Do you know how to create content that builds community?

If you are already approaching community content with an incredible degree of strategy around relationship-building, stop reading now.

This post isn’t for you.

But if you’re like most people, getting your community members to have meaningful conversations with each other is a difficult puzzle to solve.

Not anymore!

I’m about to reveal the top 5 pieces of community-building content that I used in DigitalMarketer’s Facebook Group, DigitalMarketer Engage. I’ll outline exactly why these pieces worked and hopefully inspire you to create your own engaging content.

(RELATED: 8 Essential Strategies to Build a Thriving Customer Community)

But first, we need to lay a strong foundation by defining exactly what we mean when we say “community-building content.”

Community-Building Content Builds Relationships

In order for a group of people to be a true community—that is, members are forming emotional relationships with each other—it’s important that your content helps those connections happen.

To do that, it’s helpful to understand how emotional relationships start in the first place.

Enter Levinger’s Relationship Model:

Developed by George Levinger, a prominent scientist in interpersonal relationships, this model outlines the exact steps that people take in order to form a strong emotional relationship.

Let’s do a quick breakdown:

Stage 1: Acquaintance

The first step of any relationship—professional, personal, or romantic—is all about identifying a mutual interest.

This means that you have enough in common with someone else to start a conversation. It usually isn’t a strong common interest, and the conversation at this stage is mostly small talk (think questions like, “Nice weather today, isn’t it?”).

These surface-level common interests can be anything from sharing a mutual attraction to just being at the same location at the same time.

Let’s say you’re sitting at a local bar enjoying a beverage, and a complete stranger sits down next to you. Congrats! You are both now in the Acquaintance stage—you already have enough in common to start a conversation (we humans are passionately social creatures, after all).

Imagine what kinds of things you’d bring up to start the conversation…

• Would it be a comment about the weather?
• Ask them how they are liking their drink?
• Comment on a recent sports game or world event?

That’s Acquaintance-level conversation.

In this stage, you basically feel comfortable drumming up a conversation, but on safe, non-personal topics.

Similarly, every new member of your online community is entering in the Acquaintance stage.

What general information do new members have about others in the community? Hopefully, the topic of your community is enough to get people acquainted—in the DigitalMarketer Engage Facebook Group, for instance, newbies already understand that most people in the group are interested in digital marketing.

This common bond is enough to start a conversation, but most members need a little nudge to start connecting.

Stage 2: Build-Up

If a relationship progresses from Acquaintance, it moves on to the Build-Up stage.

Build-Up means that you are determining compatibility with your new friend—through your discussions, you’re discovering that you have even more in common than what first brought you together.

For instance, let’s say through the course of conversation, that stranger at the bar mentions that they have a dog. You happen to love dogs.

Now you might switch from talking about the weather to more meaningful conversations:

“Was your dog adopted from a shelter? How long have you had him?”

“I actually just moved into the area. Is there a good place to walk my dog?”

“My dog is chewing up everything I own. Do you have any suggestions?”

Your emotional bond is strengthened, and you feel safer discussing topics you care about.

The concept of a person revealing their inner thoughts and feelings to another person—like when your new friend mentioned they have a dog or when you admitted your four-legged friend has a chewing problem—is called self-disclosure.

Self-Disclosure: The process by which a person reveals their inner thoughts and emotions to another person.

Self-disclosure it VITAL to building communities—because no one moves through the Relationship Model if they aren’t having meaningful conversations with each other.

It has to move beyond the small talk.

Stage 3: Continuation

Continuation is all about making a show of commitment to the relationship.

This can be something huge, like getting married. But there are endless ways people can make commitments to their relationships that don’t involve a license from the government.

Let’s say your new friend from the bar suggests that you meet next weekend at the dog park.

That’s a sign of commitment! That stranger—perhaps now someone you would call a friend—is signaling that you have enough in common to move things to the next level—hanging out again and bringing your dogs! For this specific relationship, that is a huge sign of commitment.

The more conversations you have with your new friend, hopefully, the more you’ll discover you have in common—and the stronger your emotional connection will be.

Stage 4: Deterioration

…But sometimes the connection doesn’t last.

Deterioration can be caused by something dramatic—like a breakdown in trust—where you don’t feel safe having self-disclosure conversations.

Conversation often shifts back to small talk at this stage—you can be civil and even cordial… but you’re just not as comfortable sharing as you used to. As Pokémon GO experienced…

But relationships that move into Deterioration don’t have to be triggered by a big catastrophic event. Sometimes it’s just that interests have changed, and you don’t share the common bond that you used to.

For example, let’s say you showed up at the dog park only to discover that your new friend admits they changed their mind—they are actually a cat person and decided to get rid of their dog.

That might be a problem for you!

Stage 5: Termination

Of course, if things don’t work out… the relationship ends. Communication stops, and you spend your time elsewhere.

