What exactly is a customer community? (+Examples) |

Customer relationships that are one-way are a thing of the past in they were in. The most popular brands today aren't content to talk about their clients. They interact with them and form lasting relationships. That's the customer community comes into the picture.

In this article, we'll explore the concept of customer community using the latest research in academia to explain what makes communities for customers distinctive. We'll share the benefits of a support group for customers and provide instances of relationships between communities.

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What exactly is a community?

A community for customers is an area that facilitates a connection between brands or businesses and its clients. It may allow questions and answers, exchange, customer education and promotion opportunities, or even feedback and support for products. It is constructed through various techniques, like via websites, email as well as social media, or even online communities.

Most important in this context is connected. Customer communities that are successful don't provide a platform for companies to display ads. The old saying is that people want to do business with those they "know are like and have confidence in" which is exactly what communities of customers do best. It provides the opportunity for this trust to grow.

Community-based customer interactions can be theoretically understood by examining what's known as " Social Identity Theory :" when people are a part of any group of people-which includes great customer communities-they are able to feel the of belonging, worth, identity and meaning.

These are amazing examples of what communities-whether free, enterprise-based customer communities and brand community that you pay for accomplish...

• An organization that is non-profit has joined over 9,000 national members.
  
• The community of faith has grown to 470 leaders spread across the globe in 67 countries.
  
• An entrepreneurship org. was launched for 5,000 people and has recouped its capital investment through an app that connects users in just two and a half weeks.
  
• Health-focused launches of 100 high-ticket members increased the ARR by the amount of $40,000.
  
• One locality began the course over 13 weeks. They added another the amount of $100k within two months.
  
• A financial institution that was used for personal purposes produced a total of $130K over the course of five days. their most recent course.
  
• One socially-minded SAAS company incorporated a community-based application for customers and regular gatherings and experienced a 70 percent increase in participation and engagement.
  

What is a Customer Community? Does NOT

Knowing the theory behind community-building helps us understand how great communities of customers do not belong to your email lists or in Facebook groups. For you to reap the benefits that community brings it is essential to have at the very least members that feel like they are part of the community.

To illustrate this, here are a few points that a group of customers does not include:

• An email list
  
• The number of people who follow you on social media that you have
  
• The members of your Facebook group
  
• The amount of likes for your most recent post
  
• Callers from your customer service number
  
• Your chatbot users
  

In the same way that we have established that a base of community-based customer relations is belonging, it's easy to comprehend why these types of interactions don't count as a "customer community. Each of these are interactions with your company However, they do not have an identification.

The closest thing we could get to this could be the idea of a group on Facebook , but there is the absence of brand recognition and sense of community. It's difficult to utilize Facebook to build the kind of relationships that are dynamic and user-driven involvement that creates a true fans.

Why you should build an online community for customers

The benefits of an online community for customers

Access member-led growth

This new generation of business with high impact built on the concept of communities that are based on membership. Community is such a powerful business that McKinsey identified it as the most effective business model of the future: a community flywheel.

We've observed the expansion of businesses that are led by customers and members of the communities. If paid, they can create incredible recurring revenue opportunities. The community, however, puts its development into the hands an autopilot.

It's also referred to as"community," which is "a company that is growing itself," due to the mix of member-created content, the enthusiasm created by the members, and AI-powered software that simplifies managing community allows it to be simpler than it's ever been to create the human connections that fuel your business.

The trick is that huge firms such as Logo, Apple, and Nike utilize all three of these tactics, which result in massive profits. (See the below examples. )

Do not think of funnels. There is nothing more effective than having a community of customers to build a brand on autopilot.

Increase the brand's loyalties

A study in 2022 suggested that strong communities of brands can make significant influence on the loyalty of customers to the brand because it can become an integral aspect of one's personal self-identity. The strong connection between the identity of a person's social network and loyalty to brands is a deliberate procedure that is influenced by perceived value and brand satisfaction.

