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How do you build a community of loyal customers? This is a query that probably haunts entrepreneurs and marketing managers. Here’s the truth: it’s easier than you think.
I grew my sports card YouTube channel to over 11,500 subscribers from my dorm room. I’d go live on YouTube every morning for over 3,000 card collectors while I waited for Target to release more sports cards on their site. We would chat, open packs of cards, play games, and do a lot of other things as the clock struck 9 a.m. when the recent sports card boxes were released.
It was a shared experience. Card collectors even donated to me for entertaining everyone. Sometimes I could make $100-$200 per live stream just from donations from my audience – easy suggestions.
It was then that I first realized how powerful a community of loyal fans will be. If you may create a community of shoppers who are fans of your brand, your corporation can take off. The lessons and experiences of this YouTube community led me to create my very own enterprise, Build your marketingto help businesses build and grow strong communities of loyal customers.
We’ve had great success with three different channels. Here’s how you should utilize social media, email newsletters, and print campaigns to increase customer retention, loyalty, and promote word-of-mouth marketing.
Social media
Personal LinkedIn
Your personal LinkedIn page is one of the best social media tools you should utilize to grow your customer base, especially if you are a B2B founder.
One of my favorite moments was when I used to be on a sales call with a recent client to help them with their content marketing and the founder mentioned how impressed she was with my LinkedIn content and the way it built her trust in us to lead her company’s content strategy. Just the easy act of making LinkedIn content on my page built someone’s trust so I didn’t have to sell anything.
Posting content on your personal LinkedIn page has many advantages beyond sales, including:
- Builds trust in your network
- Strengthens the credibility of your industry
- Invitations to special events, dinners, community meetings, etc.
- Establishes and maintains relationships with your skilled circle
- Increases brand awareness
Sure, it makes sense for me to post on LinkedIn since I specialize in content marketing, but every entrepreneur and business founder can profit from it and build their very own communities.
Anastacia Efimenkomy classmate and client is the founding father of a sustainable home care line, Elcove, that supports hotels’ sustainability efforts. She launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in the spring and was able to raise some of the funds directly from her LinkedIn network (including people she didn’t know) because they’d been following her journey building the company and wanted to support it.
We published stories from her early days as an entrepreneur, milestones she achieved comparable to press articles and competition wins, and a few posts expressing her opinion on the problem she was solving, which not only increased her credibility but also helped her build relationships with people.
They bought her products simply because she consistently shared her story and inspired and motivated individuals who wanted to support her mission.
Facebook groups
On the other hand, if you’re a B2C brand, personal branding on LinkedIn may not assist you to as much, but local Facebook groups can boost your revenue in minutes. Many cities have Facebook groups made up of locals to talk about city events, news, and more. Existing online communities are great places to share your story.
An example can be creating a post thanking the community for their support and helping you grow your corporation, but indirectly promoting your services.
We work with a junk removal company in Virginia and wrote about the official one-year anniversary of the company being founded by these two college founders. We shared the post in over 30 local Facebook groups from the founder’s personal Facebook page and generated 1000’s of likes, comments, and shares.
One post, in a group of 1,124 members, received over 714 responses. Crucially, this translated directly into junk removal jobs for the guys. They booked themselves a full three weeks after the posts appeared in local groups, after struggling to book full days of labor in a crowded market.
The better part is that there is no promoting. We don’t ask people to hire us or refer their neighbors—we just post thanks notes and people book them because they need to. Posting compelling and helpful content about your corporation in Facebook groups works well because you’re not promoting—or even asking people for referrals. You’re participating in the community (like a easy thanks) and building a relationship.
Email Newsletters
Business Newsletter
Newsletters will be a smart way to keep your corporation contacts informed about what’s happening in your organization, in addition to to engage people in your corporation development.
You can share milestones and previews, ask for feedback/advice, or simply let people know that you just’re updating your marketing strategy. This makes individuals who receive your newsletter feel like they have a stake in your corporation, and many people want to assist you to grow your corporation.
We’ve seen positive results with newsletters with a number of content, including:
- A Warm Retailer Introduction for a B2C Brand
- Investor meetings booked from potential investors of a local technology company
- Customer feedback on recent packaging options
- Referrals from existing clients
Newsletters can increase transparency and personal connections to your corporation, and are often an effective way to leverage the network effect.
Public Relations
Press campaigns
What’s higher than the media writing about you and your organization’s story? It immediately boosts your credibility, puts you in front of recent potential customers, and helps with your website’s SEO (search engine optimization).
For example, we launched a press campaign for Maxie’s Delicatessen in Stoughton, Massachusetts (which closed because the owner wanted to retire), which brought 1000’s of recent customers to the restaurant. Steve Robbins and Joyce Ann Silva ran Maxie’s Deli for greater than 30 years, keeping old Jewish traditions alive with their recipes. We shared the story with several local reporters, and Maxie’s Deli was soon in Boston Globe. This was followed by articles in 20 other media outlets, including local and even national news outlets.
As soon as the articles were published, business exploded, attracting 1000’s of shoppers and increasing sales inside days. Many first-time customers returned for a second, third, and even fifth time to dine at Maxie’s.
A PR campaign can change the face of your corporation. You can start by simply sending an email to a local journalist who covers corporations or industries similar to yours.
Building a community of fans around your brand is incredibly necessary to the longevity of your corporation. And it doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult. Startups can achieve noticeable impact with easy marketing initiatives with social media, newsletters, and media.
If you may build a group of loyal customers who are passionate about your brand and feel a connection to it, there’ll all the time be people motivated to assist you to grow your corporation.