How to Build a Brand Community : Best Strategies

Every brand, whether big or small, aspires to have clients go to bat for it. With social media, personalization and community have become key factors for making this customer relationship happen. Knowing how to build a community for your brand is essential when starting out.

If you’re familiar with major brands like Supreme or Nike, chances are you know them from their avid fanbase. This is because these brands have strong brand stories and active engagement that resonate with their communities. The resulting word of mouth pays dividends to their sales and conversion rates, showcasing the sheer power of a strong brand community.

But what even is a brand community? Are only big brands able to foster one? Does your brand even have what it takes to develop one? Let’s take a quick look.

1. What is a brand community?

A brand community is a setting where your customers (and potential leads) can get together and engage with your brand. It encapsulates everything from social media to real life gatherings to anything in between. 

The key thing to note about brand communities is that members are already invested in your brand. They buy your products or services and are interested in learning more. If you engage with them, they’ll often be very willing to share your content and spread awareness to other people as well.

2. The benefits of community

Do you want…

1. Free word-of-mouth marketing?
2. Viral posts every few months?
3. Constant engagement with influencers and social media posts?
4. Nearly twice the percentage of average online conversion rates?

According to the renowned consulting firm McKinsey, brand communities provide all of this and so much more. Great community engagement and platform efforts lead to over 75% of all content and discussion of a brand coming directly from their customers. 

Knowing how 92% of people generally believe word-of-mouth marketing over other forms of branding and sales, having an active brand community is massive for most businesses. But does your business have what it takes to build a brand community?

3. What do I need to build a brand community?

Generally, all brands can develop a community over time. However, it’s important to have two things in mind before you start:

1. Your brand story: People love stories. It’s one of the many things all humans share across the globe.
   When starting your brand, think about the values you try to live up to through your products and services. Think of things like your brand history, your initial struggles, the problems you’re trying to solve, and the people your brand cares for. All of these things build up your brand’s identity for customers to connect to.
   (Check out our guide to starting a clothing brand for more details!)
2. Your main audience: Who are the people most invested in your brand? What are they interested in? How does your brand help solve their problems or fulfill their desires? Having a good idea of your ‘ideal customer’ lets you imagine how to reach out to them more clearly.

Once you have a good idea of these branding essentials, you can decide what the best approach to building your community may be. Let’s go over some of the best strategies on how to build a community for your brand–

1. How to build a community for your brand
   1. Regularly post on social media

Which social media platform you post on depends on your audience, but generally, you’ll need to stay on top of the algorithm and keep yourself on people’s timelines. The amount of posts varies for each platform–for example:

• Instagram: Post around 3-5 times per week.
• TikTok: 1-4 times a day is ideal, but you can also work with just 3-4 times a week.
• Youtube: At least 2-3 videos a month.

And so on and so forth. However, keep in mind that content is king. It’s better to have one or two genuinely engaging content posts a week than a slew of lackluster posts that draw no interest. Consider questions or problems your audience may face in their day-to-day life, and create content based on how to solve those issues. 

2. Engage with customers online

Social media is a magical thing that lets you speak with customers directly through a few short but helpful comments or DMs. While you’re posting, be sure to reply to community member’s responses to further push discussions and open conversations. Attaching direct calls to action in your posts (i.e. “What do you all think? Let us know in the comments!”) also helps a ton with engagement.

Trends, polls, and hashtags are also great ways to engage with a customer base. Post content related to the newest trends in your niche to invite others outside of your circle into your community. Within your own community, posting polls allows people to express their own thoughts and gives you an idea of what they’re looking for in their lives.

3. Host events offline

While social media is a game-changer for community building, it’s far from the only thing you should be doing. If your brand is selling physical products like apparel, it’s essential to join offline exhibitions or host your own pop-ups to showcase your wares. 

Especially for things like apparel, customers often need to touch products to really connect with it. The experience of wandering into a pop-up showcase and chatting with salespeople also builds a camaraderie between community members and the brand itself.

4. Offer benefits to loyal customers

One final thing to seal the deal with community members is by rewarding them for their loyalty. Brands are reliant on the support of their customers, and offering discounts, sneak peeks and other benefits are just a few ways to thank customers for their efforts.

On a similar note, you can also– 

5. Make sentimental brand merchandise

Branded merchandise is one of the easiest ways for customers to display their appreciation for your brand. It also serves as a nice gift and a sentimental reminder of how far your brand has come along with your community.

Don’t know what to make? A shirt, a hoodie, a cap, there are all sorts of great options for branded merch. Check out the Shirtual catalogue for high-quality merchandise templates. Our international team provides all-in-one solutions to all your production, manufacturing and distribution needs–feel free to contact us for more!