anti-communities, and how to avoid these
•    Check the health and performance that your neighborhood enjoys

What is a branding community?

The name implies the term "brand community" refers to a group of people who have a common interest in a company and have a shared love or enthusiasm for the company's products, services and values.

Brand communities enable businesses to retain their customers by making them feel connected and encouraging people to buy into the brand ethos.

Most likely, you're in a variety of community brands even though you may not realize that it. A few of the most effective and lively brand communities are transformed into lifestyle communities, turning brands a way of life for many individuals.

Do you own you got an Apple iPhone? Wear Nike shoes? Do you drink Coca-Cola? If you're talking about the most recent iPhone release, or tag Nike in Instagram Stories of your workouts, brand communities aim to create excitement around the product or brand.

If you are able to create a strong brand community with a sense of shared identity for your business You can increase customer loyalty and keep them coming back to you to buy more.

Read on to find out how to build an online community for your company and the top examples of companies who have succeeded in doing exactly that.

How do you build an online community for your business

  5 key benefits of having a community for brands  

The creation of a robust and active brand community isn't something you can do in a day. But with patience and creativity, as well as a dedication to creating something that is valuable for your customers and prospects, you can build an extremely valuable community to your company.

  1. Enhance brand recognition

At the top of this list are brand affinity. The presence of a brand community will dramatically increase the affinity your customers feel for your brand by making them more in touch with your brand values every day.

If they feel that they share common principles and values about a brand and are more inclined to interact with the brand regularly. If you're able to build an affinity with your clients to increase the likelihood that they'll purchase with you in the future. Brand affinity lets customers think of their purchases as an investment rather than being a cost. It's something they'll feel good about!

The public is bombarded with targeted advertising with countless companies every single all day. However, if they've gotten to a common vision of the brand they'll turn to you rather than the competition. This is among the top benefits of creating an online community. This is this is why it's vital to understand how you can build an online community for your business.

  2. Create brand ambassadors

The loyalty and passion that drives a customer to purchase regularly from your brand can also inspire them to recommend your brand to others. An active community of brand advocates can help you encourage active brand advocates who spread the word about your company to their networks.

Despite the incredible increase in influencer marketing recent times, the recommendations of family and friends still represent one of the biggest drivers that influence people to buy from certain companies. Receiving a suggestion from someone you trust is twice as powerful as an influencer or celebrity recommendation. This means the more word-of-mouth exposure you obtain, the more beneficial it can be for your business.

Brand communities are a really effective method to transform customers into brand advocates by helping to foster better trust in your brand. Regularly posting on your brand's communities helps keep your brand top of mind in people's minds, increasing the likelihood of them sharing your post with a friend or sharing the content to others.

It is also possible to increase brand recognition by adding social sharing buttons to all your product pages as well as email marketing and landing pages and making sure to include calls-to-action like "Share this article with someone you love!" in your marketing text.

These simple engagement tactics could open up your brand's name to new viewers which can lead to more business down the road.

  3. Enhance customer satisfaction

In our Studio, course creators and teachers are constantly helping each other in their work. Whether they're answering queries, making suggestions, or offering feedback and suggestions, our community members will always be there for each other's success. It's not uncommon for them to be available outside of office hours in the event that our moderators for our community are not online. This helps to broaden the reach of our community and offer an unbeatable support service for members.

The kind of community that you can create will not just help you keep many customers, but it gives customers a better experience also. They're also more likely to remain engaged members of your group and use the products and services you offer for longer.

  4. Increase the value of customer life

As you begin to get your company's name and brand established It can be tempting to concentrate on your the monthly sales report and growing your customer base. In the end, more customers means more revenue does it not? But in the long run, the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) can be a hugely important metric for your business.

When you take on a new customer or student Consider:

• HTML0 What is the length of time they be a customer?
• What is the frequency at which they purchase?
• How much would they pay in all?

These three questions let you estimate the CLV for various types of customers. A CLV is an estimate of the net profits you'll earn from a consumer over the entire duration of their relationship with your business.

If you have a solid community surrounding your business, you will increase your CLV. The community helps you get relationships with your clients and also encourage them to return sales. It also gives an opportunity to get customer feedback and learn about what you can implement to make their experience better and improve your relationships with them.

