Is Your Social Media Marketing Creating A Community Feeling?

What does social media strategy mean to your brand? The traditional approach to social media platforms, from a business perspective, focuses on promotional content, engagement metrics, and case-by-case customer queries. During the pandemic, brands have also used their social media accounts to share news and explain how they’ve adjusted to the new situation. But there’s more to social media than a one-way conversation. Indeed, there’s huge power in building a social media community around your brand presence. Indeed, a community elevates brand awareness, turning followers into converted leads and buyers and even loyal advocates. In other words, your social media community drives the sales funnel. So, if you feel that your activities on those channels are stuck in a rut, there’s probably one question you need to ask yourself: Have I created a community feeling?

Make networking a priority

Communities are built on reaching out to individuals who have a similar interest and encouraging interactions and socialization. In broader terms, a social media community requires networking skills. You can’t not bring your brand forward if you don’t make networking a priority for your social media marketing. Indeed, networking gives you the opportunity to showcase your brand and be seen in the right context. The principle applies to both personal and business brands. When it comes to social media, there’s nothing wrong with joining existing groups, grabbing the popular hashtags in your industry, and engaging with viral posts, even if those aren’t yours. You can’t create a social media presence that’s siloed to the rest of the channel. 

Offer a range of free advantages

People follow brands online for many reasons. They want to hear about your news. They have a query or complaint. They are existing customers. But how about people who don’t know your brand yet? Offering educational content or tips on how to use your products makes your brand stand out, such as Superior Farms do with a board of lamb recipes inspiration on Pinterest. It’s a type of content that showcases the versatility of your products, yet in a subtle and non-promotional way. 

Encourage user-generated content

In a community, every user should be treated as equal. Therefore, brands that encourage their followers to contribute to content generation are more likely to build a sense of community belonging. Take inspiration from this non-profit Facebook group that’s gone from 0 to over 250 members organically in about a month by creating a positive atmosphere for sharing content. Followers feel valued and want to promote and grow the platform. Additionally, user-generated content boosts the brand’s reputation as people associate it with a positive feeling. 

Where is my community?

The true answer is: Everywhere. The days where B2C brands appeared on Facebook and B2B brands on LinkedIn are long gone. Your audience is everywhere, so it makes sense to build a community across multiple platforms. Reddit, Discord, TikTok are some of the most active platforms, even though they are also some of the least utilized by brands. Don’t miss out on your chance to reach out to your audience! 

In a post-pandemic environment, it makes sense to invest time and money in boosting your online presence. Social media communities have never been more relevant to users. They bring people together, allowing brands to add multiple layers of engagement, loyalty, and trust that wouldn’t exist on any other channel.