Communities are excellent for raising brand awareness and maintaining a loyal customer base. It’s always a good idea to build an organic community customized to your business goals. But managing one is no easy feat, so you might consider hiring a community management agency.
Regardless of whether you want to do it on your own or seek help from professionals, here are the 10 key steps — no skipping!
The 10-Step Guide To Building a Community
The following 10 steps are essential in community building. Start at the beginning and work your way up to a thriving community.
#1 Establish Goals
Setting the goals for your business is the first thing you need to do if you want a thriving community. Define what you hope to get out of the community, and you’ll have no trouble moving on to the next step.
#2 Identify the Target Audience
Even though you want your community to have the broadest possible reach, it’s best to focus on a specific group, i.e., the target audience. Once you know your target, you can learn more about your audience and decide on the best approach.
#3 Establish Trust
Your audience should know they can rely on you to meet their needs. You need to establish your business as trustworthy, and the best way to do this is by keeping your word. Make promises and keep them — your audience will realize that you can be trusted and be more open to accepting your suggestions.
#4 Unite the Community
When you start gathering participants, the next thing to do is bring them together. The best way to go about this is by hosting an event — either an in-person gathering or a live online session — where members can chat and get to know each other.
#5 Spread the Word
Allow your community to grow. Rely on your existing members to spread the word and invite new members. As the community grows, don’t overlook your founding members — give them the recognition they deserve.
#6 Focus on Online Participation
Virtual communication is essential, so choose a platform and go from there. Discord community management is a great way to go — members can chat and have online meetups on your server.
#7 Check Out the Competition
Look out for similar communities and consider joining one; this will give you an inside look into how the competition manages its community. You can pick up some pointers along the way.
#8 Feed on Feedback
Ask your community for feedback — both on what they like and what they don’t like. Take their feedback into account, act on it, and make the community a better place for all participants.
#9 Set Up the Community
Once you’ve gone through all these steps, you’re ready to officially launch the community and open it to the broader public. Promote your community and make sure you have people managing it.
#10 Stay Active
After your community is up-and-running, don’t toss it aside. If you want active members, you must be present and constantly add new content to keep community interest high.
Building and Managing a Community: Synapse Research
Starting a community and building it from the ground up requires time and effort, but Synapse Research is here to help! We are a team of highly passionate experts offering professional digital assets management and digital marketing services.
If you want to scale your business regardless of its size and build a solid community, contact us. We’d be happy to help!