Getting the most out of online communities
- 03 November, 2021 07:10
Digital technologies have delivered a host of ways for observing the behaviours of customers and listening in to their conversations. They have also introduced methods for marketers to engage with customers in their natural environment – if they dare.
Online communities take one of the earliest ideas from the Internet – bulletin boards – and wrap them in clever digital front ends, increasing their functionality and making them easier to use.
The largest platform for online communities is Facebook, with 2.89 billion users, well ahead of the professional-oriented community LinkedIn and its 740 million users. Following on from these are a host of communities specific to interests, regions or languages, many of which still count their users in the tens of millions.
Each community platform presents an opportunity for marketers to listen in to the public conversations relating to their brands, products and industries, including the chance to hear the thoughts of people who are not their customers. They also provide an opportunity for marketers to join in the community and offer their voice to the discussion.
But as some marketers have learned, leaning into a community conversation with an ill-thought-out message can quickly make them wish they never had.
Community minded
With more than 50 million active users, Reddit represents a highly engaged community of online users who participate in discussions on almost any topic imaginable across more than 100,000 communities. The vast majority of Reddit communities are run by users, although the platform also hosts brand-moderated communities such as r/FidelityInvestments and r/XboxInsiders.
“There is truly a community for everyone on Reddit – all interests, hobbies and passions,” Reddit global head of marketing sciences, Jack Koch, tells CMO. “What has made Reddit unique, and why it has become such a large part of people’s lives, is you can engage any way you really want to – text, video, audio, meme, whatever it might be.
“But what also makes Reddit really powerful is as simple as the upvote/downvote technology, which ensures the most relevant content is going to be surfaced. And based on your interests, it is going to be the most important content for you.”
In 2021, Reddit built out its presence in Australia to attract more brand engagement, offering both straightforward advertising opportunities through promoted posts and banners and advice on community engagement through its Karma Lab service.
While examples abound of brands fumbling their community engagement on all platforms abound, Koch says Reddit users want brands to participate in conversations, with 69 per cent of respondents to its Power of Community report saying they respect when brands make the effort to be on Reddit.
“On Reddit, what consumers are looking for are honest, authentic interactions,” Koch says. “We have seen brands really have success by taking on a human tone. It can be hard, but it is the human and authentic tone that really drives the trust and humanism for the brand.”
One successful example occurred with the Heineken craft beer brand, Lagunitas, which in August this year worked with Karma Lab to conduct an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session in the r/beer community. The company’s brewmaster talked to beer lovers about what it takes to brew an IPA and listened to their thoughts on product innovation.
Other brands that have successfully engaged on Reddit include Netflix, which provided suggestions for community members on programs they might like, and cryptocurrency trading platform, Coinbase, which provided information to Reddit users in the lead up to its IPO.
Koch cautions, however, that it is essential brands come to Reddit in the spirit of honesty and authenticity.
“We have seen a lot of brand loyalty come from being transparent and being honest,” Koch says. “We tell brands to understand the aspects of the community they are engaging with. Every community has little quirks.
“When brands are authentic, honest, transparent and human, and they engage with the community, this is something that benefits them. That increases everything from loyalty to share of voice, to conversations, and all that leads into people purchasing and reviewing the product.”
Up next: How brands such as Review and Spotlight are building community connection, plus how digital communities are driving brand responses and actions around social causes
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Engaging with the inner circle
The power of communities has become very clear to apparel retailer, PAS Group, and especially for its women’s clothing line, Review. The brand’s Dress Circle community represents the highest level of its loyalty program, with invitations extended only to Review Loyalty Members who spend $5000 or more in any rolling 12-month period.
According to PAS Group group general manager for digital, Anna Samkova, the Dress Circle group has taken on a life of its own outside of official events and communication from the brand, with many of its 1200 members creating a Facebook group where they communicate with each other multiple times a day.
“Then they set up their own events, not supported by Review in any shape or form,” Samkova says. “Sometimes they fly between states to meet each other. They go out to restaurants and high teas, and the only prerequisite is you have to be part of that Facebook group and you have to wear Review.
“They approach us and tell us when and where they are thinking of running events and ask if we would we like to be a part of it and give them gift bags. But Review does not finance any of the events.”
In recognition of this, PAS Group serves different content to the Facebook group, such as alerting them to upcoming collaborations in advance of the general public.
“It is not a big community, but they are special because they shop with us every second week and spend three times more, so we treat them differently,” Samkova says. “There is a promise to them, as very valuable customers, that this is what we are going to do. And then when they reach out to us, we are very supportive.”
The Dress Circle has also proven helpful for providing feedback to the brand, including when it updated its mobile app.
“To build a community you need to have an in-depth understanding of who they are, how they shop with you and how they engage with the brand,” Samkova advises. “These are the basics. But it is very difficult to get it right because you do have to have a team of people that focuses on it.
“You have to create that feedback loop, where you find a way to listen to customers, and respond, and accommodate.”
Read more: How the ABC used an online community to help build a movement
How online communities are helping services deliver for SANE Australia
National Autistic Society launches Interactive Member Forum
Communities for a cause
For fabric and sewing supplies retailer, Spotlight Retail Group, digital communities have provided a way to tap into a social group that has always been incredibly important to the company – makers.
“We have always known the maker community is very engaged, and you can see that through various digital channels where the makers will often want to show what they have done,” says Spotlight business development manager, Brendan How.
This spirit of engagement came to life in 2020 in the wake of Australia’s devastating bushfires through the creation of the Craft for a Cause group on Facebook, which encouraged sewers to make pouches and knit blankets for injured wildlife.
“The makers responded quite passionately about that and were very keen to do something for the community, but also have a channel where they can actually coordinate with and engage with others who had similar passions and interests,” How says. “We saw it as an opportunity to group those customers together and give them a channel where they can focus their efforts on particular causes.”
As the bushfire response gave way to the pandemic, the focus of the Craft for a Cause group quickly expanded to supporting frontline workers, with Spotlight engaging with not-for-profit, Rona Scrubs, to supply protective garments. Spotlight worked with Rona Scrubs to provide patterns and material to Craft for a Cause members and used its stores as drop-off points for finished garments. How says the size of the group quickly grew to 6000 at the beginning of the pandemic, with another 2000 joining as word spread among the maker community.
“We were able to provide the templates for facemasks and some guidelines in terms of making a safe and appropriate facemask,” How says.
Today, the group numbers 10,500 members, supplying items as diverse as fidget quilts for dementia sufferers and pet leads for animal charities.
Spotlight head of marketing, Padma Palani, says that while Spotlight is the moderator of the group, the company lets the members manage and support the community. Spotlight has made a clear distinction between this community and its mainstream Facebook community.
“The primary difference between this and our Facebook channel is we try our hardest not to use this as a promo channel, because this is not a sales platform,” Palani says. “This is not something where we go in and talk about having a sale. There is very little in the way up updates from us. It is definitely not a sales channel and we have been very clear about that.”
However, there are clear crossovers between the interests of the community members and Spotlight’s brand values and treating these shared interests with respect is what makes the model work.
“The two key words are respect and listening,” Palani says. “Because often in these big retail groups we can be perceived as telling or selling.
“We have been very clear from the start it has always been a community group. And that has helped us stay true to us as a brand as well. Customers are perceptive. They will know if you are trying to do something different. And the fact we have grown the numbers tells you it is an authentic conversation and an authentic community.”
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