One of the most crucial factors for success in any business is to maximize the value of your customer's life. If you concentrate on ways to build a crowd around your brand, and also how you can keep your customers committed, you're one step closer towards boosting the CLV.

  5. Get inspiration for future products

Are your products of any interest? A brand's community is creating an idea-generator for future products and services.

The members of your community already like your brand and they're the perfect people to help you develop future products as well. If you're able to join the conversations within your community of brand and understand the needs of your customers, you can create products that customers want and most need.

In regards to examples of brand communities, big game companies like Electronic Arts (EA) are the perfect example of how to make use of their customers to create new product designs.

EA invites its players to participate in play-testing new releases, helping players feel a being a part of the game's in the development process, and also giving participants the opportunity to be among the very first users to experience a new game. Beyond the realm of gaming Lego's Ideas community also encourages Lego enthusiasts to submit their own ideas for future product ideas, which many will be developed into real products that are available for purchase.

Like these brand community examples demonstrate, having a vibrant community that has their own unique input can give you the opportunity to chart an exciting, dynamic and ultimately successful course for your business.

4 extra inspiring brand community examples

Below are a few of our top brand community examples to show you how companies and creators have built successful online communities - and the lessons you can take away when it comes to how to build a community around your brand.

1. Harley Davidson

Inspiring by Harley Davidson owners clubs that began to emerge organically all over the world, the classic motorcycle brand launched its own global Harley Owners Group to capitalize on the community of their brand. The Harley Owners Group (H.O.G) brings together Harley Davidson owners and organizes international events, enhancing the bonds that bike enthusiasts have to the brand.

Combining community events and local membership with practical advantages like breakdown coverage and insurance, Harley Davidson have built upon their brand's existing name to establish a strong worldwide community. The community keeps Harley owners involved and excited about their brand. They also provide an ideal platform to promote the wide array of Harley Davidson products.

  Tips for how to create a buzz around the brand you represent  

  Incentivize membership  

The practical benefits that Harley Davidson offers their community members helps encourage more Harley owners to become members. If you're seeking to establish communities around your company, you can borrow this idea to incentivize the customers you already have. Promotions, such as discounts, products, and special offers to members are all effective ways to build loyalty among customers and grow your community.

  Run live events  

The focus of Harley Davidson on live community events could also serve as an example on how to create an online community for your business. Events on the web are an extremely powerful tool for encouraging participation from your audience. Whether in-person or over Zoom, a live event can be a great way to develop a closer, more personal connection to your audience and to create an atmosphere of community and assistance.

2. My Millennial Money

creators Glen James and John Pidgeon established Glen James and John Pidgeon My Millennial Money with the goal of supporting young people interested in managing their finances. They created a popular podcast and an active community along with introducing various online courses and even physical products to increase their reach.

  How to establish a strong community around your business  

  Write clear community guidelines  

Following My Millennial Money's brand community model, you can make your community successful by creating clear community guidelines which outline the rules of conduct that applies to your community space. This helps members to know the appropriate content to share and what they should not share in addition to determining their interactions with other members.

  Add brand extensions  

If you're seeking more inspiration through My Millennial Money, consider launching an audio podcast that complements your services or products in order to recycle your content and bring your audience something new. Remember to make sure the voice of your audience and the style of the podcast is the same! This is a fantastic method to connect with your audience through a wider array of content and ensure that your brand is in people's minds.

3. Nature Backs

This environmentally-focused clothing brand formed a strong brand community, built on its ethos of adventure, travel and sustainability. Nature Backs partners with independent artists as well as filmmakers, photographers and other artists to create and market their charming, imaginative brand, while also using various methods of community involvement to expand.

  Tips for how to build a community around the brand you represent  

  Create content by users  

If you're looking to draw inspiration from Nature Backs to build a crowd around your brand look at creative strategies to encourage your audience to start producing content to promote your business. Encourage customers to share your brand's products or services through photo competitions, customization contests, scavenger hunts, and many more.

In the case of , for instance, if you've developed a course about , you could invite customers to write stories or contribute video blogs about how your program changed their lives, in exchange for entry to an award draw or discount off the next purchase.

