Article by Olivia Thurlow, Planner at Eleven Miles

People crave human connection, we’re hardwired for it – neuroscience suggests that we’re wired to connect with others. Belonging to a community, engaging with others and forging authentic relationships are all critical parts of being human. So, it’s no surprise that people look for community in nearly everything they do, and it’s no surprise that privacy changes, increased costs in digital advertising, digitally overloaded audiences and a turbulent post-pandemic future has seen marketers turn to community building strategies and activations more than ever before.

We’re going back to human nature, with ‘community’ proliferated and made easier to define by social media. The best communities are built organically over time and can act as a powerful and genuine marketing channel. Why? You guessed it, because they’re authentic. How? Because time and work is put into researching, delving into and understanding the audience, and offering a service or product that resonates and that people love to associate with and share.

We're seeing a shift away from the obsession with large numbers of followers and likes. People have realised vanity metrics, are well, just that. Instead, it's more about creating relationships across marketing touchpoints. Consumers are looking for more than just a transactional relationship with a brand, they want to feel a connection, a sense of belonging to a community that shares their values and interests. We’ve gone from being tasked with ‘get our follower numbers up’ to ‘help us to engage an active audience’. 

So how can brands go about building and fostering communities?

Think offline 

As follower count becomes less significant progressive brands are swapping traditional placements for physical activations with post-platform communities, making a case for the experience economy. Post pandemic we’re no longer confined to screens alone: think Salons, workshops, away days, branded supper clubs, hybrid conferences and more.

Know thy audience

Your audience on social media could totally differ from your audience in real life – you have to put the effort in to understand who your target customers are, how they consume, what their pain points and passions are. Only then can you start to build a community that truly includes and involves them. Using social listening and building out unique audience personas by category needs, something we’ve been further exploring with AI, will help form an audience-led strategy built on insights. 

Go niche

With growing criticism surrounding ‘Big Social’ and how it works against us, people are gravitating towards spending time online in more intimate, micro-communities; Discord, Reddit, Substack, private Slack channels and paid-for membership platforms feel more connection-oriented – whether the connection is forged by a common interest, geography, value system or feeling of exclusivity. Collective Media is one initiative demonstrating this in action – “building platforms for connection over niches” for those “looking for a ‘new internet’ that they can shape into their own.

Use Real Talent

With #deinfluencing officially a trend, rose-tinted glasses have been pulled off many. People have wised up to inauthentic influencers and ungenuine brand partnerships. Seek and cast real people (like we did here, for Kipling) who really fit, that the audience can relate with, and you’ll see them become brand and community ambassadors with ease.

TL;DR

‘Community’ sounds like a buzzword, and in the world of marketing it’s for sure making the rounds. But we need to remember that it’s been around since the beginning of time - give customers (that you know inside/out from much research!) the engagement and exclusivity they crave, for quality and connection matters more than quantity when looking to succeed in today's competitive marketplace.

Need some help in understanding your audience and fostering your community? Get in touch.