Tools and strategies to build brand communities

It’s no secret that when a brand community is done right, it can have a powerful impact on your end consumers. “Doing it right” is the tricky part. The key to a successful brand community is a strategy and plan to keep members engaged and provide a positive experience. That means time and resources from your already in-demand marketing team. 

Techniques for building brand communities

Most brands find themselves in one of two camps when they think about building and supporting a community. 

Camp 1:

They believe in community and go all in — for a little while. And then that daunting to-do list starts to creep in, and the community takes a back seat. They deprioritize engaging with and responding promptly to members. They forget to take the time to plan out the next campaign. Worse, they might fail to fulfill some of their promises to members. Eventually, the community fizzles away as members become disenchanted with the whole experience, and the brand moves on to other immediate pressing needs.

Camp 2:

This camp also believes in the power of community, but they need more personal resources and expertise to get it up and running. ExpertVoice strategist Leslie Keener notes, “Every brand knows they should be communicating with a certain segment of their audience more specifically and frequently, but the knowledge of how to do so and the uncertainty about how much bandwidth it will take is usually the hindrance.” These concerns frequently lead to a fear that the experience they provide might have a damaging effect if done wrong (see Camp 1).

How ExpertVoice can help

Any of this sound familiar? Unburden your marketing teams and ensure that your brand communities are professionally managed. Brands can lean on ExpertVoice managed services to set up, recruit and engage their brand communities. Our experienced strategists understand what motivates community members and are dedicated to supporting your brand. 

With their services, you can relax knowing that:

• Vetting and credentialing members will be taken care of.
• A regular campaign schedule will keep members engaged with your brand.
• Seeding and selling products to your members can be managed via the ExpertVoice platform.
• Member posts, questions and UGC will always receive personal and timely responses.
• Community outputs, impact and metrics will be shared with your team monthly, so you know the value of your investment.

Working with ExpertVoice managed services means you can confidently commit to building a brand community that will provide a positive experience for your members and positively impacts your brand.

Getting started with managed services on ExpertVoice

Managed services are available to any brand — whether they already manage a program on ExpertVoice, are looking for a point solution to keep participants involved in their sampling programs or want to get their first brand community up and running. We’ll even share a free resource to get you started — simply download this discovery brief to help you define your project scope. 

We look forward to helping you engage more of the right people to help build your brand. 

Want to see how communities come to life? Explore how brands like Outdoor Research, Keen and SportDog use communities on ExpertVoice to build their brand — check out their stories.