Today’s consumers aren’t just buying products; they’re buying into experiences, values, and relationships. This suggests that marketers should de-emphasize growing the number of customers they’re engaging and instead focus on building communities.
(And no, that doesn’t mean just posting more frequently on social media.)
A few of the factors driving this trend include:
- Social fatigue: As algorithm-driven feeds become more chaotic and competitive, many users are retreating into more intimate, interest-based groups.
- Trust erosion: Consumers are growing wary of polished influencer campaigns and brand-speak. They’re craving authenticity—and who better to provide it than a peer community?
- Two-way communication: People want to feel like part of something, not just marketed to. Communities allow for dialogue, feedback, and real-time insight.
Here’s what you can do to turn your followers, fans, and customers into a robust and rewarding community:
- Create a space online (like a dedicated forum) where people can get together and exchange photos, ideas, and support. This not only leads to consumer-generated content, which can alleviate the burden on your company to produce fresh content on a rolling basis, but it also fosters engagement as people deepen their relationship with your brand and see additional value in loyalty to it.
- Decide what your company can add to this space that isn’t already available to customers. While it’s easy to offer deals and special codes for community members, there might be opportunities for your team to think outside the box. Does the community provide access to the figureheads at your company that isn’t available elsewhere? Behind the scenes of your production spaces? Are there community-building activities hosted by your team?
The best part of these ideas is that they’re not a large lift for your team. They can get started fast and then will grow organically over time. For thoughts on what this might look like for your brand, and where online it will best succeed, set up a consultation with Mad 4 Marketing.