3 Steps to Building a Vibrant Online Community for Your Business

Wolves roam in a pack. Owls collect in a parliament. But where can your business go to find the support it needs from like-minded customer groups and brand advocates?

In every corner of the animal kingdom, communities are critical to survival. They provide shelter, support, encouragement, and awareness — all things that generally improve the collective well being of the group.

In business, suggests Mackenzie Fogelson, founder and CEO of community and brand building company Mack Web Solutions, communities can provide many of the same benefits and give companies something they need to thrive in today’s online world: an engaged, passionate audience that truly cares about your brand.

“It really comes back to thinking about the human relationship and the fact that the (marketing) game has changed,” says Fogelson, a sought-after expert on developing and executing integrated online marketing strategies. “Yes, we use online tools to communicate and build relationships today, but there are humans behind that. Over time, building communities can help a business develop a base of people — a virtual sales force — that believes in what you do and wants to tell their friends about you.”

That word-of-mouth influence can be hugely powerful, of course. But how exactly can smaller growing technology companies go about developing it, without coming across as unauthentic peddlers?

In a recent conversation with OpenView, Fogelson laid out three key steps to building a truly engaged online community for your business (listen to the full interview here):

1) Establish Goals and Identify Key Performance Indicators

Community building goes a step beyond traditional marketing, Fogelson says. The marketing aspect is still vital, and the process will almost certainly involve tools like SEO, social media, content, and email marketing. But creating a strong brand, especially for smaller businesses requires more than sporadic tactical deployment.

You may be familiar with setting goals and KPIs for revenue and sales, but community building is a different kind of challenge that demands a more thoughtful approach. The onus, Fogelson says, should be on what you think you can achieve as a business, and what will work for you in the long run. Think about what kind of company you want to be, the type of personality you want to have, and what kind of resource you want to be for your customers.

“When you’re setting goals, make them for your company as a whole and ensure that those goals are specific, measurable, attainable, and time-sensitive,” Fogelson suggests. “From there, it’s a matter of matching up and looking at key performance indicators, and tying them to those goals.”

2) Strategize and Realize

Knowing what you want to achieve is the first step. The next is to figure out how you plan to get there.

Creating content that your audience will want to read, share, and discuss is a good place to start, Fogelson says. Whether you utilize video, podcasts, infographics, or case studies, however, the key is to create the most exciting, share-worthy content possible.

Fogelson also recommends thinking about the channels that your audience is going to use to access and share your content. Facebook and Twitter might seem like the obvious social media distribution channels, but Google+ could actually be the better choice for your audience you’re trying to attract.

Once you’ve set a strategy, you can move on to execution.

“You want to make sure you’re looking at data every week to see that your key performance indicators are all moving in the right direction,” Fogelson says. “Then, at the end of three months, you might have the actual data to say, ‘This is the direction we want to move forward with.’ That part of the execution is also really integrated into the analysis. That’s the very top of the pyramid of this process: analyzing what you’ve done and using the data to make educated decisions.”

3. Cultivate Relationships — But Don’t Move Too Fast

Just like in any community, developing friendships can take time, so Fogelson warns against overreacting if you don’t see results right away. For instance, if you’re operating primarily via social media, you’ll need to invest some time and energy into getting to know your audience before you can really begin cultivating a relationship with individual members.

“It’s a matter of engaging and making sure that you’re not just broadcasting your message on social media, but actually going out there to build relationships with people,” Fogelson says. “You can’t make everything about you. The goal should be to form partnerships that are mutually beneficial.”

To do that, Fogelson suggests sharing other people’s content, commenting on their posts, and inviting them to participate in specific discussions. From there, you can start to build momentum by consistently creating content that resonates with the value your community wants to receive.

“In the beginning, it will probably feel like nothing is happening, but perseverance often pays off,” Fogelson says. “The key is to take baby steps. If you make sure that you’re investing the time and effort into really bringing value to your communities, you will see a return.”

For even more tips, be sure to download Mack Web’s “The Truly Monumental Guide to Building Online Communities.”

Mackenzie “Mack” Fogelson is the founder and CEO of Mack Web Solutions, an organic web marketing agency that helps its clients establish their virtual presence. Connect with her on Twitter @mackfogelson.

Photo by Anirudh Koul