It’s only natural!

So now that we’ve set the stage for how relationships form, let’s talk about ways you can use content to move people along the first 3 stages of the Relationship Model using DigitalMarketer’s DM Engage Facebook Group as an example.

Community-Building Content That Moves Members from Acquaintance to Build-Up

The goal of content at this stage is to get people to start self-disclosing so that they can find all the compelling things they have in common with their fellow community members.

The welcome post is a wonderful opportunity to connect with new members, get them introducing themselves and plugged into the community at large.

You can see from this example that I asked our members 3 specific questions (a great idea swiped from the CMX Hub community)…

1. What industry do you work in?
2. What do you love about it?
3. What’s your biggest digital marketing challenge?

These questions encourage that CRITICAL element of relationship-building: self-disclosure.

Members can’t move along the Relationship Model unless they are self-disclosing meaningful, relevant information. Otherwise, your members just stay in the “small talk” zone forever!

Take a look at your welcome process and make sure it encourages new members to start talking about themselves—their likes and dislikes, favorites, feelings, aspirations, goals, successes, or fears.

Community-Building Content That Moves Members from Build-up to Continuation

Community content at this stage aims to encourage regular participation through initiating and sustaining community discussions. Your goal here is to help your members discover more compatibilities with their fellow community members.

One way to do this is through ritual content—community-building content that is posted daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly that your members learn to expect.

Ritual content gives your members a reason to come back and participate in the group, even if they don’t visit that often.

One example of this was our weekly #CelebrateTheWin post:

You can see how this post is framed to encourage members to reveal their successes—and the responses are chock full of those all-too-valuable self-disclosure statements…

The more you can encourage meaningful self-disclosure through ritual content, you’ll start to see members learning more about each other and initiating conversations themselves.

Community-Building Content at the Continuation Stage

The goal of community content is to provide opportunities for members to show commitment to the community.

But commitments look different for each community, so this step can be tricky.

Douglas Atkin, the Global Head of Community at Airbnb, looks at commitments through a curve that starts with easy, “low-barrier” actions a community member can take. As members move up the curve, the actions incrementally increase in difficulty and time commitment.

It looks like this:

In our DigitalMarketer Engage Facebook Group, our commitments look MUCH different—a low-barrier commitment would be asking a digital marketing question to the group periodically and discussing the responses.

Further up the curve, our members may start to provide answers to other people’s questions or encourage another member.

We also provide opportunities for commitment through community-building content.

Take a look at our quarterly #EngageItForward post:

Our community is full of digital marketers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, agency owners, and CEOs—everyone’s got something to offer.

Fulfilling these offers takes more time and energy than simply asking questions or replying to posts, so this type of content encourages members to enter (and stay) in the Continuation stage of the Relationship Model.

Remember: Meaningful Discussions are Key to Community-Building

As you’re creating your own community-building content, remember that the end goal is to get your members talking with each other.

That means content that you might use in other areas of your marketing strategy like…

• Blog Posts
• Podcasts
• Lead Magnets or
• Press Releases

…isn’t designed to move people along the Relationship Model. If these content pieces are the majority of your community content, you most likely have a traditional marketing audience rather than a true community.

If you do want to include these pieces in your community strategy, try pairing them with a discussion question that encourages self-disclosure.

As you’re planning your community content, always consider the exact role your posts will play in moving members further down their path to creating emotional relationships—relationships that are stronger (and last longer) than transactional customer relationships.

The post 5 Types of Community-Building Content DigitalMarketer Used to Engage an 11K+ Member Facebook Group appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

And I should know.

During my time as DigitalMarketer’s Lead Community Strategist, I managed over 11,500 members (and growing) across 7 private Facebook groups—answering questions, providing support, and bridging the gap between DigitalMarketer’s clients and business.

These private, online communities have had a tremendous impact on DigitalMarketer’s bottom line.

Establishing a thriving online community within the company’s client base meets a number of important business goals including…

• Improved customer satisfaction
• Reduced refunds
• Increased retention in monthly memberships
• More sales generated by word-of-mouth recommendations

There is a lot of gold to be found in creating and maintaining a private Facebook Group and offering it as a premium bonus with DigitalMarketer’s products—so here’s how it’s done at DigitalMarketer.

But before I show you how to create an engaged Facebook Group, first we should talk about why Facebook is one of the best places to host your online community.

Why Host Your Community on Facebook?

So why is Facebook the #1 BEST place to host your online community?

Let me count the ways.

1) It has the users.

(Almost 2 billion of them.)

In other words, no matter what niche or industry you’re in, your audience is almost guaranteed to be on Facebook.

And you know what else this means?

People are already using it.

Your future community members are already visiting Facebook on a regular basis. They already know how to use it. They’re already comfortable with it.

