What is a Customer Community? (+Examples) |

Relationships between customers that are only one way are a thing of the past in they were in. The most successful brands of these modern age don't just communicate with customers but instead engage with them and form meaningful connections. That's where customer communities come into the equation.

In this post in this piece, we'll discuss about the concept of a customer-centric community. We'll draw on latest research in academia to describe what makes a community for customers unique. We'll talk about the benefits of having a community to provide support for customers and show examples of communities that have been formed.

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What is a Community?

A Customer community is a private area that facilitates a connection between a company or brand and their customers. It can allow for inquiries and replies and information exchanges, as well as customer education or promotions, along with customer support and feedback. It can be created by a variety of methods such as the use of email and websites and social media sites, or a dedicated online forum.

Most important in this case is the word connected. Customer communities that work well are not just places for brands to throw advertisements. It's been said that people prefer doing business with those they "know they like and can are able to trust," which is exactly the way a community of customers works the best. It helps the trust of customers to grow.

Community of customers could be conceptually understood as digging into the concept of " Social Identity Theory :" when people become part of any community, which includes good customer groups, they experience the feeling of belonging. confidence in themselves, a sense of purpose and self-esteem.

These are stunning examples of the kind of communities that customers can join, be it free, enterprise communities or brand communities that are with a fee for achieving...

• An organization that is non-profit has enrolled 9,000 nationwide members.
  
• The faith-based community has expanded to 470 leaders across the 67 nations.
  
• An entrepreneurship org. was launched with 5,000 members. The company recouped its capital investment by launching a community application that was available to customers in just two half weeks.
  
• A health-focused launch of 100 premium members boosted the ARR by $40,000.
  
• A community in the area started a course that was 13 weeks long that brought in 100k in revenue over two months.
  
• A personal finance group produced $30,000 over the course of five days with their latest course.
  
• One socially-minded SAAS company merged a social-media application with regular meeting times and witnessed a 70 percent increase in engagement and contributions.
  

What a customer community is not

Understanding the theoretical foundation for building community helps us to understand why the best communities of clients are not on your email list or even your Facebook group. To reap the benefits of community below it is necessary to at a minimum have members who feel like they are part of the group.

Below are some the things that the term "community of customers" doesn't mean:

• An email list
  
• The amount of followers you have on social media that you have
  
• Your Facebook group
  
• The quantity of comments to your post
  
• Your customer service number
  
• The chatbot's users
  

We've discovered that the main ingredient of customer community is being a part in it, it's easy to understand the reason these aren't customer-centric community. Each of these interactions is between your organization, but they're unable to give feelings of belonging.

The closest thing we have this is an Facebook group but, within the group we can see lack of brand loyalty and a sense of belonging. Facebook isn't a viable option for Facebook to create the kind of dynamic relationship as well as member-led engagement that can create a real connected community that is based on brand.

Why you should build an online community for customers

The benefits of having a user-based community

Development led by members of Access

A new class of businesses with high impact based on the concept of community participation. Communities are in fact an extremely profitable business model which McKinsey recognized it as the perfect business model for the coming years that is a flywheel of communities.

There has been a surge of growth companies led by members, including customer communities. When they are paid for, they could create incredible recurring revenue opportunities. But the community also allows the development of its members on autopilot.

Community is described as "a business that's expanding its self-sufficiency," due to the mix of member-generated content, energy generated by members as well as AI tools for facilitating the management of your community makes it easier than ever to create the human connections that drive your business.

The secret is that big names like Logo, Apple, and Nike have all leveraged that is producing huge profit. (See the examples below. )

Don't think about funnels. There's nothing better than a consumer group to build a brand in a way that is automatic.

Improve Brand loyalty

A study in 2022 suggested that thriving brand communities are able to have an impact significant on the loyalty of customers to companies because they could become a key aspect of a person's identity. In reality, the connection between social identity and loyalty to brands can be created intentionally and plays into the perception of value and satisfaction among customers.

The process of transforming customers, subscribers, or followers into members isn't something to be done lightly. In contrast to relationship types that members have, they belong.

Being a part of the community instead of purchasing is the most important aspect of establishing a community flywheel.

Enhance CLV

We all know that customers' lifetime value (CLV) is fed by retention. However, only a handful of companies are able to achieve this. According to a survey, SurveySparrow discovered that the most successful businesses had an average of 94% retention ratio, despite the fact that their retention rate was only 4% in some industries.

Though brand loyalty can be valuable as a whole however it also can lead to a higher lifetime value. This should be a given as retention as well as connections by turning buyers into members can improve your CLV far more than other methods.

Makes selling a breeze.

One of the points which the research on flywheels within the community demonstrated was that selling could be significantly more simple in a social setting.

The typical sales funnel concentrates on pushing every prospect through the sales funnel, and losing more prospects until you discover the little percentage that purchases.

If you have a customer-centric community it's not possible to do this. Most people who are your "leads" have a warm and welcoming attitude and until they decide to leave your community, they'll stay in your community whether they're willing to purchase yet or otherwise.

This results in a very rich business environment, where there is no need to be reliant on fake deadlines or pressure. Instead, you can focus on nurturing relationships and providing value. It will be amazing to see your performance and results will be inspiring should you choose to promote your product. A lot of our communities inform them that they've customers who are interested in knowing the products they could purchase.

Then we come back to...

Get the most complete feedback

Customer feedback is vital. Yet HubSpot's team of researches observed that: 42% of firms never ask their clients for feedback or collect feedback!

What if there was an easier method to collect feedback than sending out surveys and expecting a response?

