Are you looking to create a social community that engages and interacts with your brand? Look no further. We’re here to help with 7 tips for doing just that! Let’s get started.
1. Set Reasonable Expectations
The first thing you should do before building your social community is set reasonable expectations. This means understanding that something like this takes time and there is no magic bullet to shoot you from 0 to 10,000 friends overnight. While some companies have an easier time growing their community, others may find it to be a more arduous process. Be patient and don’t waste time comparing your progress to that of Fortunate 500 companies.
2. Identify Your Community
What makes your community unique? Why would they want to engage with you online? Understanding the identity of your social community is an important first step to truly reaching them. Things to consider include:
- Age
- Gender
- Geographic Location
- Interests and Behaviors
3. Tell Them Why They Should Join
More than likely, users won’t just join your community out of the goodness of their hearts. They need to be encouraged, and even rewarded for joining your community. Tell them from the get-go what it is you will offer. Let users know how they will benefit from engaging with your social accounts.
4. Provide Value-Added Content
In addition to telling users why they should join your community, you need to show them why joining was worth it. Often times the simplest way to do so is by offering valuable content. In Leonard Klie’s 15 Essential Tips for an Active Social Community, Omer Minkara from Aberdeen Group explains that “the first rule of thumb is making sure that the content in the community meets the needs of customers”. While it may seem obvious, you would be surprised by how many companies miss the boat on this.
5. Encourage Engagement
You can’t have an engaged social community without engagement. Engagement can be encouraged in a number of ways including conversation starters, calls to action, contests and gamification.
6. Identify Your Key Influencers
Your key influencers are those members of your community who go above and beyond to interact with your brand, spread your marketing message, and increase your brand awareness. The great thing about these key influencers is that they are organic and free. These are users who are such big fans of your brand that they took the initiative to promote it. It is important to identify and utilize these key influencers in your marketing strategy.
7. Don’t Lose Sight of SEO
While you are busy creating great content, gamification apps and interesting conversations, it is important not to overlook search engine optimization (SEO). Including your keywords in content, placing links to your website, and promoting other calls to action will help you ensure that your social sites turn up in search results.
Are you ready to create your engaged social community? Informatics can help! Contact us today for assistance in setting up and managing your social community.