And as a result, they’re a lot more likely to come back to your community, again and again, and actually engage with it.

2) Facebook continues to come out with great new community management tools.

When I was first getting into community management, I actually thought that we should move our community to a new platform (away from Facebook). My reason was simple: I just didn’t think Facebook Groups were a good community management platform.

But today, I have totally changed my mind about that. Now I think Facebook Groups are a GREAT place to start a community!

And you want to know why I did such a 180?

In part, it’s because Facebook has really invested in giving us the tools we need to be truly effective community managers.

Like the “Mute” feature. In the past, if someone was behaving inappropriately (like being rude to other members), your only option was to kick that person out of the group. But that’s not always the best action to take—especially when your group consists of paid customers like DigitalMarketer’s.

But now you can just mute the person for 1-24 hours, give them time to cool off, and ultimately save that relationship.

And that’s just one small example. There are many more tools—like Group Insights and the ability to report individual comments—that continue to make it easier for you to manage your community on Facebook.

3) Facebook is investing in building community.

Especially communities their members find meaningful!

In fact, at the Facebook Community Summit in Chicago last year, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the Facebook platform is committed to making Groups an integral part of the Facebook experience—and they are using AI to do it.

In other words, Facebook is doubling down on community by using its AI to funnel more people into high-engagement groups.

And the results have been impressive, to say the least:

“In 6 months we’ve helped 50% more people find meaningful communities on Facebook than had joined in the entire history of the product.” – Mark Zuckerberg

We’ve felt the effects inside the DigitalMarketer Engage Facebook Group, too.

Starting in January of 2018, I started to notice something…strange.

The number of active members in our group was increasing. Significantly.

And it didn’t stop!

Engagement kept going up and up and up, even 60 days later (and counting):

Here’s the catch: I didn’t do a single thing to intentionally encourage this upward trend.

It happened as a natural result of Facebook’s new emphasis on community.

And if you can create a Facebook Group that is meaningful to your members’ identity, then Facebook will reward you by showing your community posts more often, expanding your group’s reach, and helping your group to grow larger and more engaged.

So, the next thing you’re probably wondering is… HOW do you create a community like that?

Well, building and maintaining a private Facebook Group for your customers is comprised of 5 major elements:

1. Create an Exclusive Facebook Group

Private Facebook groups are private for a reason—not everyone can join. There are certain qualifications that have to be met before the admin clicks “approve” to the join request.

Having some sort of qualification for admittance to the group naturally builds a stronger community—people feel like they are a part of a special club. They know they are all a part of the group for the same reason. If you only let the best in, you’ll only get the best of communities!

Exclusivity occasionally requires a thick skin on the part of the admin. You can’t let just anyone in. You will have to have to turn people away, you will have to have uncomfortable conversations with applicants who don’t meet the access guidelines, and you will have to be consistent with your requirements.

You’ll also need a system in place to remove those who no longer meet your qualifications for membership.

This keeps your member list nice and healthy.

But the payoff is WORTH IT—you will end up with a community that is bonded by common attitudes, interests, and goals instead of an aimless, eclectic group with a variety of motivations and reasons for joining.

Facebook currently offers two options for creating exclusivity in your group: CLOSED groups and SECRET groups.

Secret groups are not searchable via Facebook—that means no one but members (and in some cases, former members) can see the group name, who’s in the group, the group’s description and tags, or stories about the group in Facebook’s newsfeed. Anyone can join, but they have to be invited or added by a member or admin, depending on your group settings.

In contrast, closed groups are publically viewable. They can show up as suggested groups on newsfeeds and the title, description, and member list are visible to anyone.

At DigitalMarketer, we opted to create a closed group, so our customers would be able to locate our groups easier. This does result in an influx of requests to join from unqualified members, but the tradeoff is worth it—we let the world know that we have a tribe of thousands of digital marketing enthusiasts, and use the “publicity” of an exclusive group to build FOMO (“fear of missing out”).

As a result, our community can be positioned as a value proposition, and we can use it as a way to increase sales of our products:

2. Establish Guidelines in the Facebook Group

It’s important to give your group some sort of direction on what types of conversation are encouraged (or discouraged) in order to maintain a thriving community.

Expectations of behavior…

• Provide a safe space for people to ask questions
• Offer support
• And build relationships with your company and other members

While it can be tempting to create a list of what members can and can’t do, I suggest creating guidelines that describe how members can work together to create a healthy environment.

I’ve found that guidelines (as opposed to rules) create a better community experience…

Previously, our rules were a list of DON’Ts (as shown below):

Creating some sort of behavior expectation is essential for creating a safe space in your community, but having a list of do’s and don’t’s can feel intimidating and aggressive to new members.