Enter: the customer community. In our conversation with the Oiselle Volee, a women's clothing brand, about their customer group, they informed us that they had something truly extraordinary. The Oiselle customers' group provided members with an area to connect with. It also provided an invaluable feedback loop to developing new products. You could receive instant feedback about their product concepts or new products. There were times when they had customers requesting items they never even thought of.

Put customer service on autopilot

We've cited Apple as an excellent customer-centric example in the following. Apple utilizes their community of customers to provide customer support as well as gamify the entire process so that the most dedicated Apple customers show up free of charge and offer help for free!

This is a clever approach to increase trust in the brand that lets users channel the feeling of belonging towards the business that consumers feel towards the brand. It is a great method of making customer service to life.

Instead of calling a 1-800 number, or waiting for chatbots, customers can have answers to their questions through the forums. That's powerful.

Let transformations take place

Customers purchase products or service because they need something. In most cases, what that they desire will bring about a change of some sort such as a tidy kitchen (i.e. oven cleaner), to lose 10lbs (ie. running equipment) and to create the perfect garden (i.e. a gardening publication) as well as to spend time at the park with your family (i.e. barbecue ).

The fact that someone buys a tent doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be camping. It is here that a fantastic user-generated community could be located. If you are able to go above the sale by helping your customers with their use of your product or service, you are likely to soon be surrounded by enthusiastic customers who will spread the word to other people about your business. Customers' communities aren't just to increase sales. It's about helping customers to succeed.

There's more! A lively community of users can offer valuable feedback on your products and services. It could also be a requirement that the payment of.

Due to these and many other factors, creating a customer community is an excellent idea. What are you waiting around doing nothing?

     Learn to use to establish a flourishing community for customers!

Harness real engagement

If the idea of engaging with your customers is to believe that the content you share via social media get 15 likes, then it's not the right method to take. Communities of customers can result in real engagement with customers, and create relations with clientsThen, remember that our goal is for the customer to be part of the community.

It's amazing when you can get off the rat race of content of social media and build real-time engagement that people enjoy.

8 amazing examples of community that are geared towards customers

1. Topstitch Makers

There are many amazing examples of customer service that is based on community available in this article . Take a look at Leigh Metcalf, who built an Mighty Network (AKA a "sewcial network") as a result of the expansion of her fabric and sewing business: Topstitch Studio and Lounge. Topstitch Makers, the company's Mighty Network, Topstitch Makers is a place to learn and provide weekly sewalongs that aid members to sew their way to successful outcomes.

2. Duolingo

Duolingo is an app that has made learning a language exciting and simple and much free (freemium)! In the background, Duolingo has a dedicated volunteer community that devotes itself to assisting users with their language requirements as well as improving the overall quality of the app.

Based on the idea that EVERYONE should have access to for language education, these zealous polyglots offer their time and energy to integrate different languages and programs onto the website!

3. Oiselle

Oiselle is a clothing brand for runners who want to be more than sell merchandise and help its customers connect and learn from other people. They've created the Mighty Network, Oiselle Volee which is built around the pleasure of exercise. In the beginning, it was only a chance to network to a fellow runner and then the disease grew to encompass what is offered by the Oiselle community does; now the 4000 members of Oiselle can be found in a community by engaging in chats in real time as well as live events online.

4. Lego

Lego is the multibillion-dollar brand loved by children for its remarkable building capabilities and by their parents as landmines that cause pain every time you step on the ground.

Just kidding!

In reality, Lego is loved around all over the world by children as well as adults, and a collection of devoted builders share ideas on the Lego customer community. The members can select which Lego models will be given the seal of approval to be authentic Lego kits!

5. Peloton

Peloton became famous in the middle of the crisis as we all tried to stay fit and healthy in our homes. Peloton established a flourishing user community for fitness. Participants can share scores, talk through video during their training sessions, and encourage one another through the Peloton Facebook group.

6. Adobe

Adobe products focus on making videos, photos along with music. They're the industry standard. However, ask any person who's used any Adobe software and they'll be capable of telling you that they're not easy to grasp.

The Adobe customer community offers an online forum where users can seek answers to questions, as well as tips for making the most out of the software. The company's slogan "Come for help and feel encouraged" is a good summary of their philosophy, which begins with helping people learn about their program and takes them on a journey to master their craft.

7. Apple

Apple has created a huge client base, which can also serve as a service for customers. Apple has even made it a game in order to allow contributors to earn higher points and access to a wider range of options to manage their community at the levels that they rise to. Users who make it to the upper levels also gain access to a private group.

Yes, you're thinking it gaming your customer support so that customers want to help each another with support is an amazing way of creating a way to make use of customer communities.

8. Shopify

If you're looking to be part of a an amazing customer-centric community in action then look no further than Shopify. Since Shopify permits their clients to create stores where they offer their products. Shopify community has a strong commitment to training and education in addition to answering your questions and even hosting live gatherings.

Ready to build your own customer base?

No matter if your customer-facing community is a no-cost, enterprise community, or paid-for subscription to generate additional revenue Build your community with Mighty!

Mighty incorporates content, classes, community, and commerce. Flexible Spaces permit you to create a customer community unlike anything elsewhere, by blending chat, discussions, chat, livestreaming and live events as well as courses (if you wish). It is possible to select the features you'd like to use (and remove the others). ).

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 a lot easier to build an active, customer-focused community with less than a few hours of time per week.

Furthermore, with Mighty Pro You get G2's most well-known community software, in the form of your own brand-named app. It's the only app you own on the App Store and Google Play Store. Furthermore, when building with Mighty Pro, you'll work alongside our group consisting of Account Managers as well as Social Media Strategists who have helped grow the size of seven-figure creator brands as well as eight-figure subscription companies.

Call us today to make an appointment and we'll discuss the possibilities of a partnership.

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