Is Online Community Building Your Next Big Competitive Advantage?

Which would you rather do business with: a company that sees transactions, or one that sees relationships? Building an online community around your brand delivers more value to customers – and keeps them engaged for life. Community expert Mackenzie Fogelson explains how.

With the right approach to community building, a brand becomes more than a business — it becomes a trusted source of value in customers’ lives. Mackenzie “Mack” Fogelson, founder and CEO of Mack Web Solutions and an expert in the art of building online communities, shares some of the wisdom you’ll find in her team’s new Truly Monumental Guide to Building Online Communities to help you build not just an engaged audience, but a lasting competitive advantage.

Listen to the full interview with Mackenzie Fogelson here.

What Community Building Is

“When it comes down to it, community building,” Mack says, “is really just a fancy term for talking about growing an engaged audience around your brand.”

And to lay the foundation for growing that audience, there is one rule in particular you always have to remember: focus on your customer first, not your own products and services.

“By building your interactions around your customers and the value you can bring to them,” she says, “over a lifetime you cultivate relationships that bring all kinds of benefits.”

“If your company stands on that foundation, then you will deliver rich and meaningful solutions and build a vibrant community of lifelong customers along the way.”

–Mackenzie Fogelson, Mack Web Solutions

What Community Building Isn’t

Mack cautions against thinking about community building as simply a social marketing strategy restricted to certain channels. “Remember, it’s about the goals that you have for your business as a whole, not just for your marketing,” she says.

Companies often miss the mark by jumping straight to tools, Mack explains. Rather than trying to build a community by diving right into a new Facebook campaign or launching a new Twitter account, she emphasizes making sure your efforts are tied to the broader goals that you have for your organization.

In other words, community building isn’t simply about social media followers. It’s about building customer-centric relationships that will help catapult you ahead and accomplish really big things for your company and for your brand.

Give a Little, Get a Lot

As your community grows, so do the advantages. Mack points out that an engaged community is similar to having another sales force of people who really believe in what you do and want to support you and tell their friends about you. Those kind of qualified referrals are gold to your sales and marketing organization, but only if your community is made up of the right people.

“Be strategic about who you’re attracting to your community so you can be sure it’s the best value match and cultural match possible,” Mack recommends. “Take advantage of all the data you’re generating via digital marketing to be as targeted as possible with your outreach and nurturing.”

In addition to referrals, an active community of brand advocates can result in the following benefits that can pay huge dividends in the long run:

• Lower customer acquisition costs
• Lower churn rates (happier, more invested customers)
• Better products (via more active and better feedback)

Two Hurdles to Overcome

Siloing and buy-in are two common problems that Mack sees when working with clients to build online communities. She stresses the importance of looking at it as more than just a marketing initiative. After all, it can’t just your social media person driving community building, it has to be your entire company.

Instead of tasking one department with community building, look for ways to involve other teams and encourage them to feel ownership of the process and the end goal, as well. Most importantly, make sure all team members can see the results of their efforts. That way they’ll want to continue to be involved.

“Remember that at the heart of building a community is building a business that people are going to care about and want to be a part of,” Mack says. “If your company stands on that foundation, then you will deliver rich and meaningful solutions and build a vibrant community of lifelong customers along the way.”

Be sure to check out Mack’s The Truly Monumental Guide to Building Online Communities.

How have you engaged audiences in your online community?

 

Photo by: Mikkel Ronne