That’s why I created Community Guidelines with only two hard-and-fast rules (no promoting and no being a jerk), and then outlined 8 standards of expected behavior.

This not only puts “rules” in a more positive light, but it allows members to take ownership of how they can influence and encourage great community behavior.

Here’s an excerpt of our guidelines:

Will your guidelines look the same?

Of course not.

Take into account the goals and culture of your members and adjust accordingly.

3. Moderate Your Facebook Group

So what happens when someone breaks the rules? What if someone has a problem with another member? What happens when a member is unhappy with the group?

Moderating is vital to maintaining a healthy community—whether it is on Facebook or any other social media forum. If you don’t offer some sort of control over the conversation, others will control it for you.

With over 11,500 members in our DM Engage Facebook Group alone, rules are bound to get broken; and they are broken often. People get upset with other people and reach out for resolutions. Here are the basics of how to handle it:

• Delete posts that break the rules. Whether it is someone being rude or pitching their latest Lead Magnet, the post gets removed as soon as I (or someone on my team) sees it. Many times I am sent links to the offending post and asked to make the final decision. The point is that we try not to leave questionable posts up for long—often they are only visible for a matter of minutes. This keeps our threads healthy and maintains that safe environment that our members enjoy.

• Handle sensitive issues in a private message. If I delete a post, I usually send the author of the post a private message and explain why their post was deleted and make myself available to answer any questions. Ninety percent of the time, they didn’t realize they were breaking any rules or they posted in the group by mistake. Be nice, be firm, and make sure they understand that you’re not trying to be mean or unreasonable, you’re just keeping the group on topic so that the experience is better for everyone.

This also goes for members who are seeking a resolution to a problem with other members.

I always move these conversations to a private message—it gives the issue my undivided attention and keeps the conversation between me and the involved parties.

The last thing I want to encourage is a public argument where anyone can weigh in. Situations are much easier to resolve when it is between 1 or 2 people than between 1 and 11,500 people.

4. Connect People With ___________

My role as Lead Community Strategist had 3 main functions:

• Connect people with content
• Connect people to people
• Connect people with products

The more you make connections for people, the more beneficial the group will be to your customers—and thus the organization.

Here’s an example of me connecting people to content.

I actively set aside time each week go to through DigitalMarketer’s content (and believe me, there is a lot of stuff to go through): blog posts, certifications, podcasts…you name it. The more familiar I am with our content, the better I can help people in our group.

Here’s how I keep myself organized so I can point our group members to the right content (in this case, our blog)…

The search feature on our group page is also my best friend—it helps me locate the best members to answer specific questions.

For example, this community member was looking for people who live in Thailand to give some recommendations:

So I just did a quick search in the group…

And found several people to connect him with!

Lastly, in many cases, DM Engage members ask which of our products they should purchase to solve an issue they are having.

I’m not a pushy salesperson by any stretch—but part of a community manager’s job is to be familiar with your products and services so you can assist with these queries.

5. Open/Close Feedback Loops

Effective community management revolves around feedback loops—and these are particularly effective using the Facebook tagging system.

I constantly keep an eye out for these loops.

There are all kinds of feedback loops that occur in our groups: technical loops, customer service loops, content loops… and I can easily tag another team member to “loop” them into the issue and get a resolution. It’s stellar customer service, plain and simple.

It also helps us identify content gaps, product gaps, and even acquisition strategies for our business.

For example, the DigitalMarketer Lab community repeatedly suggested a referral program for the product—and within a week of launching the referral program, we had over 300 requests to join DigitalMarketer Lab!

That’s the power of feedback loops.

Here Are the Numbers for DigitalMarketer Engage…

So, how many people do you need before you launch a private Facebook group?

I hate to be vague, but there is no “magic” number—I would say have a good 1,000 potential members before you look into establishing your online community.

Back when this post was first published in June 2015, our private Facebook Group for DigitalMarketer Lab had approximately…

• 12,000 paying members
• 50% have joined the private Facebook Group called DigitalMarketer Engage
• 19% – 20% of Engage members are actively involved in the group during any given week (the rest don’t visit or, when they do, they just “lurk”)

So, based on these numbers, if you have 1,000 customers you’d like to pitch a group to, you can expect…

• 500 to join the private group
• 95 to 100 people to like, comment, share, and otherwise be involved in your group during a 7-day period

Our metrics hovered here for a while—50% of paying members joined the group, and 20% were active overall, and I recommend that new customer communities use these as a guideline when determining the best time to launch their own groups.

However, as DigitalMarketer Engage has grown as a community, our numbers now look more like this:

• Over 13,400 paying members
• 86% have joined the community
• A steady 20% of members are active in any given week

The increase in members who joined the community is evidence of the changes that happen when you actively invest in creating a healthy, productive space for your members to connect.

Private online groups are a fantastic way to add value to customers and meet important business goals like reducing refunds and increasing retention.