Making customers, clients, or even followers members isn't something to be done at face value. Unlike all of those relationship types, members belong.

Spending less and being part of a community is a crucial aspect of establishing a flywheel for community.

Increase CLV

The customer's lifetime value (CLV) is determined by retention. But only a handful of brands achieve the goal. In a recent survey, SurveySparrow discovered that the most successful companies had around a 94% retention ratio, despite the fact that retention rates were lower than 4 per cent in some sectors.

Brand loyalty is valuable thing in its own right but it also leads directly to an increase in life-time value. This should be a given as retention and the ability to connect again through the conversion of buyers into members will increase the value of your brand in a manner that's unlike any other.

Makes selling simple.

One thing this study of flywheels in the community revealed was that the act of selling is radically simpler in social settings.

The traditional sales funnel is focused on bringing all of your possible leads through the sales funnel, while you are losing even more, until you get to the tiny amount that is needed to buy.

If you're a client-focused community, you don't need to create these changes. The majority of members who are "leads" remain friendly, and until they leave the community, they'll stay within your community whatever their readiness at this moment or not.

The result is an unbelievably wealthy sales environment in which you do not need to be reliant on deadlines or pressure. Be patient and give importance to your community and witness the astonishing results you get when you try to sell some thing. Certain communities have informed us that they even have members looking for things to buy.

Then we come back to...

Find the top feedback

The feedback of customers is essential. But, HubSpot's research team discovered an average of 42% of companies aren't conducting surveys with their customers or gather feedback!

There was a more effective method for collecting feedback than sending out surveys expecting an answer?

Join the customer community. We talked to Oiselle Volee which is a woman's clothing brand about their client base, they told us something amazing. The Oiselle customer base was providing members with an area to interact with. It also provided an essential feedback loop for the development of new products. It was possible to get instant feedback regarding product concepts as well as new products. they even had customers requesting products that they hadn't ever considered.

Automate customer service

We've pointed out Apple as a great customer-based community in the following article. Apple makes use of their community of customers to support clients and also gamify their entire process to ensure that customers who are most committed Apple users join for free cost and provide answers at no cost!

This is a clever method for building trust in a brand, which helps them tap into the sense of belonging which customers are feeling for the brand to effectively bring customer service alive.

Instead of dialing a 1-800 number or waiting for a chatbot to call users have the option of getting their questions answered by the online community. That's powerful.

Transforms may occur

Customers purchase products or service due to the desire for some thing. Most often, it can be described as a transformation of some kind, whether the goal is to have a cleaner kitchen (i.e. oven cleaner) for example, or dropping 10lbs (ie. operating equipment) or to build an ideal garden (i.e. the gardening magazines) and to enjoy weekends in the garden together with family (i.e. a BBQ ).

If someone is buying an outdoor tent, it doesn't mean that they are able to get it working. That's where a strong customer base comes into. If you're able to go further than the sale, and assist the customers to succeed using your product or service offer, you will have customers who are raving about your company. about your company. Customer base isn't simply focused on increasing sales. It's about helping customers achieve their goals.

There's more! The active and engaged community of your customers will offer invaluable feedback about your offerings and services. This is feedback would otherwise require a fee to receive.

Based on this, and many other factors creating a community for customers makes a ton of sense. What are you wasting time to do?

     Find out how to build a vibrant customer-focused community here at this site!

Harness real engagement

If your concept of customer engagement is hoping your posts on social media receive 15 people liking them, then you're playing the wrong game. A customer community can create genuine engagement with customers and build connections with your customers. Remember that the purpose is to encourage the customer to become a part of the community.

It's incredible when you are in a position to get off the endless stream of posts on social media and build genuine participation, which users are awestruck by.

8 incredible examples of customer-centric communities

1. Topstitch Makers

There are several amazing instances of customer-centric communities from here on . Check out Leigh Metcalf, who built the Mighty Network (AKA a "sewcial network") to serve as part of her fabric as well as sewing company: Topstitch Studio and Lounge. Her Mighty Network, Topstitch Makers provides classes and weekly sewalongs that help members to sew their way to the success they desire.

