These are the advantages that Communities of Interest can offer you
What are the peculiarities that distinguish Communities of Interest and why they represent a resource for your company.
In this article we would like to talk to you about Communities of Interest, those groups of people who are born and grow around a specific shared interest.
The question we want to answer is not simply “What is a Community of Interest?”. It would be quite easy to answer this question yourself with a quick web search and, furthermore, it would be a simple theoretical exercise as an end in itself.
Rather, we intend to address the problem from a practical point of view: what are the characteristics of a Community of Interest and, above all, what can they concretely offer you?
On the other hand, your time is precious, we know this well. And if you have decided to invest it by reading our contribution, we would like to give you something in return: content in which we will illustrate the benefits you can obtain thanks to Communities of Interest.
➡️ Read also: How to launch a successful Community
The key characteristics of Communities of Interest
The characteristics that distinguish Communities of Interest and the dynamics that are created within them are mainly 3:- an element in which all members share an interest or passion.
This contact point can have any type of nature. It can be a sporting activity (e.g. a community of runners), a disciplinary topic (e.g. a community of IT and technology enthusiasts), an individual (e.g. a community of fans of a singer) and so on;
- constant interaction.
A Community of Interest is characterized by the continuous creation of relationships between the people who are part of it. These bonds create an environment that stimulates interactions through online discussions, sharing resources and information, sometimes meeting in person, and much more. These are dynamics that manifest themselves spontaneously, but which in the most active communities are encouraged through the promotion of positive communication practices, the use of platforms dedicated to all members and the organization of collective activities and projects;
- active participation.
The contribution to the group by each member of a Community of Interest is fundamental to ensure its growth and success. Often the simple presence of a shared passion is enough to encourage users to actively participate in the life of the Community, but it is important to create an inclusive, positive and stimulating environment to ensure that even those who are less interested in the common project feel encouraged to do his part.
The benefits of Communities of Interest for marketing: a guide for companies
The digital age has given everyone the ability to easily and quickly connect with other people who have the same interests all over the world. People who help each other, who exchange information, views and opinions on a given topic driven by their strong passion and who continually create new networking opportunities.And numerous companies and organizations are now discovering the enormous potential that lies in this phenomenon. The business world is realizing how useful Communities of Interest can be for reaching a targeted audience and actively involving them in the promotion of a product or service.
Let's think back to the active participation typical of these groups: members are often eager to interact with other people who have the same passion as them and they do so by sharing experiences and opinions on their passion. Let's imagine that this passion is represented by a product or service offered by a particular company. In this case, the exchange of experiences between users would constitute a gold mine from which to extract reviews, feedback and other fundamental data to be used for promotional purposes.
Furthermore, Communities of Interest can be exploited to reach a wider audience and build long-lasting relationships with them, offering members quality content such as posts and videos that can be shared on social networks, perhaps on a private platform managed directly at the of business so that control of the project is absolute.
Finally, a Community represents an ideal environment to activate loyalty and reward programs and recruit those members who can play a decidedly more relevant role than that of simple members and act as true Ambassadors. Enabling these loyal followers to communicate easily with anyone who shares their interest means multiplying the possibilities of attracting new users and increasing the company's visibility in a decidedly higher order of magnitude than what could be achieved with classic (and outdated) strategies. of marketing.
In conclusion
Communities are changing the marketing paradigm and companies that want to keep up with the times must accommodate this phenomenon, adapting their strategies to the changes taking place.
This is what La Feltrinelli has done, offering its Community of users a safe and controlled space in which to live. Fuori di Libri, a Brand Community built with SelfCommunity in which people interested in the world of books and reading can share experiences and opinions, discuss products and services, and generate invaluable information for the company.
And that is what you can also do with our Community platform, which can be seamlessly integrated and embedded into external digital environments such as websites, apps, and eCommerce platforms through APIs or frontend software development kits via frontend SDK (Professional and Enterprise Plans only).
Start creating value with your Community now. Request a Demo to find out more about SelfCommunity.