Which is why creating a community is so powerful.

The post How to Build and Manage a Private Facebook Group appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

To be fair, neither did DigitalMarketer.

Don’t get me wrong. From the very beginning, DigitalMarketer’s #1 core value has been to love, protect, and respect our customers. But as for community management as a core discipline, there was ample room to build out strategies and processes.

As in, there weren’t ANY strategies or processes.

My interview went along the lines of, “You seem nice. Your new job is to answer people’s questions on Facebook.”

We’ve come A LONG WAY since my interview and we now manage a closed community of thousands of marketers, entrepreneurs, business owners, and agencies.

Today, I’m sharing with you a collection of my published strategies on the DigitalMarketer blog (there’s even more to learn in our Community Mastery Certification!) that are essential in understanding what community management is—it’s much more complex than just being present for your customers—and how you can build and grow your own thriving customer communities.

Community Manager vs. Social Media Manager: Which Hire is Right for Your Business?

Anyone interested in building communities (or hiring a community manager) should know exactly what we mean when we say community.

It’s not a social media channel and it’s not a marketing audience—it’s a different animal entirely.

This post debunks the common misconception that community managers are basically social media managers, and breaks down the differences between the two.

How to Build and Manage a Private Facebook Group 

No matter what platform your community is housed, there are some fundamental strategies you can implement to build up your tribe.

In this post, I share some ideas on how to make your community stronger, such as creating exclusivity and implementing moderation strategies.

5 Myths That Kill Thriving Communities (And How to Avoid Them)

Building a strong community can be difficult.

In my time as the Lead Community Strategist at DigitalMarketer, I’ve learned there are many misconceptions that can kill your community before it’s even started.

If your community is struggling to get off the ground or is trending downward, it could be that you’re thinking about community the wrong way.

In this post, I break down five common myths surrounding community management and offer tips and strategies you should be doing to encourage a thriving tribe.

Social Listening: How to Create Feedback Loops Between Your Company and Your Community

Communities are wonderful opportunities to keep your finger on the pulse of how your customers are experiencing your brand, products, and services.

This post outlines how I implement social listening strategies in our community—and how to keep other team members in the loop while ensuring our customers feel valued and heard.

What Facebook’s New Group Features Means For Community Managers

Facebook continues to make changes as they push for the platform to be more community driven.

From Group Insights, Request Filters, Group Linking, and more, here’s what you need to know about the changes and what this means for your community.

Build Loyalty, Leads, & Sales in Your Community Using the Customer Value Journey

If you’re looking to leverage community in your business (which you should be), it’s VITAL to understand where your community fits, or will fit, in your overall marketing strategy.

As the Lead Community Strategist at DigitalMarketer, I’ve learned how to effectively leverage DigtialMarketer’s online community to:

• Grow brand awareness
• Reduce churn
• Increase ascension
• Improve customer satisfaction
• Increase customer loyalty

And that’s exactly what you’re going to walk away knowing how to do at the end of this post…

How to use community to build customer loyalty and generate leads and sales.

[CASE STUDY] How DigitalMarketer Activated 44% of Previously Silent Community Members in 5 Days

A positive community experience and culture are ESSENTIAL to reaping the business benefits of a tribe of customers.

This case study outlines a community strategy I implemented—a theme week geared toward our silent members—that focused on introducing community culture and inspired a significant number of new participants in our Facebook group.

Measure the Growth, Activity, and Experience of Your Community (Correctly) with These 4 Metrics

“Community” can be an emotional, touchy-feely, ethereal kind of word.

Because it can seem like a vague concept, many people struggle with how to measure a community’s success—especially that “warm and fuzzy” feeling of being part of a group.

The good news is there are ways to measure if your community is growing and healthy, and if your members are feeling that emotional connection to your tribe.

A customer community is one of the best investments you can make for your business, and it can only thrive when you have the proper strategies in place. Put these to work and connect with me inside of DM Engage as a DigitalMarketer Lab member to let me know how your community responds!

The post 8 Essential Strategies to Build a Thriving Customer Community appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Big chances are coming to Facebook’s algorithms when it comes to Page content and the News Feed.

And an additional announcement was made in the Facebook Newsroom.

With phrases like…

• “a major change to how we build Facebook”
• “you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media”
• and the panic-inducing… “some measures of engagement will go down”

…this announcement has certainly got marketers discussing what this means for digital marketing strategy. Especially those who rely on Facebook for most of their ad spend.

Here are some comments from members of our DigitalMarketer Engage community…

Generally, the response in our communities has been pretty positive, so if you’re in a panic…

Breath in.

Breath out.

It’s going to be okay.

To prove it, I asked some DigitalMarketer teammates for their thoughts on Facebook’s announcement (and don’t you worry, I’ll be weighing in with my own feelings, too).

