Community Marketing: Definition, Benefits, and Types – infomediaku.net
Did you know that there are now many marketing strategies that you can apply to increase sales? Although not as popular as content marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing, community marketing has proven to be effective for businesses.
Therefore, in this article, we will explain community marketing
What Is Community Marketing?
Community marketing is a marketing strategy in which a business actively interacts with its consumer community.
This interaction can be done both online and offline. Like in a Facebook group, a community in a city, events, seminars, or online forums.
The main focus of community marketing is building and maintaining good relationships with all of your customers.
So, you must always listen and respond to what consumers want and need. Healthy two-way communication with your customers is key.
Through this CM strategy, you are actually also running promotions to increase sales, get new customers, or add leads. Just like any other marketing strategy.
It’s just that, compared to other strategies, community marketing is done more smoothly and runs in the long run.
3+ Benefits of Community Marketing
Here are five benefits you can get if you implement community marketing:
1. Increasing Customer Loyalty and Trust
In this day and age, consumers don’t just want to use the product or service you offer. But they also want to be heard and interact with you. Whether it’s just a complaint, giving suggestions, or having a discussion.
With CM, you listen and communicate openly to consumers. You listen to their complaints, receive suggestions, provide information, and are actively discussing.
In other words, you treat them like humans, not just a metric in Excel or a mere sales target. As a result, the level of loyalty and trust of consumers in you will increase dramatically.
2. Expanding Your Business Brand Awareness
Have you ever heard or seen people talking about a brand that you didn’t know before? Whether in the real world or on the internet?
Surely, you are curious and search for the brand name on Google, right? Especially, if the person is speaking with gusto and throwing compliments here and there.
That is one of the advantages of it. Where 77% of businesses trust the community can increase your brand awareness.
So, with a community, lots of people will talk about your business. As a result, more and more people know your brand and are likely to become consumers.
3. Get to Know the Consumer Closely
Community marketing allows you to interact with consumers directly. This means that you will get to know them better.
The proof, 86% of businesses say that online communities help them to find out more details about consumer needs, you know. So, you can find out what they like or dislike, and get feedback regarding your various business policies.
You will get a lot of valuable information from consumers firsthand and in-depth. Well, you can use this information for many things.
Starting from improving various aspects of the business, planning the next marketing strategy, to creating product innovations according to what your customers need.
4. Building Long-Term Relationships with Consumers
Customer retention or repeat customers is a dream for all businesses. How come? They will always be loyal to buy your latest product and recommend it to the people closest to them.
Plus, you can save on budget as well, as attracting new customers is five to 25 times more costly.
You can easily get repeat customers, you know! Because you are not only focused on getting new customers. But also pay attention to your old customers.
You always communicate with them, respond to questions and complaints, provide the latest info, and so on. So, old consumers really felt valued and ignored for granted. As a result, they will no doubt spend more money on you.
Types and Examples of Community Marketing
There are two types of community marketing, namely:
1. Organic Community Marketing
It’s mean that consumers create themselves without your help. Like Facebook fan groups, discussions in certain online forums, to informal communities in a city.
For example, you can see the PlayStation 4 community on Kaskus. This community was formed by a member of Kaskus who also owns the PlayStation 4. In other words, he is an ordinary consumer and not an employee of Sony.
Consumers will automatically interact with one another without needing your presence or approval. Starting from doing questions and answers, discussing, giving suggestions, to making assumptions and backbiting.
There is nothing wrong with that. However, if not monitored, this type of CM can have a negative effect on your brand. Why is that?
Because, if consumers don’t like a product or your policy, they can really damage your brand reputation.
They can freely demonize you, influence others to join in on your badmouth, make baseless assumptions, and other negative things.
Therefore, it is important for you to always monitor and actively interact in this type of community. That way, you can limit or even prevent excessive consumer behavior.
2. Sponsored Community Marketing
Meanwhile, sponsored community marketing is a community that you create for consumers.
So, consumers can not only interact with each other but also with you. Like a business social media account, an official community in a city, or an event you organize.
Sponsored community marketing is the type most frequently employed by businesses. No wonder, because you can monitor and interact with each other since the community was formed. So, the possibility of negative things or misunderstanding from consumers is very small.
After knowing about community marketing, you can try implementing other marketing strategies so that the business gets the maximum profit.
Ready to Implement Community Marketing for Your Business?
In fact, using the community for marketing is a great strategy with a myriad of benefits. Not only creating loyal consumers, but you can also increase brand awareness. Win-win solution!
Therefore, immediately implement it in your business now! Good luck and see you in the next article!