These days, people are conducting their own research, reading product reviews, and seeking out recommendations before making a decision, and online communities are beginning to play a role in this process. Now more than ever, people are looking for ways to build authentic community relationships. Use this to your entrepreneurial advantage by learning how to build online communities for your brand with advice from serial entrepreneur Carlos Alvarez.
2020 was a challenging year for communities around the world. Due to the devastating impact of Covid-19, numerous social and physical distancing measures took effect; events, conferences and meetings at all scales were canceled; businesses lost crucial opportunities to engage with their customers, and vice versa. On the bright side, the year-long strain on community relationships means that now is the perfect time to learn how to build online communities for your brand.
Carlos Alvarez, founder of Wizards of Amazon, sat down with us at “Lunch With Norm” and discussed how he strives to connect with communities in the Amazon space. Read on for Alvarez’s insights on how to begin and build successful communities in your area of expertise.
When asked to define “community,” our first response might reference the immediate figures around us: neighbors, coworkers, friends and family. These key people comprise community by sharing their knowledge and experiences, adding value to the group and creating space for others to bring their value to the network. This confluence of ideas, opinions and skills allows the community to build trust and resiliency.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the world’s communities, more and more people were building communal spaces online. It was predicted that by 2020, 45% of the global population would have access to smartphones. This means that every day, more people are gaining the tools to tap into the online world as community members.
And why not! The openness of the internet has made it possible for people to get together through their shared interests — regardless of geographic, political and socio-economic boundaries. Communities, in this context, are a testament of the internet’s relationship-building opportunities. For a brand or a business looking to create a successful and engaged community from scratch, try to look for a particular problem that your business solves, something that can entice both potential customers as well as keep your current customers happy.
As for where to start your digital/branded community, you are spoilt for choice — branded communities thrive in question-and-answer forums and on social media platforms. Community members can live all across the globe while connecting on their chosen groups.
Below are some available platforms that foster and promote such virtual communities:
There are even more niche, industry-specific websites for building communities and providing customer support.
Thinking introspectively, it’s pretty clear to see why participating in a community is vital for individuals. A community brings people together to share resources and skills, thereby creating a group of people that both withstand adversity and share in their success together. It enables positive, lasting relationships that satisfy our innate social needs. And what’s more, it builds trust among
“If you’re building this group, people are going to be liking you; they’re going to come back to your page, and they’re going to like your page. They’re going to start following your posts, and even without doing any promotion, you’re going to be the authority that people trust, and then they buy.” — Norman Farrar
Here are the specific ways in which your brand’s community holds so much potential for business growth.
Consider the perspective of your customers. Even the most loyal customers probably need to ask clarifying questions or look up information about your business from time to time. In these instances, an active community is an efficient way to:
Have you ever wondered how your customers might respond to an update, launch or change of any kind? Do you know the most common issues your users encounter with your product? Do you have a sense of who the real people behind the purchases are?
Investing in your online communities can put you in touch with the actual people in your audience of customers.
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Think about how likely you are to follow the recommendations of someone in your community versus someone with whom you share no interests or values. You’re probably much more inclined to listen to the advice of someone you know personally. In other words, community creates more community, and this tendency — to continually bring new people into the group — is essential for building brand awareness.
Vibrant communities operate on the following principles:
Your brand’s community members are connected to multiple other communities; they can, therefore, act as the vectors that bring new customers into your in-group. It’s up to you to make your brand’s online community vibrant, helpful and healthy to retain these new audience members.
Before this year’s pandemic, Meetup.com was a platform to organize exclusively in-person events. The site hosted hundreds of thousands of niche groups, which put on recurring events for over 35 million users.
Now, in response to social distancing measures, Meetup.com has transitioned to hosting online events. The platform still achieves its core goal of bringing people together around common interests and ideas virtually and safely. Since the platform debuted online events in March of 2020, it has held over 1 million events with people worldwide, including 2 million brand-new members.
The advantage of remote meetups is that people from around the world can join in.