2. Duolingo

Duolingo is a program that has made learning a language enjoyable, simple, and pretty much free (freemium)! Behind the scenes, Duolingo boasts a committed volunteers who dedicate themselves to assisting users with their needs in the language in addition to improving the experience.

The platform is based on the notion that EVERYONE should have access to different languages, the zealous polyglots offer their time and energy to integrate diverse languages as well as new modules to the platform!

3. Oiselle

Oiselle is a running apparel company who wanted to go beyond provide products, but also to assist customers to connect with other people. They've created an Mighty Network, Oiselle Volee is a community built on love for exercise. Initially, it was the site where you can find runners, however it was expanded due to the spread of the disease, and now encompasses everything is offered by the Oiselle community does; now its 4000 members can find a place to belong by engaging in real-time conversations as well as thriving virtual gatherings.

4. Lego

Lego is a multibillion-dollar company which is beloved by kids for its incredible building capabilities and referred to by their parents as miniscule mines which can cause harm as soon as you get on them.

Just kidding!

In fact, Lego is loved around all over the world by children as well as adults, and a plethora of committed builders are sharing their ideas with the Lego community of users. Users can also choose which builds of fans deserve stamping of the stamp of approval before they can become authentic Lego kits!

5. Peloton

Peloton gained prominence in the midst of the epidemic when we were doing our exercise within our home. They created a powerful users' community of fitness. Participants can share scores, talk by video in between workouts and also encourage one another in Peloton's Facebook group. Peloton Group on Facebook.

6. Adobe

Adobe products are focused on making: photos, videos music photographs, music, and more. These are the most widely used products in the market. If you ask anybody who's utilized one of the Adobe products and they'll tell you that this isn't simple to master.

The Adobe Customer Community allows users to post questions and answer and also share tips for making more of the software. Their slogan "Come for assistance, and be inspired," basically sums up the way they work. It starts by helping customers to discover their software as well as taking them on a quest to becoming experts in their area.

7. Apple

Apple has built a thriving customer base that also can also serve as a customer service platform. Apple has also introduced a gamification customer experience, ensuring that customers gain more points, and also have access to more options for community management in the higher levels they climb. When users reach highest levels also have access to a private group.

If you're thinking about it, the possibility of gaming your customers experience in a way that users would like to help the other with help can be a great use for the customer-centric community.

8. Shopify

If you're interested in experiencing a fantastic customer-centric community that is alive and active, then consider Shopify. Because Shopify helps their customers build shops that market their products Shopify's Shopify community is committed to providing education and training through answering commonly asked questions, as well as even organizing Live events.

Are you prepared to build your own customer community?

It doesn't matter if your group is an non-profit or community-based one, or even a paid membership to bring in an extra income, join us in building your community with Mighty!

Mighty connects courses and other content along with community as well as commerce. Flexible Spaces let you create a community of customers unlike any elsewhere, by blending conversations chat and messaging, livestreaming or live events as well as classes (if you want to). Pick the features you'd prefer to make use of (and keep the others to be inactive). ).

Mighty gives you a suite of member-management tools to make it easy to run the community, and our AI community-engine-Mighty Co-Host(tm)-automates things like member profiles, landing pages, course outlines, and even discussion questions. It's radically easier to create a thriving customer community with less than a few hours working a week.

In addition, with Mighty Pro it comes with G2's best-rated community software. It's an app that you own as well as a brand. It's your application on the App Store and Google Play Store. Google Play Store. In addition, if you create Mighty Pro, you'll be working with Mighty Pro, you'll work together with our team of Account Managers as well as Community Strategists who have scaled 7-figure brand names for creators as well as companies that offer subscriptions with eight figures.

We're available to talk with you today, and we'll tell you the possibilities of building in partnership.

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