  Offer exclusive features  

Nature Backs also build a strong community around their brand by creating exclusive products as well as special offers for customers. The exclusive features for members include limited edition T-shirts that keep the customers interested, excited, and eager for the next mailer. Make use of this technique to establish a following for your brand - and level up your email marketing too.

4. Yes& By Marin

Marin Laukka is a prolific and highly successful life coach who juggles the business of coaching through courses, books and vibrant community spaces created on her Yes& By Marin brand. Using to expand her brand and create a course academy, Marin grew her business and her community to cater to an array of various types of patrons.

To ensure that the community is engaged, Marin regularly posts polls and discussion points within the Yesand online communities. Marin also holds regular live calls with groups and encourages students to share their main lessons learned from every session. Not only does this nurture the bond among her clients, it also helps learners feel more connected to each others and benefit by learning.

Check out this post on Instagram

    A post shared via Positive Psychology Decision Coach  Marin Laukka (@yesandbymarin)

  Strategies to create a buzz around the brand you represent  

  Offer a personal touch  

One of Yes&By Marin's strengths is her capability to customize recommendations and concepts to the specific needs of customers , based on the interactions she has had with her customers. For your own brand, consider making one-on-one or group calls that allow you to talk face-to-face to your clients. It is also possible to introduce surveys or live chat features for your customers to make your approach a more individual appearance.

  Upload relevant content to your intended audience  

One thing to keep in mind for building your own community is the importance of the content you publish that is relevant to the members of your community. For Marin it's tailored questions and discussion topics on topics close to her customers' interests. Your brand's content may mean videos, quizzes content, downloadable resources and more. Be aware of the needs of your audience, what they need and engage with most and then use that information to develop your strategy for content.

3 important things that enable you to build a strong communities around your company

If you look at the reasons people join brand communities, they all boil to three main things that are: purpose, agency and belonging. You need to give your customers all three of these things for a strong crowd around your company.

Let's have a look in greater specific detail, and then learn more about how to achieve it.

1. Agency

Your customer agency should be part of your brand community by regularly seeking suggestions about ways to improve the quality of your items and services that customers frequently use.

Someone who believes that they are in control regarding the design and the quality of products they use and the overall direction of the brand they support, is more likely to engage with your community. They might bring their acquaintances along as well.

2. Scope

To get customers to sign up to your community and stay engaged in your community, you must give customers a reason to join your community. It is important to provide clearly defined community rules. You can also help members to become part of the community you have created by rewarding participation as well as recognizing the those who contribute the most. They will be encouraged to be more in your group and can help new members feel welcome.

3. Belonging

For a brand community to truly be successful, your members need to feel like they belong. They need to be able interact with the community and feel seen, heard and appreciated. Small ways to help boost your members' feelings of belonging are responding to messages quickly, reposting the content of users and hosting live events that have an element of social.

What makes a brand community to be successful?

If you're just beginning to learn how to build an online community for your business it is important to know the following tips to remember to help you make your brand's community successful.

  Participate within your community  

The most effective brands have excellent community managers. If you're just creating a brand community the first time, you'll most likely have to do all the work yourself. However, even if you're working on a tight schedule is essential that you're active in your group. It's about making inquiries as well as responding to posts and posting fresh content, generally every day of the week.

  Create the feeling of an ever-growing movement  

If customers are feeling that your company is growing from growth to strength, they'll want to join in that development. Create an inviting atmosphere that celebrates new members, by encouraging them to introduce themselves and to share their interests and expertise. Share milestones in the community, such as the milestone of reaching 10,000 members. Also, remember to promote new product launches.

  Sell with value information  

While no brand community space is meant to be a market making sure you balance promotional content with other forms of interesting, valuable content is beneficial to your community members. Utilize your community as a platform to showcase new items, like helpful how-tos and members-only offers or discounts for introductory offers. In the end there was a reason that your members joined your community was to hear what you're going to offer in the future! Make sure to keep an equilibrium.

  Request feedback  

The most successful brand communities encourage and welcome feedback from all their members They also listen to what members are saying. Encourage feedback in a genuine and encouraging manner, and get responses promptly. Use surveys or feedback forms to make this process simple. When you are able, introduce modifications based on feedback from customers to enhance your experience with customers.

