What Is the Relationship Between Social and Community?

Competitive Community Advantage

In the never-ending quest for more sales, marketers are pushed to look in every nook and cranny for opportunities to gain customers. That sales funnel is never empty and a marketers’ job is never done! It can easily feel like you have shaken down the leaves from every tree in search for more business.
However, Patrick says there is one area where a brand can reliably find eager prospects. If they are willing to do a little legwork, they will reap endless rewards and earn a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Online communities are chock full of passionate hobbyists looking to connect with and learn from each other. For the innovative marketer, they can be a rich source of customers and advocates. This crowd knows and appreciates the brands who show up and listen to them on their own turf.
Engaging in or properly managing a community for the fans of your product can only benefit your brand through positive engagement, a reputation for listening, and getting in front of an exclusive audience with built-in demand.

In This Episode

• How communities lead to customer retention and increased sales
• Why maintaining a community means running one that is outside your interests
• How strict documentation leads to consistency in community management
• Why giving customers too many choices leads to a drop in engagement
• How being involved in communities gives you a competitive advantage

Quotes From This Episode

“Social media is a set of tools and community is a strategy that you apply to the tools.” —@patrickokeefe
“The idea of community and building community is a discipline and a skill  that will continue to be valuable.” —@patrickokeefe
“The internet is littered with dead, abandoned communities.” —@patrickokeefe
“The pendulum has to swing back to owning the community at some point.” —@jaybaer
“You have one core thing and you exist to make that great.” —@patrickokeefe

“Forums and communities are where the most passionate people about specific things hang out… Passionate people are often the people who spend the most dollars per person.” —@patrickokeefe

“If your competitors are not there but you are, the communities know that.” —@patrickokeefe
“Community does not serve the goals of marketing. Community serves the goal of community.” —@patrickokeefe

Resources

• Patrick O’Keefe on Twitter: @patrickokeefe
• Community Signal
• Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards
• Soda Tasting
• Hug Your Haters