From the Desk of Ryan Deiss

Here’s everything advertisers and marketers need to know about Facebook’s latest News Feed update…

Facebook believed that video was the answer to maximum monetization.

It’s simple math: Longer content in the same visible area means more “space” for ads.

It didn’t work out and the experience sucked because all the videos started to look like ads (because they were ads).

So now the emphasis will shift back to things that don’t look like ads, and in particular posts from friends that…wait for it…aren’t ads.

So, if you’re an advertiser, here’s what you need to do capitalize on these changes:

1. Don’t panic or get angry. Remember that this change is happening to everyone at the same time, so be grateful for the opportunity it creates.
2. Optimize for Likes and Shares, again, not clicks. (The “sale” can come later with custom audience retargeting.)
3. Invest in communities (i.e. Facebook Groups). Like all channels that are initially built on the back of early direct response pioneers, Facebook is making the pivot toward branding.

But on Facebook (and all social channels, for that matter) branding doesn’t equal a clever Super Bowl ad or a memorable jingle.

Today, branding = community.

Build true community, and Facebook will start working better than ever.

From the Desk of Molly Pittman

“Relevancy is becoming more and more essential on Facebook. This is great for businesses who are truly serving a market and creating fulfilling content.

This is NOT great for people who rely solely on direct response tactics that don’t give value first.

But what is important is what’s best for the end user.

The happier the customer is, the more they will use the platform… the more inventory that we all have as advertisers. Facebook is just further weeding out the bad ones.

Content marketers and people who can create engaging video and content for social media just went up in stock value BIG TIME.

This is also great news for chatbots…

They allow brands to create that individualized experience that Facebook is looking to provide.”

(RELATED: Facebook Messenger Ads: How to Use Them in Your Business)

From the Desk of Katie Bower

Katie Bower, DigitalMarketer’s social media manager, shared her thoughts on how she plans to adjust our social media strategy.

“DigitalMarketer’s first core value is to ‘Love, protect, and respect our customers.’

As Facebook makes major changes to the algorithm, users will be seeing a lot less of ‘us’ and a lot more of the people they love.

Although this change is going to affect marketing strategies everywhere, the industry as a whole should embrace and mirror the efforts Facebook is making to continually satisfy their customers.

We’ll be changing our Facebook content to reflect the needs of YOU, our followers.

This means more relevant discussions about digital marketing and business growth as it pertains to your interests.”

Building a True Community

As for me, I believe this announcement means that the need to build a true community on the Facebook platform will be more valuable than ever.

Facebook has already made big changes to Groups and is fully invested in revamping this red-headed stepchild of Facebook features.

(RELATED: What Facebook’s New Group Features Means For Community Managers)

They’ve also been giving more News Feed real estate than ever to posts inside of active Groups.

And Facebook is actively giving Groups more exposure to folks who might be interested in connecting with others who share common goals, experiences, or interests.

This focus on driving more community-building content rather than promotional messages is exactly the kind of push marketers need to start adding these online tribes as part of their digital marketing mix.

Now’s the time, folks! All aboard the community train!

The post Facebook News Feed Changes: What You Need to Know appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Building a strong community can be difficult.

In my time as the Lead Community Strategist at DigitalMarketer, I’ve learned there are many misconceptions that can kill your community before it’s even started.

If your community is struggling to get off the ground or is trending downward, it could be that you’re thinking about community the wrong way.

Today, I’m breaking down five common myths surrounding community management and offering tips and strategies you should be doing to encourage a thriving tribe.

Let’s get right to it!

Community Myth #1: “If You Build It, They Will Come.”

I see it time and time again – a company sets up a forum, Facebook group, or (worse) purchases an expensive enterprise-level community platform. They hire a community manager and say, “Make this work!”

They just know it’s going to be the next big thing since Reddit.

And… crickets.

The Powers That Be start to wonder…

• Where are all the raving fans?
• Why aren’t members talking?
• Why aren’t people flocking in droves to my shiny new platform?

The idea that people will intuitively swarm to your online community and organically start discussions is one of the WORST assumptions a company can make.

That’s because setting up a community takes strategy – especially at the beginning. The magic doesn’t just happen.

It’s VITAL to figure out the exact purpose of your community before you take the platform plunge.

Before you launch your community – or if you are struggling to get your new community off the ground – here are a few questions to ask yourself to help ensure your community’s success:

1. How Is My Community Positioned?

Communities are made up of a segment of people (hopefully, a segment of your market) who all share something unique in common, generally speaking:

• An experience
• A goal
• Or a strong common interest

You can think of it like this:

If the mutual commonality your members share is too broad or uninteresting, it’s difficult for members to find something worth talking about, and doubly difficult to get them to form emotional connections with each other.

