There's no denying our consumption habits have changed over the past few years. We now have access to so much information like reviews, product information, and recommendations online. Standing out from the crowd can be tricky especially as we are becoming more adept at spotting marketing ploys. But, fostering a valued online community is a great way to attract and sell to potential customers.

What is an online community?

Communities are social units created around mutual interests, attitudes, and even goals. Through these connections and engagement, a community is born. Despite being so heavily connected online, in reality, a shared association is something we all crave in a relatively disconnected world. Online communities or connections allow businesses and customers to engage with one another, developing an understanding of each other's wants and needs. Nowadays, having a social media account isn't enough. You need to nurture an engaged community.

Benefits of an online community

One of the standout benefits of an online community is the price point. They're free! It doesn’t cost your business to find new connections and develop current ones.  

Strong online connections can drive sales and leads to your business. Having a collection of supportive relationships can bring new business to you without even pushing. Reach can be a massive issue for businesses starting out. Spending time developing your connections through supporting other businesses even your competition can present numerous opportunities in the future.  

Trust is one of the key hindrances in decision making. Customers seek a unique connection with your business and offering, this could be the deciding matter between you and your competitors.  Fostering trusted and authentic connections demonstrates to potential customers you care about your community. Meaning they will feel valued as one of your customers and their needs and wants will be tended to.  

How to build online connections

This one is tricky, because it takes time. You need to commit to engaging with your connections and delivering consistent messages through your business.  

The first step is identifying your niche. Being clear on your message and your standout point from other businesses should be the focus point. From this, you can select your platforms and your target audience, remember your messaging needs to be specific to these things.  

Consistency is key. Engaging with your followers when they leave comments or send DM's is a must, but you can go beyond this and ask for questions or reach out to your community. Replying to reviews is also super important, you are clarifying how much you appreciate your community and shows potential customers you care.  

We really want to reiterate that quality trumps quantity, so time and effort are your best friends here.

How to grow your connections

This point is similar to above but there is one valuable way you can check how your message and content is aligning with your current community. Use your statistics. Ultimately your future performance is based off your current situation. Analysing your statistics provides valuable information around your audiences demographic, who has seen the content, and who has liked, commented, or shared it. Understanding what people feel most connected to can help you promote the most engaging messages.  

Our best tip for growing your connections is reciprocity. You can't expect to grow valued relationships without helping set them up. One of our favourite quotes from our founder Kit is "Social media for businesses is not a one way street, you're not going to get far just blasting out content, without engaging and interacting." You need to support your followers, your competitors, and other businesses you would like to align with by engaging with their content. When you give someone something, they more than often give it back.  

Elements of a successful online community

Something we noticed in successful online communities is how the members gain something from the connection. Adding value to your community is key, this could be through simple connection, or a bit deeper via inspiration or education.  

Authenticity. Connection is really important to people nowadays. A human connection is always valued over automated messages, sharing your passion and emotions is super relatable. Too much information is getting lost in all the noise we are exposed to. An authentic message and face behind the business name will draw many more quality connections your way.  

Need ideas for being authentic on your social media pages? Book a free introductory catch up.

SideKit Your Business SideKick

We are super passionate about making quality connections online, and believe nurturing these through engaging and interacting is the key to online success. Because everyone wants to be acknowledged and feel like their wants and needs have been heard.  

We wish you luck in growing your community, it is so rewarding! Check out our social media pages for our latest updates and more business tips!  

Written by Georgia Gibbons, Marketing Assistant, SideKit Ltd