For too long, marketing has relied on some ‘easy’ tricks to make the users see their ads. Pop-ups and in-your-face marketing are no longer an option thanks to ad blockers and users’ feedback regarding the ads they receive. With one click, they can make it clear that they are not interested in this post, and as simple as that, your old-school techniques might become useless and need a change.
Nowadays, users want their marketing to be more personal. They want to connect with a brand based on their values, ethics, and backstory. They are no longer looking for products or a service per se; they are looking for all the brand represents. With this in mind, brands have to display their ads differently. Brand and marketing specialists need to start focusing on the intangible things rather than the tangible. Focus on creating a community rather than driving clicks.
But first, before you step into the direction of creating a brand community, you need to have a brand. As obvious as it sounds, some companies miss this step and build a society without the necessary foundations that having a solid brand gives. However, designing, building, and having a brand is no easy task. That is why digital branding agencies specialize in this and can offer you all the necessary tools, techniques, and guidance to create a solid and impactful brand. The pricing of these companies won’t always be cheap. However, prices do range significantly, and you can find one that suits your company’s size and budget; what’s guaranteed is that the money invested in them won’t go to waste.
How can you successfully build a brand in today’s highly competitive, fast pacing world?
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Become a Community-Conscious Brand
As we said before, you want to focus on building something more robust than just a few sales leads. When you realize that it is only by creating a solid community that you will achieve long term goals, the constant competition for immediate sales and profit will disappear.
Creating a community will allow you to build retention like no subscription or any other marketing technique would have achieved. Because your consumers no longer will care just about your service and products, they will care about you, the commitments you have, and the meaning you bring, and in response, they will be committed to you for longer than a couple of months, for years and even decades.
Building a community is a process that makes your users care for your brand at a deeper level than before because a community is all about human connections. Creating a community is not done with one-sided efforts or interests. Your consumers will act more like co-creators, like constituents of your brand.
Human connections are essential nowadays, primarily because although the internet has allowed us to connect globally (in transactions), it has not done an excellent job socially. So now, people are looking to connect with a more human form of a brand.
Brand community building creates loyalty with your consumers because they will feel seen and heard with your brand and within the community. Additionally, a society won’t just mean a constant and loyal buyer group; they will also become your free and unofficial brand representatives. This, in turn, will change how you market your brand.
The most known example of a brand community is that of the technology giant Apple. Despite their high prices, people are willing to camp outside their stores, waiting for the latest release. People don’t see Apple or their iPhones as just a company, as just a phone. They see it as a way of belonging to a brand they feel identified with. It has almost become more a lifestyle rather than a brand.
Community is not about bringing people together just because it is not about sending constant promotions and discounts, and that’s it. Building a community is about genuinely caring about your mission, values, brand, and, more importantly, about your customers, providing them with a platform to feel heard, seen, and connected with you and others. It is also a great way to communicate with your customers and receive more honest and faster feedback.
The Importance of Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is one of the best ways of reaching new customers. They will trust more acquaintances, family, or friends than random ads on the internet. It is so much more potent that studies indicate that people commit to a brand they’ve heard through word-of-mouth marketing as high as 84%.
Once you’ve built a solid and well-connected community, your customers and users won’t be on their own; they will become ‘tribe members,’ making them even more vocal and open to recommending your brand and community.
Brand community building is no longer a nice-to-have but a must to truly grow your brand. Whether through in-person activities or over the internet, you want your customers to see you as more than a company or a brand, but as an extension of their values and interests. You want them to trust your brand and connect with it in a way that seeing your services or products makes them feel connected, heard, seen, and understood.
However, remember that to create a meaningful and solid community, you first need a quality brand. For this, a brand design agency can help you greatly, and second, you need to add value to your customers. Although building a company will help your company, you must focus significantly on your customer and their needs.
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