How to build an engaging online community for your brand

Creating and nurturing an online community on social media can be a great catalyst for growth for many brands, and a solid strategy to stand out against the competition in a crowded digital market.

An engaged and loyal community can propel your brand to new heights, amplify your message, and encourage authentic connections with your target audience. In this article, I’ll explore the key steps to effectively build an online community that not only attracts but retains passionate advocates for your brand.

Define your goals

Before embarking on your journey to build an online community, it’s essential to define your goals. Ask yourself: what do you hope to achieve through building your community? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive sales, gather customer feedback, or improve customer support? Defining your objectives will shape your strategy, help you set metrics to measure success, and keep you on the right track.

Create guidelines and rules

Every community needs structure to maintain a positive and safe environment. Establish clear guidance that outlines expected behaviour, content standards, and consequences for if your community members violate them. Encourage transparency, respect, and open dialogue. These guidelines will set the tone for interactions within your community and show your safeguarding measures as a brand.

Engaging Audiences

Engagement is the heartbeat of a thriving online community. To captivate your audience, employ strategies that encourage meaningful interactions and spark conversations. Here are some effective tactics:

1. Be responsive – Responding in a timely and thoughtful way to an engaged audience shows your community members that their voices matter and that you value their input on their comments, questions and concerns. 
2. Initiate discussions – Pose thought-provoking questions, share polls, and spark debates to stimulate conversations within the community. Encourage members to share their opinions and experiences. This will give you an insight into what drives your audience and could uncover hidden problems that your brand could address. 
3. Organise events and contests – Arrange live Q&A sessions, webinars, or virtual events relevant to your niche. Consider running contests or challenges that promote user-generated content. Such activities create excitement, encourage participation, and strengthen community bonds. 
4. Highlight community members – Elevate active and influential members of your community. By spotlighting their contributions, sharing their success stories, or asking for their input on upcoming initiatives, this instils a sense of pride and loyalty among members and shows that you recognise loyalty amongst your community.

Spotify’s online community has more members than Spotify has actual subscribers! But when you visit the community page, you can immediately see why. The benefits of sharing are front and centre, with statistics reinforcing and praising conversations and solutions.

Member engagement is also strongly supported, with votes and polls regularly taken into account on a variety of topics. Spotify’s community is built and shaped by its members, and this is something that the brand actively encourages.

Growing your online community

To expand your community and reach a wider audience, you need an effective growth strategy. Here are some proven methods to help your brand attract new members:

4. Promote across platforms – Leverage your existing social media channels, website, and email lists to promote your community. Use eye-catching visuals, compelling CTAs, and persuasive messaging to entice potential members to join.
5. Work with influencers – Partner with influencers or industry experts who fit with your brand values. Their endorsement and participation can expose your community to their dedicated (and sometimes large number of) followers and attract new members.
6. Partnership branding – Seek opportunities for cross-promotion with brands targeting a similar audience. Through partnership marketing, joint campaigns or guest appearances can introduce your community to a relevant and already engaged user base.
7. Paid advertising – Invest in targeted social media advertising to reach specific demographics and interest groups. Craft compelling advertising copy and visuals that highlight the benefits of joining your community.

Encouraging Loyalty

Once you’ve built a strong community, you have to nurture it to sustain growth and impact. Here’s how you can encourage loyalty among your community members:

5. Exclusive perks and rewards – Make your active community members feel valued and appreciated by offering them exclusive access to discounts, early product releases, or limited-edition merchandise or services.
6. Recognition and gamification – Implement a tiered or reward points system for members based on their level of engagement. Celebrate milestones, achievements, and top contributors regularly.
7. Seek feedback and implement suggestions – Involve your community in shaping your brand. Seek their input on product development, feature enhancements, or campaign ideas. When members see their ideas implemented, it strengthens their bond with the community.
8. Cultivate a sense of belonging – Create spaces within your community where members can interact with each other. Facilitate connections and encourage collaboration, fostering a genuine sense of belonging and camaraderie.
9. Appoint brand advocates – For those in your community who go above and beyond, engaging frequently and in valuable ways, you can establish and reward brand advocates. These superusers are more likely to recommend your brand, can showcase your products or services to a wider audience and encourage loyalty among other community members. Reward brand advocates with free products or services, discounts and toolkits, and they’ll help promote your brand in an authentic way.

In the retail sector, Oner Active gymwear boasts a strong online community, reinforced with a range of rewards. Their Loyalty Club operates on a points-based system, rewarding purchasers with money off and exclusive discounts based on whether they follow them on all Oner Active social channels, the frequency of purchases and advocacy (refer a friend rewards).

Oner Active also employs Brand Advocates – they understand that their market responds better to ‘word-of-mouth recommendations’, and genuine reviews from trusted social media influencers drives engagement, loyalty and product sales.

Building your community

Establishing and growing an online community on social media requires a clear vision, strategic planning, and consistent effort. But by doing so, you can develop a vibrant community that advocates for your brand, builds meaningful connections, and drives long-term success.

Remember, community building is an ongoing process. Monitor, refine and evolve your community, and continue to listen to the needs of your members. With consistent effort, your online community will thrive and become an invaluable asset to your marketing strategy.

In conclusion

Building an engaging online community is not just a marketing tactic – it make business sense, to cultivate lasting relationships, drive brand loyalty, and create a sense of belonging among your audience. As seen with companies like Spotify and Oner Active, successful online communities thrive on active engagement, member recognition, and consistent value delivery. Keep your audience engaged, listen to their needs, and your brand community could become a key part of your overall business plan.

Need help building a thriving online community that resonates with your audience? Get in touch – we’d love to help. Alternatively, for the latest insights on brand engagement and digital strategies, take a look at our Articles page.