Branded communities are a great way to create a shared experience for customers. Instead of projecting customer needs and value-driven content onto them and maintaining the ‘us/them’ relationship, you are creating a ‘we” experience and dissolving all boundaries. You are opening the door to customers, welcoming feedback, and creating a space to interact with like-minded people.
Online branded communities offer many benefits, including unfiltered customer insights for market research and customer loyalty.
Online communities can reduce customer support costs by 49%. These businesses report savings of between 10% and 25% each year.
Increased brand visibility and credibility make it easier to sell without actually selling.
67% of businesses turn to their local communities to gain insight into new products, services, and features.
Increased engagement and better customer loyalty
This channel is used to promote products and services before the official launch.
Brands have the chance to listen to customers through interactive communities. The customer can then use the information to develop the next targeted marketing strategy or product. Online communities are just the evolution of an existing business website with blog content, landing pages, and eCommerce.
These are some inspiring examples of brand communities online that have grown to be vibrant, interactive spaces in the digital age.
Sephora Beauty Talk and Beauty Board
Sephora does an incredible job helping customers feel connected to their online community, beauty Talk. This is a large, well-organized forum that allows users to ask questions, share their ideas, and get their beauty problems solved by fellow enthusiasts. The Beauty Board is another way to interact with the community and products. Sephora customers can upload photos of themselves using Sephora products. These photos link to all products used.
Talk about selling without selling! Customers become brand ambassadors and inspire others to use the products. Sephora didn’t have to do anything, they just created a platform that allows customers to share their experiences. The forum enables the brand’s marketing team to discover which products customers are most interested in and their pain points. You can also get customer service help, which allows you to consolidate much of your customer relations work.
Lego Ideas
Nothing is more appealing to a Lego fan than seeing their design on shelves and receiving a portion of the sales. Lego Ideas allows anyone with a love for Lego to view and vote on the proposals, give feedback, and even submit their ideas. The most popular go-to-market.