10 Jan The Power of Brand Communities to Spur Advocacy and Growth
By BravoEcho
Today, a convergence of revolutionary transformations in technology, consumer behavior, and media has led to a generalized yearning for community at every level of society. A Google search of “need for community” returns more than 6 billion links. Community has emerged as a definitive metric for evaluating consumer activity from purchasing to voting to pet ownership. Community is the evolved manifestation of what was once called, “word of mouth.” Today it’s often the “Superfans” and “Influencers” who seed brand communities. With cultural tastes and purchasing preferences the currency of identity expression in the social media age, community has become a password to unlock audiences eager for products, services and experiences that align with their beliefs and passions. Communities can be built from scratch or pre-existing communities can be tapped, but as a community participant and partner, companies find themselves seated at an interactive shared table rather than at the noisier marketing podium. By stepping down from the podium, business finds a powerful binding force that ultimately brings them closer to consumers. You could say that community driven brands are self-generating engines of engagement.
Brand Communities By Design
The trends have been moving in the direction of brand communities for a while. Companies such as Starbucks, Walmart, and Amazon seek subscribers and loyalty members, so they reach out to find enthusiastic reviewers whose value is measured connections to products and brands rather than single purchases. But now brands are intentionally cultivating genuine community – Lululemon builds its Sweat Collective, a community of fitness influencers locally recruited to create authentic local connections; Sephora has tens of millions of Beauty Insiders, a community that creates space for members to have honest, unsponsored beauty conversations; and Airbnb connects renters and property owners in a community that fosters the mutual trust necessary for the platform’s success.
Today the process of growing brands around community is an intentional and central strategy in a new era of marketing and communications. It is harder than ever to be effective using traditional marketing – media costs have soared, audiences have fragmented, and with ad blockers blocking and content of all kinds exploding, we’re just not taking in marketing like we used to, and we’re savvier in our understanding of it. Because of this, more brands see advocacy as a new communications goal and brand communities as the way to achieve it.
The Power Of A Brand Community
With today’s digital tools and the ability to reach hundreds of millions of people via online platforms, companies can continually measure and understand the value of community. And community members are engaged brand advocates sustained by the purpose they find in the community who can also become loyal defenders in moments of PR turbulence.
In his book, “Belonging to the Brand: Why Community Is The Last Great Marketing Strategy,” Mark Schaefer argues that brand communities offer brands “an unassailable competitive advantage” as they help people “discover – and even create – [the] brand’s connection to their world.”
In fostering and empowering advocacy, the brand community can power the brand.
• Build Trust – While nearly 50% of consumers distrust communications coming directly from a company, only 14% distrust information disseminated through a community.
• Increase Loyalty – Two-thirds of community members claim brand loyalty, and two-thirds of companies say their community has a demonstrable impact on customer retention.
• Drive Engagement – Among established communities, more than 75% of content about the brand is user-generated.
• Yield Data – In a cookie-less world, a brand community yields invaluable first party data that can impact marketing, promotions, pricing, distribution, customer service, innovation, and more.
The Foundations Of A Successful Brand Community.
Our experience has shown us that these five elements are key.
1. Personal Connections – Create “show not tell” opportunities for members to come together, express their love of the brand, and strengthen community bonds.
2. Mutual Benefit – Identify and reward the most passionate and connected advocates. Create the physical and digital spaces and tools for their advocacy both inside and outside the community.
3. Shared Ownership – Whether building from scratch or bringing together consumer-created groups, members should have a strong voice in the community’s actions. Without ownership, power, and influence, it’s not a community, it’s a fan club.
4. Brand Reputation – Build trust and goodwill by activating against the brand’s purpose as well as its offering. Bond the community by utilizing its passion to do good in the world.
5. Empowered Employees – Encourage them to share their passion and connect with communities.
While there are countless potential tactics, the vast majority fall into four categories.
1. Brand Immersion – Create community-only physical and digital experiences and events; offer branded merchandise that allows someone’s fandom to be expressed in their lifestyle.
2. Exclusive Access – Offer a peak behind the curtain with access to decisions and insider knowledge; provide early access to new launches, and create community-only products.
3. Real Influence – Give opportunities for dialog with senior leaders, innovation and marketing teams; solicit input on product development and offer opportunities for co-creation.
4. Tools For Action – Fuel members’ advocacy with content that can be shared along with status tiers within the community to motivate action.
Eyes Open
According to Gartner, brand communities fail because companies want another sales channel but members reject being actively sold to. At BravoEcho, we see brand communities as an opportunity to reposition listening and messaging as a brand strengthening conversation that deepens brand love and creates passionate, knowledgeable advocates – and who doesn’t want those?