In the past, we’ve explored the various ways to build community to not only grow a business from home but also retain customers. And as the evolution of e-commerce has demonstrated, few things are more effective than building a community of customers.
This is because a community is not just people who like the product or service you offer, but consider themselves a part of the business in some way. In this article, we’ll share some tips to turn customers into community members and reap the rewards of their loyalty:
Offer Incentives
Asking customers to become part of a community is, in many ways, asking them to go the extra mile with your business. After all, they’ve already purchased a product or service, so why go the extra mile to become a community member? To get them across the finish line, you might want to offer them some sort of incentive or benefit.
If you take a look around you, businesses of different levels offer incentives for customers to become more involved. For example, real money online casinos give bonuses of all kinds to new players to get them to stay. These include deposit match bonuses, cash back, and much more. Many of them also run dedicated VIP programs that give even higher bonuses and additional perks. The point isn’t just generosity for the sake of it, but giving customers a reason to want to be involved in the business. An idea could be to offer a discount code to community members or tease them with the chance of community-exclusive perks in the future.
One of the ways to build community is setting up an automatic email for every first-time purchaser and incentivize them with a benefit to join your mailing list or become part of your community. The more you benefit members of your community, the more the word will spread and the more others will want to get involved.
Create Connection Platforms
One thing to remember is that a community is not just individual customers receiving benefits separately, but a collection of customers engaging with one another. As such, you need to create a platform or space, whether virtual or in real life, where customers can connect with each other. Luckily, there are many different ways to do this, such as WhatsApp group chats, Telegram groups, Discord platforms, Facebook groups, and so on. Through these platforms, you can communicate with your audience, and they can communicate with each other.
If you decide to create such a platform, you have to put certain safety measures in place. First, there has to be a system to approve people actually joining the community to avoid gatecrashers and saboteurs. If you have the budget for it, you could hire a moderator to monitor activities within the group and keep things from being derailed, or you could do it yourself. Either way, there should be a space where the community can drive.
Communicate With Them
It is not enough to simply create a space for community among your customers. You have to make sure that you are actively speaking to them and facilitating ways for them to speak to each other. You or your moderator should provide an announcement within the community about developments with your business, including new products, upcoming events, and so on. You can also put up things like polls, memes, and much more, which can spark discussion among consumers.
Of the various ways to build community, consider spotlighting user-generated content that has to do with your business. This could be customers asking others for advice regarding your products or services, social media-specific content, and much more. The more you communicate with your audience, the more they will communicate with both you and themselves.
Host Events
While this is not compulsory, it would be a good idea to have community-specific events as a perk and a means of drawing out engagement. These don’t have to be in person, as you can hold virtual things like quizzes, Q&As, game nights, and so on. These give community members something to look forward to and make sure that things remain as engaging as possible. This, of course, depends on the size of your business and how active your community is as a whole. But if you have enough people and want to take the community to the next level, you might want to consider this.
Engage and Observe
How communities develop and evolve is deeply unpredictable, and so, your best approach is to observe how things unfold within your own and adjust as needed. If customers use the community as a means of getting their inquiries answered, make sure to meet them where they are at and either respond to their queries or direct them to the proper channels.
Also of the ways to build community, consider how customers are engaging with themselves within the community. If you find that conversations are being derailed, you or your moderator should step in. There should be proper rules of engagement within the community, and always make sure it is being used to put your business in the best light possible. Don’t just create a community platform and abandon it, but instead, engage with members and observe every day.
Conclusion
Building a community of your customers can be one of the best decisions for surviving and thriving as a business. Customers who see themselves as part of a community attached to your business are more likely to stay loyal, and so, it’s in your best interest to facilitate this. Invite members to your community via social media, emails, and much more and give them an incentive to do so.
Once the community is developed, make sure you manage it yourself or hire a moderator to do so. From everyday engagement to occasional events and much more, there is a measurable capability for the community to drive sales and improve your business’s reputation.
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