To have a sustainable and profitable business, you must have involved or engaged customers, new or old. An active community includes tools and resources that help you attract new customers and retain old ones to keep your business running and profitable. Conversely, a not engaged community will fail to establish the positive reputation and brand awareness you need to grow your business.
The following are the four common ways community engagement help grow your business:
Promotes Long-Term Relationships and Trust
A community keeps the discussions and the former promotions inside it forever. A new customer can pop in today and see old conversations you were part of and begin building an opinion of you and the group from day one. As time moves forward, if you’re consistent as the relationship builds and grows, so will the trust.
Trust is not something people have for anyone without some form of proof. Usually, the evidence comes in the form of time. Over time, if nothing bad happens, the customer will develop trust for you and your brand. If something good happens, that trust will be solidified and become even stronger.
Improves the Customer Service Experience
Customers all have various needs and ideas about what they want in terms of interaction with brands. Your audience will have their own unique way. But stats tell us that most people today like to be involved in the community with the brands and products they use. People simply like feeling heard and seen. They want to feel important to you and like you care about their needs. It’s so much easier to demonstrate this over time within the bounds of a branded community.
Creates More Human and Authentic Interactions
While you will want to implement some automation because you do have to sleep, a community offers you a way to have authentic human interactions, even if they’re not always in real-time. For example, your customer might post a message at 3 am your time asking a question about your product.
You don’t see the question until you normally check your community, but your members will. The older members of a long-standing group will often help the person for you without your ever asking, but what’s more, you can respond on your own time within 24 to 48 hours of the question being asked, and to the customer, it will feel instant. The main reason is that most businesses underserve their communities so that you will stand out in comparison.
To Build a Customer-Centric Brand
Your brand, while it is your business, really isn’t about you. Your brand is about your customer. A branded community can help you become much more customer-centric in your offers and even help you improve your branding. After all, most of us choose colors and ideas based on what we like without even thinking that it’s not about us when it comes to our business. Now you can ask your community, and over time your brand will begin to feel even more authentic and trustworthy to your audience.
Ultimately, to increase your customer size, effectively promote more products and services, and cultivate more trust within your industry, you need to get your community engaged. Engagement is an effective tool if you want your community to grow your business.