Community-led marketing refers to the use of communities, often centered around a particular product or brand, to drive growth, insight gathering and impactful engagement. In the digital age, these communities can take many forms, including online forums, social media groups, and even in-person meetups. By fostering a sense of belonging and connection among users, these communities can serve as powerful marketing channels and help drive product growth.
One example of a successful product that has leveraged communities for growth is the video game “Fortnite.” The game has a large and active online community of players who regularly share tips, discuss strategies, and create content around the game. This community has helped drive engagement and retention among players, ultimately contributing to the game’s massive success. DiverseK, a service-led product in hiring and career development similarly operates a community group to foster members' growth, validate product demands and scale expansion operations.
Another example is the beauty brand Glossier. The company has built a loyal and passionate community of customers through its social media presence and customer-centric approach to marketing. By regularly engaging with its followers and soliciting feedback, Glossier has been able to build a sense of connection and community among its users, which has helped drive growth and brand loyalty. Similarly, Product Marketing Alliance has a fantastic community-led strategy actively fueled by the global slack channel, ambassadors, and meetups across the world.
If you’re looking to start a community for your product, here are five key steps to consider:
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Identify your target audience: The first step in building a community is to identify the group of people who are most likely to be interested in your product. This will help you understand their needs and interests, and tailor your community-building efforts accordingly. Twitter and Linkedin are great places to find the best group of people that are willing to become advocates at zero cost, provided the product solves a critical problem for them.
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Outline your community’s purpose: Next, you’ll want to clearly define the purpose of your community and highlight your vision and mission respectively. This could be to provide support and help for users, share news and updates about your product, or simply create a space for users to connect and engage with each other.
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Choose the right platform: There are many different platforms that you can use to build and manage your community, including social media groups, forums, and messaging apps such as Slack and Telegram. Choose the platform that best fits your target audience and community purpose. Some level of competitive intelligence might point in the right direction on some of the successful community platforms used by competitors in your industry.
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Encourage engagement and networking: Once you’ve established your community, it’s important to actively foster engagement and connection among its members. This could involve regularly posting content, hosting events (virtual/physical) or webinars, and encouraging members to share their own experiences and insights. #WeeklyWinnings or #MidWeekHacks are some examples to nudge members to share their winnings or hacks that helped them work better.
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Get volunteers for moderation: To ensure that your community remains positive and welcoming, it’s important to invest in moderation and support. This could involve hiring moderators or volunteers to keep an eye on activity and address any issues that arise or establishing clear guidelines and rules for community behavior. It will significantly contribute to the sanity of the group and make it a safe space for everyone.
Lastly, community-led marketing can be a powerful tool for driving product growth, engagement, and quality insight gathering. By fostering a sense of belonging and connection among users, you can create a loyal and passionate community that helps drive success for your product. By following the steps outlined above, you can start building your own community and take advantage of the many benefits it can offer.
In subsequent articles, I will share more about the customer advisory board as a catalyst for product-led growth.