Let’s look at an example…

This is Harley Owners Group (or HOG), an online community for – you guessed it – owners of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Let’s break this community down…

Specific Group of People

HOG does a great job of providing niche spaces for a variety of their market segments.

For example, they provide unique spaces for different demographics, like an area for women to connect with each other or for riders to find HOG members in local chapters.

Mutual Common Bond

Behavioral psychologists have done the hard work for you and have figured out that people bond around three specific areas based on what they have in common. Namely…

1. shared goals
2. shared experiences
3. shared interests

…or some combination of those three.

Notice what’s missing?

A product purchase.

Owning a Harley-Davidson motorcycle isn’t the only thing that unites HOG members.

There are tons of people who own Harleys who don’t identify with the HOG community:

• They don’t dress the same.
• They aren’t interested in talking about customizing their rides.
• They don’t attend rallies.

What HOG members share is a lifestyle. Their motorcycles are an extension of their identity.

Scientifically speaking, HOG is a great example of a Community of Practice – where members share a specific hobby, profession, or interest. They…

• Share the same passion
• Get excited about the same things
• Celebrate the same victories
• Mourn the same losses

They identify with a certain lifestyle that non-HOG members don’t relate to.

If HOG was positioned to appeal to every single Harley-Davidson owner – not giving due consideration to specific customer avatars or the specific lifestyle they share – this online community would fizzle, not sizzle.

Just like with marketing offers, SPECIFICITY in positioning wins the day.

But what if you sell a product or service that isn’t, well… inherently interesting?

The Coffee Table Problem

Let’s take coffee tables for example.

Just about everyone has a coffee table in their home or office. But when was the last time you had a passionate conversation about it with someone else? How many coffee table enthusiasts are out there?

I call this The Coffee Table Problem. 

Consider that Swedish, ready-to-assemble furniture company we all know and love… IKEA!

IKEA specializes in coffee tables. And chairs. And couches, bed frames, bookshelves, and other “boring” products that don’t necessarily have an intrinsic community “built in.”

So, how can a furniture company like IKEA create a community around a strong common interest?

Easy… they made a community that didn’t bond around coffee tables – they bond around home design!

Meet Share Space:

IKEA was able to come up with a community solution because they have already mastered the art of serving their market not their product.

Safe to say that you should spend some serious time hammering out the positioning of your community. Miss the mark here, and you’re going to struggle to get your community off the ground.

Which leads us to our next question…

2. How Does My Community Provide Unique Value to Its Members?

It’s VERY difficult to start a new community that doesn’t offer anything UNIQUE to its members.

If there is a strong, active community that already exists for the members you want to serve, think very carefully about what makes your particular community unique in value.

If this is your struggle, consider adjusting your member criteria – the demographics of your new members or the common interests that tie them together.

Let’s look at that Venn diagram one more time…

With the diagram above in mind, let’s say you start a community of moms in the United States (demographics) who want to require companies to offer paid maternity leave (common goal). But… a strong community for these women already exists.

You can adjust your community by adding more demographics, such as a community of moms who live in Brooklyn.

Alternatively, you can add more common interests – a community of moms who want to require companies to offer paid maternity leave by organizing marches.

Adjusting positioning creates a unique space for your members that they can’t find anywhere else. You want your ideal members to think, “Finally, a place for me!”

Next, our final question is…

3. Do You Have a Plan for Introducing Passionate People into Your New Community and Getting Meaningful Discussions Going?

Believe it or not, people usually don’t automatically engage in an online community.

They browse the content and make sure it’s for them. They read conversations to get a feel for things. Even then, they usually don’t comment or create their own content without a friendly nudge.

Regardless of platform, there are two big ways to help get people talking.

The first is how you welcome your new members.

It might be an automated welcome message…

a newbie corner…

…or maybe a video!

The point is, you want something in place to make new members feel like they’ve found their tribe – that their presence is welcome!

Be sure your welcome message (whatever the format) gives newbies an idea of your community culture and how they can best participate.

Also, include a call-to-action (CTA) within your post to get them talking to each other right away, as we do, twice, within this post:

The second method for giving that participation “nudge” is to introduce members to each other.

This tactic has worked wonders for our DigitalMarketer Engage group, a community for DigitalMarketer Lab members.

(NOTE: Not a DM Lab Member? Start a trial membership for $1.)

If you know two members have something in common, take the initiative to make sure they (virtually) meet!

The more members realize they have in common, the stronger the community will be.

Bottom line, starting a community takes some serious thought and strategy when starting out.

Don’t just launch a platform and hope for the best. Answer these three questions and use it to help you put a plan in place to create a strong and active community.

The next community management myth is…

Community Myth #2: “Community Management Isn’t a Full-Time Job.”

