Refocusing on the Community Builder’s Compass: Strategies for 2022

In today’s tech-driven era, informed customers join branded online communities to find like-minded peers and network with them.

On the other hand, organizations leverage communities to source candid conversations and feedback. Thus, online communities have become key networking destinations for a brand’s members and its customers. A tactfully built community can streamline engagement, boost ROI, reduce business bottlenecks, and provide real value.

Community enthusiasts are quite familiar with the traditional strategies of building and growing their online community. It includes creating a dynamic community that acknowledges business requirements by engaging customers.

But what does 2022 hold for community builders and organizations?

Let’s dive into the 4 community-building tactics that will make your communities future-ready.

How Online Communities are Evolving?

As businesses are becoming more customer-centric, communities are also evolving. Every community comes in different shapes and forms to fit the needs of its business and customers. Today’s communities go beyond product support and act as a networking hub, knowledge center, entertainment spot, and more. Most brands are incorporating the following changes in their existing communities-

• Empowering communal support and engagement in communities by building centralized, topic-based sub-groups or threads to deliver intuitive and secure interactions. Every sub-group is dedicated to a certain shared purpose like sharing knowledge, product support, product ideation, etc.
• Encouraging members to post content or feedback in the community to make them feel they have a voice.
• Incentivizing participation in the community by incorporating gamification to reward members.

Refocusing on the Community Builder’s Compass: Strategies for 2022

Online communities are essential for brands to cement a strong relationship with their customers. They can do this by learning and sharing insightful information with them in the form of infographics, blog posts, video bytes, tutorials, and more.

Let’s take a look at 4 approaches that you as a community builder can follow to deliver a stellar CX.

1. Creating Customer-Centric Communities is Non-Negotiable for Brands

Customers no longer appreciate one-way conversations. They want more candid conversations with their preferred brands. And, online communities make that possible. Thus, building an online community that prioritizes customers by delivering conversations and content that is focused on members is essential for businesses. As a result, customer-centric communities are emerging in 2022 that enable two-way communication between a brand and its customers.

2. Taking CX a Notch Higher With Advanced Communities

Up until recently, the majority of online communities were focused on delivering support to customers. Now, customers demand more than just support. They expect a sense of connection or belongingness. That is why people started talking to each other, discussing their problems, and seeking advice in communities. Brands are also catching up to their customer’s expectations. They understand that transactional relationships can limit their expansion. In 2022, communities will transition from support delivery to spaces that encourage and foster user-generated content and meaningful connections.

3. Shifting Focus on Delivering Exceptional Content

Internet is doubling in size every two years[i] with large volumes of data available. And it is becoming increasingly challenging for brands to stand out from the crowd. That is why brands are now going the extra mile to deliver content that truly adds value to community members. They start with exploring the challenges their audience is facing and addressing them through their content. Try posting content in a variety of formats, such as-

• Brand stories
• Interviews of influential people like entrepreneurs, change-makers, staff, etc., for knowledge sharing
• Content addressing challenges of community members
• Content promoting successful milestones (through gamification)

4. Expanding Community Staff for Building Responsive Communities

Gone are the days when a community manager would single-handedly manage an entire community. With the expanding scope of communities, the need for community staff expansion is also increasing. Thus, communities are getting creative with community staff recruitment. Instead of hiring paid staff, organizations are recruiting highly-engaged members, aka ‘super users’ from their community. They are an asset to the community as they are highly reliable and know all ins and outs of the community. Not only are they trusted by the community members but influence other members to participate and contribute to the community. This way, the brands are cutting hiring costs and boosting brand advocacy significantly.

With the right community-building approaches in your corner, you can build dynamic online communities that increase user engagement and get a competitive edge.

Want to Build a Robust Community That Compliments Your Business Requirements? Talk to Us!

References
[i] https://www.entefy.com/blog/data-in-the-digital-universe-doubles-in-size-every-2-years/