What exactly is a customer community? (+Examples) |

One-directional customer relationships are so 2005. The most successful brands of our time don't just talk at their customers. They engage with them and build meaningful relationships. And this is the point where customer communities come into the picture.

In this piece we'll discuss the concept of customer community, drawing on academic research to show what makes a community for customers distinct. We'll share the benefits of a customer support community and provide instances of community relationships.

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What exactly is a community?

A customer community is a area that facilitates a connection between a business or brand and its customers; it can allow for questions and answers, knowledge exchange, education for customers or promotion opportunities, or even product support and feedback. It can be constructed by a variety of methods, for example, through the use of email, a website and social media or an online community.

The most important thing in this context is RELATED. Customer communities that are successful aren't places for brands to throw advertisements. The old saying is that people want to do business with those they "know are like and trust" which is exactly what customer communities do the best. It provides the opportunity for this trust to grow.

Community-based customer interactions can be theoretically understood as digging into what's called " Social Identity Theory :" when people become an integral part of any social group-that includes excellent customer groups-they experience the sense of belonging sense of self-worth, purpose and identity.

Here are some incredible examples of what communities-whether free, enterprise customer communities, or brand community paid for accomplish...

• A non-profit organization has joined 9,000 nationwide members.        
  
• The faith-based community has expanded to 470 leaders across 67 countries.        
  
• An entrepreneurship org. has been launched to 5,000 people and has recouped its capital investment in a community app for customers in 2 1/2 weeks.      
  
• The health-focused launch of 100 high-ticket members increased the ARR by $40,000.        
  
• One community started the course for 13 weeks and added $100k to revenue in 2 months.        
  
• One financial community for personal use produced $130K over five days, using their most recent course.        
  
• One socially-minded SAAS company incorporated a community-based customer app and their usual conferences and saw a 70% increase in contributions & engagement.        
  

What is a Customer Community? does NOT

Understanding the theoretical foundation for community-building helps us understand how great communities of customers do not belong on your email list or Facebook groups. For you to reap the benefits of community below, you need to have at the very least members that feel like they are part of the community.

In this regard Here are some of the things that a community of customers does not include:

• An email list        
  
• The number of followers on social media you have        
  
• Members of your Facebook group        
  
• The amount of likes for your latest post        
  
• The callers to your customer service number        
  
• Your chatbot users        
  

Since we established that the foundation of customer-based communities is belonging, it's easy to see why these things aren't a customer community. All of them are interactions with your company, however they don't carry an identity.

The closest we can get here could be the concept of a Facebook group , but there is a lack of brand connection and belonging. It's hard to use Facebook to build the kind of dynamic relationships and user-driven involvement that creates a true fan base.

Why you should build a customer community

    The advantages of a customer community

Access member-led growth

The new wave of businesses with high impact built on the concept of membership communities. Community is such a powerful business that McKinsey recognized it as the ultimate business model for the 2020s: a community flywheel.

We've witnessed the growth of businesses that are led by members- including customers communities. If paid, they can create incredible recurring revenue opportunities. But the community also puts development in the hands of an autopilot.

It's been referred to as community as "a company that is growing itself," because the combination of content created by members, the enthusiasm generated by members and AI-powered tools that simplify community management means that it's much easier than ever before to establish the human connections that drive your company.

The secret is that big companies like Logo, Apple, and Nike use all of these strategies, leading to massive gains. (See the examples below. )

Do not think of funnels. Nothing is more powerful than a client community to grow a brand automatically.

Increase brand loyalty

A study in 2022 suggested that strong communities of brands are able to have a significant impact on the loyalty of customers to brands because the community can become an integral aspect of a person's identity. Actually, the strong link between social identity and brand loyalty is a deliberate process that plays into perceived value and brand satisfaction.

Making customers, clients, or followers into members is something you shouldn't take lightly. Unlike all of those relationship types, members belong.

Belonging instead of spending is an essential part of establishing a flywheel for community.

Increase CLV

It is well-known that the customer's lifetime value (CLV) is driven through retention, however only a few brands consistently succeed in achieving it. According to a study, SurveySparrow found that the top brands enjoyed around a 94% retention ratio, despite the fact that retention rates were as low as 4% in some industries.

While brand loyalty is a valuable thing in its own right but it also leads directly to a higher lifetime value. This should be a given, because retention and connection-again by converting buyers into members can boost your CLV in a way that is unlike anything otherwise.

makes selling easy.

One of the things in this study of flywheels in community showed is that selling is radically simpler in a social setting.

The standard sales funnel is focused on pushing all of your possible leads through sales as you lose more until you reach the tiny portion that buys.

If you have a customer-centric community there's no need to make this. Most members of the "leads" remain friendly, and until they leave the community, they'll stay in your ecosystem regardless of whether they're ready at this point or not.

The result is an unbelievably rich environment for sales in which you do not have to rely on pressure or fake deadlines Keep nurturing and giving value and watch the incredible results you get when you go to sell something. Some of our communities inform us that they even have members who are looking for items to purchase.

Then we come back to...

Find the best feedback

The feedback of customers is crucial. However, HubSpot's research team discovered an average of 42% companies do not survey their customers, or collect feedback!

If there were a more effective method to collect feedback, rather than sending out surveys expecting a response?

Meet the community of customers. We spoke to Oiselle Volee, a women's clothing company about their customer base, they told us something amazing. The Oiselle customer base was providing members with an area to connect with. But it was also providing an important feedback loop for developing products. It was possible to get immediate feedback on product ideas, new products, and they even had customers requesting products that they hadn't ever thought of.

