How to launch a successful Community
The steps to take to cultivate an active and involved Community
Launching a successful Community is a bit like sailing on the open sea: if you want to reach the desired destination, you can't sit idle and wait for a stroke of luck for the wind to start blowing in the right direction: you need to plan your route in advance and make sure you have absolute control over your ship's rudder.In this article we will explore the fundamental steps to launch a vibrant and active Community, capable of attracting people interested in your project and engaging them in the long term.
The first steps to build your Community
To build your ideal Community it is important to follow some fundamental steps.The first step is the analysis of the target audience. It is very important to have in mind who your target is and try to understand their needs and expectations. Your goal must be to build a Community in line with the interests of your users, created especially for them.Of course, you must never forget that your project must be consistent with your strategic objectives: and the second step consists precisely in defining the latter.
What is the main reason why you want to build your own Community? What results are you hoping to achieve? These are the questions you need to answer before making any decisions on the matter.
Once you have clearly defined the needs of your users and those of your company, all you have to do is carefully decide which platform you want to host your Community on. And in this case, you basically have two paths ahead of you. You can choose to cultivate your Community on a public social network and follow the rules of the platform's algorithms which in the best case scenario would allow you to reach only a small percentage of the people interested in your offer (unless you pay, and a lot, for increase your visibility).
Or, you can decide to create a space of your own, which guarantees you complete access to user data thanks to which you can optimize your marketing strategies and reach exactly who falls within your target audience, 100%. A space like that you can build with SelfCommunity, the platform that offers you everything you need to create a proprietary social network tailored to your business.
➡️ Read also: Why creating a Community is becoming the new mantra in the marketing world
Offer your audience content in line with their needs. Once you have laid the foundations to start your Community, the people who join it will need content and activities to give meaning to their membership. Of course, you can't offer them a completely empty habitat. But above all, you cannot afford to wait for the members themselves to fill this space: it would be a death sentence for the Community! In short, you must be the one to ensure that newcomers enter an environment full of valuable content.
First, create a provisional editorial plan based on user interests and test it on your platform to understand:
- what content works and what doesn't;
- which themes attract your users the most;
- which types of activities most stimulate the interactions of Community members.
This way you can get all the information you need to draw up an effective definitive editorial plan to engage your users in the long term.But all this is still not enough.Content tailored to your target audience is great, but if no one finds it, it's practically useless. This is where strategies aimed at attracting organic traffic come into play.
How to drive traffic to your Community
The most effective way to attract organic traffic is to completely integrate your Community within what is called the 'customer journey': the journey that your users take from the moment they come into contact with your brand to the point where they which become real customers.In short, your Community must represent a fundamental stage in this journey.
Here are some effective strategies to achieve this result:
- exploit the potential of links.
Add links pointing to the Community on your homepage, on your eCommerce product pages, in the emails you send to your newsletter subscribers, and on any other page that is part of the user journey. Make sure the links are clearly visible: many companies simply insert them in the footer of the website, but this is an absolutely ineffective approach to attract traffic to the Community;
- share the content produced within your proprietary social network on all your channels.
This will help you achieve two important results. First, you can encourage interactions between those who are part of the Community and those who aren't, increasing your chances of getting new members. Furthermore, it is an excellent strategy to improve the reputation of your brand and gain authority in the eyes of your audience;
- offer your customers rewards that they can 'spend' within the Community.
For example, imagine that you have set up various membership levels on your proprietary social network, some of which provide particular privileges within the Community. In this case, you could offer free points to those who purchase on your eCommerce that can be used to unlock these privileges, such as access to exclusive content, the use of special features or the possibility of participating in events reserved only for members more faithful.
In conclusion
Launching a successful Community requires planning and attention to detail: from the analysis of the target audience, to the construction of a proprietary social network, up to the creation of valuable content tailor-made for your users, all the steps we have described to you they are critical to ensuring the long-term growth of your project.
With the right planning and the use of an adequate platform you can build a successful Community thanks to which you can satisfy the needs of your users and achieve the strategic objectives of your company.
Don't let your project wreck on the journey: take control of the helm with SelfCommunity.