Cultivating an online brand community on social media

According to Gary Vaynerchuk, “there is only one way to build a community and that’s by giving more to the community than you take”. For many brands, cultivating a loyal online community on social media is important to its sales and growth. Ultimately, the goal of a social media strategy is to cultivate a loyal and engaged community that will support your brand.

But what tactics can brands use to develop and nurture their online relationships?

Give more than you take

We live in a transactional world so to build an online community, a brand must provide value first and ask second. When managing our clients social channels we ensure that we are providing valuable content where the audience is either being entertained or educated. Providing that experience to your audience will leave them wanting more and as a result, they will return back to your content commencing the start of a lasting relationship. The tactics we use daily to connect with our client’s online communities are:

• Educational content and infographics about the brand and the brand’s industry
• Key stories about current affairs relating to the brand’s industry
• Constant and quick communication with our online audience
• Attractive visuals
• Blogs and thought-leadership articles

Take RedCabin for example: the company brings together the world’s greatest transport pioneers from aviation, automotive and the rail industry in annual summits to spark collaboration and product innovation. With this in mind, we curate a cocktail of content for the social channels to appeal to their c-suite customer base and ensure that they are being educated, entertained and informed. And with this, we have successfully grown its following while increasing brand awareness and engagement with its community.

Impact on business goals

A strong relationship established between brand and community can result in amazing returns, that contribute to the achievement of business goals, such as: reputation building, crisis management, creating a stickier online presence, increasing purchase intention and increasing return of repeat customers. This brand-community attachment also plays a massive role in brand loyalty and guards against brand migration.

XL is at your service

Building and maintaining an online community requires constant care and can be tricky to navigate but with our expert team of PR and social media consultants, we can help your business on its journey. Get in touch to learn more!