How do I create an online community?

One of the best ways to engage your audience and increase business relationships is by creating and fostering an online community.

It’s 2020, and social media is an imperative aspect of modern marketing. It is therefore important to facilitate a community of customers who want to engage with your content. Why? Because when customers, whether existing or potential, engage with your content, they feel a part of the community you are continuously building.

You want to interact with your audience on a personal level in order for them to view your business as friendly and approachable.

So, how exactly do you build an online community?

Figure Out What Your Audience Wants

You have to understand what your audience wants before you can create content. Instagram and Twitter surveys are an awesome way to gain a greater audience understanding. If you’re a business owner, send your email subscribers a survey to find out what content they want. If you post videos and live content, ask your audience what they want through the comments section.

Solve Your Audience’s Problems

This can change, depending on your business niche. You should ask yourself, “why is it that people are following my business, and what do they like about my business?” Of course, there is no single answer. It could be to learn more about business, be entertained or find out about promotions. But whatever the reason, it should become your main focus.

A typical mistake business owners make is trying to do everything on social media. They want to be informative, funny, entertaining, authoritative and personal all at once. This just convolutes your message and deters potential followers. Find your thing and do it well.

Produce Winning Content

People can only communicate digitally in three ways: audio, video and written content. Most people can only really nail one of these methods. Try all mediums, but monitor your data and find what works best for your business. Data is vital here. Check your demographic, social shares, engagement, view time, likes etc. finding out what works and what can be put on the shelf.

Engage With Your Community

Because what is the point of building a community if you’re only going to shut them out? Nobody likes a business owner who is too cool for their loyal followers. It’s important to reply to comments, follow users back, share other’s content, answer questions etc. this way your newfound community feels valued and happy to continue engaging with your brand.

Reward Your Followers

Provide your audience with incentives for their loyal patronage. Giveaways are an awesome way to show your valued followers that you appreciate their support. This, of course, will lead to further customer engagement and increase sales.

Don’t use giveaways as a way to increase followers; instead use it as a way to simply reward your awesome fanbase.

Building an online community is a matter of knowing your audience, what they like/dislike, creating content that works for their interests, then further engaging with them. There is a lot of testing involved, as you have to figure out how to create content your audience will like and what is required to facilitate their interest. But with a little work and endeavour you could see yourself harbouring a thriving online community – this can only be good for business.

KBB Digital Marketing

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