Building Brand Community On Your Website

Brand community is important to any small business. It’s even more important to an emerging online store. Sure, you can build a community around your brand using Facebook. But what happens when it goes down? Not only that, but also who owns your customers? Who owns the conversations? Facebook does. And they’ll use the data to help your competitors.

Your Online Store – Your Community

You have an online store with amazing products. What’s more is your store is on your own website. It’s tempting to have an online brand community on Facebook. However, you won’t own the conversation because you don’t own the platform. That’s why you should host your brand community on your own site.

Give Customers Direct Access

With your own community, you give your customers direct access to you. Own the conversations your brand’s fans have with one another. As they help one another and give each other feedback, you will see who the top influencers are.

Let your customers tell you what they think about your products and generally their shopping experience. It is these interactions that help you improve the quality of your products. But, most importantly, your honest answers will draw more people to your brand.

PrestaShop

Grow Your Own Influencers

Instead of going after “top influencers,” create your own. As your brand grows, so will your fanbase. Collaborate with them in your marketing and in your awareness efforts.

Every brand has super fans who are vocal and love to share about their experiences. Reward your super fans and you will have their loyalty. How would this be done? One thought is to show they are a VIP with a custom badge. Your brand community’s top fans and influencers could be given moderation rights. There’s so much more you can do.

Customer service, answering questions from shoppers, providing help with instructions or assembly and other such efforts are important for keeping visitors to a store happy and encouraging them to buy again in the future.

Big Commerce

Keep Users In Your Online Store

Department stores kept customers in their stores longer with events and cafeterias. With online hospitality, keeping people in your digital store is also important. Your store is online. Your customers should be there, too. This is why having brand community is vital to ongoing sales.

Brand Community Your Way

You have all the tools you need to start your thriving brand community right here with PeepSo. Create your community your way. Share VIP access, help your own support efforts, reward loyal fans, and more. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t start today.

Brought to you by Bridget Willard

Marketing Consultant & Strategic Partner. Keynote Speaker. Author. CEO. I’d love to train your team how to effectively use social media.