Consider the following reasons to start an online meetup group in today’s climate:
Even if you don’t have anything to sell right now, building a free community will bring you benefits in the long run.
Check out Carlos’s own Meetup here: https://www.meetup.com/pro/wizards-of-amazon
ro/wizards-of-amazon
With those goals in mind, here are our tips for the business owner turned community manager on Meetup.com.
Starting a thriving, engaged meetup group is a little more challenging now that meetups must occur online. Where once you could hook attendees with the promise of a happy hour drink or an informative conference, now you must create a strategically targeted community through a relatively impersonal medium: the Internet. To do so, you’ll need to follow a specific, streamlined process.
Defining your community’s goals is difficult at the beginning because to get direct feedback from your community, you need to build one! For now, spend time researching the needs of your target audience. Build a model community member and ask yourself what questions they would want answered.
Next, define your value contributions. Even in your brand’s community, you probably can’t provide the answers to every single question that arises. The collective knowledge will always outweigh your own; this is one of the fundamentals of a healthy community, so don’t be discouraged. Instead, carefully define what you, as the head of your brand, bring to the table exactly. You have business insights and brand-specific knowledge to contribute, so consider how you can communicate that knowledge effectively.
Now, it’s time to begin your meetup group:
Meetup.com will review your submission and share your group with potential attendees.
You’ll then need to get in touch with the real people that will buy into your community. You need to let people know that you’ve started a meetup group and that you’re extending the offer to join it. Start with people you know in person: coworkers, friends and neighbors.
Next, send out an email newsletter to your top customers to assess their interest in joining your community. You could even try offering a promotion to the first customers that join. Don’t worry about getting a ton of members right now. Recall that, by nature, communities draw new people in with time so that they will accrue new users later on.
Even before you host your first online event, you should supplement your meetup group page with helpful content for users:
Providing this initial content will help keep your community engaged while encouraging members to connect.
In some ways, getting your community off the ground is the hardest part, but that doesn’t mean you can take your hands off the wheel once it’s up and running. Remember that you’re a member of your Meetup or Facebook groups, and thus you need to contribute value while creating space for other members to contribute, too.
Here are the dos and don’ts of maintaining a positive online community, regardless of which platform you’ve chosen.
Once you’ve initiated and grown your community, you can start planning your first online event. This is one of the most rewarding aspects of hosting your online community, so it’s crucial to ensure your event succeeds. Fortunately, pulling off a virtual meetup is simpler and more cost-effective compared to in-person events.
The process of planning, promoting and hosting your event will depend on which community platform you use, so you will need to become acquainted with the tech. That said, there are three general steps you should follow to host a successful online event:
Once you’ve decided on these three factors, all that’s left to do is promote your event. Start with word of mouth, email newsletters and social media notifications. Be sure to list your speakers, your topic and the event’s date and time. Post a few reminders on your community group leading up to the event.
On the day of the event, regardless of how involved you’ll be in its presentation, try to have fun. Events are perfect opportunities for you to step away from a pure customer support role and into one of genuine connection. Challenge yourself to make a friend from within your community. You never know what symbiotic relationship awaits you when you introduce yourself.
Despite the social setbacks of this year, business owners have many options for creating and sustaining communities. Whether through Meetup.com or an active forum page, brands can turn business events into personal connections and uncover brand ambassadors from within their audiences.
For more information about building an online community, check out the “Lunch With Norm” podcast. Every episode features an e-commerce expert who shares their experiences, lessons and ideas. The podcast airs live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Facebook and YouTube.
Norman Farrar Entrepreneur and businessman Norman “The Beard Guy” Farrar stands at the forefront of the economic mega-machine known as Amazon Marketplace. As a leading expert with over 25 years of product sourcing, development, and branding expertise, Norm is an advisor to many and an inspiration to all.
Norman Farrar Entrepreneur and businessman Norman “The Beard Guy” Farrar stands at the forefront of the economic mega-machine known as Amazon Marketplace. As a leading expert with over 25 years of product sourcing, development, and branding expertise, Norm is an advisor to many and an inspiration to all.
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