  Find the correct platform  

To build a strong community that is centered around your brand includes finding the right platform for your community. Communities make managing your community easy and simple by linking your community of your brand together with the course platform to ensure that you have all the tools you require for your business all in one spot.

How do you create a community around your brand: anti-communities and how to keep them out of your life

While community-based brands can prove beneficial for businesses however, there's an alternative of the positive type: join the anti-brand community.

If enough people are annoyed or angry about something your brand says or does, it can result in the formation of a community within your brand which isn't focused on loyalty, but rather opposition. Certain patterns of brand behavior could lead to an anti-brand group forming, and these can spell disaster for companies, regardless of the size of their business.

There are three factors that place you at risk of an anti-brand community plus Negative examples of community-based brands to study.

  1. Poor customer service

If clients feel slighted and ignored, their relationship to you will quickly become into a negative one. If they connect with other people who've had similar experiences, it won't take long for their frustration to turn into an anti-community.

An example of a negative community for brands can be found at LastMinute.com with an entire group of users on social media complaining about their poor customer service and lack of care for their customers. When you type a query concerning this company using Google there are a lot of critiques and reviews of negatives are the initial results. This is an anti-community at full strength.

To prevent becoming this type of brand image, be sure you take your customers concern seriously and reply promptly to all questions or complaints. Make use of your community's brand to solve customer problems before they become a crisis to maintain a good reputation and ensure that your community is healthy.

  2. Brand values that are conflicting and controversial

As customers can be enticed to remain loyal to brands that represent their beliefs, they could quickly turn against a brand if this trust and shared image is damaged.

A poorly written message, statement or campaign can quickly generate an anti-brand community. If enough customers consider a brand to be offensive or inconvenient, a massive anti-brand community can form that could easily result in the widespread rejection of their merchandise.

A negative example of a brand's community is Ulta Beauty who recently sent a promotional email about the brand's partnership in partnership with Kate Spade using the headline "Come hang in with Kate Spade". The content was found to be extremely inappropriate due to the passing of the brand's founder through suicide. Ulta Beauty has since apologized for their error but a significant chunk of their community has already been lost as a result.

If you're considering how to build a community around your brand, it's really important to decide right from the start the core values of your brand are. You need to look critically at each aspect of your brand principles, values, and mission statement in order to understand the message you're sending to potential customers. This will help you to avoid any controversy later on.

  3. Sustainability, social responsibility as well as other debates on politics

The global climate crisis and rising global reaction is resulting in the public becoming more conscious of sustainability when choosing companies to help. According to a recent study, 45% of Generation Z consumers say that they've stopped buying from certain companies due to environmental or ethical concerns regarding the products they use or their business practices.

This pattern can also be observed in connection with various political and social concerns that are affecting consumers' purchase decisions. A controversial political position could instantly turn off your clients and therefore, brands should take a cautious approach with regard to the most important issues.

In order to ensure that there isn't an negative community is created around your brand be sure that you're honest about your actions and politics and communicate clearly to your customers about every aspect. While you don't have to speak out on matters if you don't feel like you should, ensure that you don't deliberately conceal things to your clients - in the event that it leaks, it could be a problem for your company as well as your image.

Measure the health and performance of your community

As you build your brand and community, it's a great idea to monitor the key indicators to judge how well your community is doing and whether all your efforts are paying off.

To measure the success of a space for community, you need to know exactly what your purpose in creating the community for. What do you hope to get out of the community? What could a community give your business that you don't already have?

In the case of example, if your aim is to increase branding awareness, then you should measure the number of social shares or click-through rate. If your primary focus is to use your social media community to increase sales, you'll want to measure conversion rates and purchase frequency.

Consider your goals for your community . Use it to define your community's measurement measures.

  Then you're aware of the best way to create a social network around your business...  

There are a variety of factors to take into consideration when thinking about how you can build a fan base around the brand you're trying to build. Use these tips to start and take inspiration from brand community examples to get some ideas. Be aware that the goal is to provide your clients with a the feeling of being connected to your business to turn your relationship from simple one to a relationship that lasts.