Set customer service to autopilot

We've pointed out Apple as a cool customer community example below. Apple utilizes their community of customers to help customers and even gamifies the entire process so that the most dedicated Apple customers join at no cost and provide answers for free!

It's an ingenious method of putting trust in the brand which allows them to harness the sense of belonging which customers are feeling for the brand to an effective way of bringing customer service alive.

Instead of calling a 1-800 number, or waiting to be contacted by chatbots, customers have the option of getting their questions answered by the online community. That's powerful.

Transforms can occur

People buy a product or service because they want some thing. Usually, that something is a transformation that is of some kind, whether the goal is to have a cleaner kitchen (i.e. oven cleaner) for example, or losing 10lbs (ie. running equipment) or to build an ideal garden (i.e. the gardening magazines) and to enjoy weekend days in the garden with their family (i.e. a BBQ ).

If someone is buying an outdoor tent doesn't necessarily mean that they are able to make it work. This is where a great customer community comes in. If you can go beyond the transaction, and help the customers to succeed using the product or service you offer, you will have raving fans who'll tell others about your company. A customer base isn't just about make more sales. It's about helping customers succeed.

There's more! A vibrant customer-based community can offer invaluable feedback about your products and services. This is feedback would otherwise be required to pay to get.

In light of this and many other factors, building a customer community makes a ton of sense. So what are you waiting for?

    Learn how to use to create a thriving customer-based community right on this page!

Harness real engagement

If your idea of customer engagement is hoping your posts on social media get 15 likes, you're in the wrong ballgame. A customer community can create genuine customer engagement and real relationships with customers-remember we mentioned that the aim is for a customer to be a member.

It's incredible when you are able to take off the treadmill of content of social media and build genuine engagement, which people love.

8 amazing examples of customer communities

1. Topstitch Makers

There are some brilliant examples of communities for customers from here on . Take a look at Leigh Metcalf, who built the Mighty Network (AKA a "sewcial network") to serve as part of her fabric and sewing company: Topstitch Studio and Lounge. Her Mighty Network, Topstitch Makers provides classes and weekly sewalongs that help members to sew their way to the success they desire.

2. Duolingo

Duolingo is an app that made language learning fun, easy, and pretty much free (freemium)! Behind the scenes, Duolingo has a dedicated volunteer community that devotes itself to assisting users with their language needs as well as improving the experience.

Built on the belief that EVERYONE should have access to languages, these zealous polyglots also volunteer their time to incorporate different languages and new modules on the platform!

3. Oiselle

Oiselle is a running apparel brand that wanted to do more than just sell items and to help customers to connect with other people. They've built a Mighty Network, Oiselle Volee built around the love of exercise. Initially, it was the place where you could find a running partner, but it was expanded by the pandemic to encompass everything is offered by the Oiselle community does; now the 4000 members have a place to belong through real conversations and thriving virtual gatherings.

4. Lego

Lego is a multibillion-dollar brand that is loved by children for its incredible building capabilities and referred to by their parents as tiny mines that can hurt you the moment you step onto them.

Just kidding!

In fact, Lego is loved around the globe by both children as well as adults, and an army of dedicated builders share ideas on the Lego community of customers. Members can even vote on which fan builds are worthy of stamping approval to become genuine Lego kits!

5. Peloton

Peloton gained prominence during the pandemic when people were doing our exercise within our home. They created a powerful user community for exercise. Members can exchange scores, chat via video between sessions and also encourage one another on the Peloton Facebook group.

6. Adobe

Adobe products focus on creating: photos, videos music, photos, and much more. They're the industry standard. But ask anyone who's ever utilized one of the Adobe product and they'll inform you that it's not an easy task to master.

The Adobe Customer Community allows users to share questions and answers and also share tips for making more of the software. Their motto "Come to get help, and be inspired," pretty much sums their approach, which starts with helping clients discover their applications, and takes customers on a quest to becoming experts in their field.

7. Apple

Apple has built a thriving customer base that also can also serve as a customer service platform. Apple has also gamified their experience to ensure that users earn more points, and also have access to greater modes of community management in the higher levels they climb. Users who get to the upper levels also gain access to a private community.

And yes, if you're considering it, gaming your customer experience in a way that users want to spend time providing the other with help is an excellent use of a customer community.

8. Shopify

If you want to experience a fantastic customer-centric community that is active, look no further than Shopify. Since Shopify helps their customers build stores that sell their goods The Shopify community is committed to providing training and knowledge-building by answering frequently asked questions, as well as even organizing live occasions.

Are you ready to create your own customer community?

No matter if your community for customers will be a non-profit enterprise or community-based one, or a paid membership to bring in some extra revenue Join us to build your community with Mighty!

Mighty brings together courses and content with community and commerce. Flexible Spaces allow you to build a customer community unlike anything else, mixing conversations, chat and messaging, livestreaming, live events, and courses (if you wish to). Choose what features you'd like to use (and leave the rest inactive). ).

Mighty gives you a suite of member-management tools to make it easy to run the community, and our AI community-engine-Mighty Co-Host(tm)-automates things like member profiles, landing pages, course outlines, and even discussion questions. It's radically easier to create a thriving customer community with only a few hours of work a week.

In addition, with Mighty Pro it comes with G2's top-ranked community software on an app that you own and brand. It's your application on the App Store as well as the Google Play Store. Furthermore, when building with Mighty Pro, you'll work with our team of Account Managers and Community Strategists who have scaled seven-figure brands for creators and eight-figure subscription-based businesses.

Call us to today, and we'll explain what we could build together.