How can marketers leverage community in 2020

So far, many people have spent 2020 sat at home bored, anxious and sometimes alone. The obvious response to this is community. People are looking to connect and interact in new ways to support each other through this rollercoaster of a year.

When we talk about being human in marketing, community is at the heart of it.

But with the rise in digital and the word 'community' being thrown around a LOT, what does it really mean and what are the implications for marketers?

If you don't have time to read right now, why not listen instead...

What does community mean to you?

Communities are groups of people who come together with the intention of helping one another, lifting one another up, and being stronger than they would be alone. At it's best, community has the ability to be a truly touching, and very human experience. The best communities are those where everyone contributes.

If you'd have asked last year, many people would have thought about community in a physical sense. In-person events where you chat, network and share an experience with the people around you.

But now that's not possible. So can the digital world replicate physical community?

One of the main features that defines community is people coming together with a common purpose to share thoughts and ideas. When people identify within a group, they take on the feelings and values of that group to form part of their personality.

And this can still be very much achieved in a digital sense. In some ways, we've become more connected than ever. With everyone affected by the pandemic, people are acting more human, asking more questions and showing more support than ever before. It's taken a digital influx to reinvent the physical community and make us all recognise its importance.

What does community mean to brands and marketers?

With the word 'community' being used more and more in business we're often left questioning what that means.

When we think of community as a reflection of our values and personality, do people really resonate with corporates in this way? Or is it just used a buzz word?

Companies and marketers have the ability to leverage community through seeking to create communities of their own, but not necessarily looking to control the conversation in a 'state-sponsored' manner. A community only lives up to it's billing when it is pure in intention and facilitates cross-communication between folks who might be able to help each other. In this way, corporates replace a transactional relationship and instead become the heart of the conversation.

When done right, marketers can use community in a meaningful way. Providing a way for people to grow, develop and expand as well as empowering them to have a voice is an incredible thing to offer.

But as with anything, there are those that will exploit it. Whether it's using the word 'community' to get you to subscribe to an email list or using Facebook groups to plug their products & services, we need to be aware of how community can be used in the wrong way.

Has it lost its meaning?

There are a lot of things that have been overdone and overused these last few months. So has 'community' joined the list alongside Zoom quizzes and banana bread?

It seems to be the buzz word of the moment as people try to stay connected and be more human. But that means those things that aren't really communities have found a way to brand themselves as just that. From newsletter lists to sharing a co-working space, we've seen a whole range of components labelled as a community in the recent months.

The most important thing to recognise is that brands and people alike need to earn their community. You can't just come up with an idea and stick a community badge on it. As we've discussed, a community involves groups of people coming together to help and support each other. It involves valuable cross-communication, not just 1-to-1, and relies on peoples values and personality to drive it forward. Until you have all that, it's not a community.

Building a community for growth

If you've got this far, you must have a passion for community or looking to create your own. 

And you're in luck because there are ways to leverage community within your marketing and growth.

One way we've seen it work for us, here at Six & Flow, is to bring our target market together physically or digitally. By using events to allow clients and prospects to meet and share their thoughts, we can convey a sense of community and exclusivity. Both clients and prospects get value form networking in this way as it shows them the wider picture of who we work with, what we stand for and our human side.

Building strong relationships is important even if you don't end up working with them - if you give value, you'll get value back whether it be through event invitations or a recommendation later down the line.

Another way of using community to grow is by associating yourself with bigger brands that do it well. It gives you more credibility and instils the idea in your prospect that if they become part of your community, they'll also be part of the bigger brands community.

Who's getting it right?

Let's finish on some examples of those brands getting it right:

• Microsoft Community - Microsoft have set the standards high with their use of community. They've created an area that people are proud to be members of, provide the opportunity to learn and encourage cross-interaction. The benefit is that they've produced brand advocates that get the Microsoft message out there.

• Drift Insider - With loads of content, classes and opportunities to communicate, Drift have built a digital community to support them as they grow. They've also used events with high-engagement and networking as they grow into EMEA. Finally, their team members are easily accessible via Twitter, LinkedIn, events etc. to create the sense of an inclusive group.

• HubSpot Academy - The HubSpot Academy offers insightful, helpful teachings around important aspects of the platform and the inbound methodology. They've built a strong community by inviting partners, professors and business experts from across the world to share their thoughts and ideas with others and often ask partners and customers what new trainings they'd like to see. They've also developed community in other aspects of their company with the Inbound Conference being key to people feeling part of the HubSpot community.