I’m going to go ahead and take a pretty strong stance here…

If you hire a community manager and they can’t find enough community stuff to do during work hours, you either…

A) hired the wrong person or…

B) your company doesn’t take community seriously

Now, a lot of companies will hire part-time community managers when first starting out. But new communities are what need the MOST time and attention.

Not dedicating enough time and strategy often leads to community failure.

That’s because community managers worth their salt don’t just moderate – it’s not all about removing spammers and banning trolls.

Community managers spend a lot of time creating community culture. That is the…

• beliefs
• customs
• language
• rituals
• behavior

…that make a particular community unique.

Creating culture manifests itself in a few community tactics…

1. Creating Community Guidelines

First, a good set of guidelines informs culture because it gives members an expectation of what kinds of behavior are expected – and what behavior results in a ban.

Community managers not only work to establish these guidelines but also make sure their community members are behaving accordingly.

Good guidelines help create a safe space for all those member-to-member relationships to take place.

2. Encouraging Community Member-Specific Language

Next, an indicator of a strong community culture is that members share a specific, members-only language.

Consider the model of community success: Reddit.

They constantly use words like karma, upvote, doggo, neckbeard, etc… Words that have little meaning to anyone not in the know.

Successful community managers keep their eyes peeled for member-specific language and encourage it rather than squash it.

3. Creating Consistent, Discussion-Driving Content for Your Community

Finally, communities that only broadcast – such as post news stories, blog posts, or even offers with little to no context – find that discussion is difficult to create.

Members often join communities to get a particular question answered. Once they get the information they are seeking, they will disappear forever unless they are given a compelling reason to come back.

You can give users a reason to come back by consistently creating opportunities for conversation and discussion. This is the cornerstone to providing the motivation for participation.

For instance, consider this monthly post we refer to as #ResourceRoundup in the DigitalMarketer Engage community:

Each month, we ask our members to share with the group their resources on a specific topic – in this case, their marketing tech stacks. This gives other members the opportunity to connect with each other beyond just having a DM Lab membership.

Now members know they have so much more in common and are able to connect on a deeper level, like giving each other tips and suggestions:

Implementing the above three tactics along with…

• integrating new members
• resolving conflicts
• and yes, deleting spam and banning trolls

…and you can see how community management is not (nor should it be) part-time work.

This leads us to our next myth…

Community Myth #3: “Community Is Just Another Marketing Audience.”

No. No, no, no, no, no.

I often share community management strategies with our DigitalMarketer community, and this is the #1 myth I bust every time we get to talking about online communities.

If a business is going to invest in community – a true community, where members are building relationships with each other – communication is completely different than communicating with marketing channels.

If communication within the community is made up of marketing messages – or if the conversation is mainly a back-and-forth between your company representative and members – you are NOT creating unique value for your community members.

That’s more like an audience than a community.

By contrast, if communication is mainly member-to-member – and your community strategy serves to make that easier – that’s when community magic happens.

To illustrate, here is an example of a marketing message:

…and here’s an illustration of community content:

The first image is not designed to drive a discussion – it’s a marketing message aimed to get people to take a certain action.

The second is meant to get people talking!

I can’t stress this enough: A community is NOT a place for direct sales. Because your community is not a marketing audience – it’s an entirely different animal.

Don’t get me wrong, fostering strong member relationships and creating a unique community will result in lots of amazing business benefits, resulting in…

• increased retention
• reduced churn
• improved customer satisfaction
• amplified sales through word-of-mouth referrals

…just to name a few. 

But it’s a SLOW game. Results can take months or even years of work, but it pays off!

Next, the community myth surrounding member participation.

Community Myth #4: “Most Community Members Don’t Participate, So It Must Be a Failure.”

Conversations about this myth tend to surface as communities reach a critical mass – that means that the majority (50%+) of community content is generated by members themselves.

Community activity levels may be looking good, but a high amount of your community is made up of “lurkers”: Community members who don’t actively participate in the community; they “lurk” in the background reading the content but do not post or comment themselves.

And the number of lurkers in your community has your boss in a twist.

In truth, just about every community on the internet has the same issue.

Consider that there’s an entire concept around this idea called the 1% Rule. This says that, in general, only 1% of community members actually create new content while 99% are non-participants (or lurkers).

If that seems discouraging, the next school of thought is marginally better: It’s the 90-9-1 Principle that says…

• 90% of members tend to just browse content
• 9% will contribute (like edit a Wikipedia page or comment on an active discussion)
• 1% tend to create brand new content or start new discussions

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t create a strategy to reach your non-participants – I discovered that creating specific community content geared toward lurkers resulted in a 44% increase in member activation.

But it’s a fact of community building: Most of your members will lurk, and everyone has to be okay with that.

Which takes us to our final community myth…

Community Myth #5: “Community Managers Are Solely Responsible for the Community.”

Again, nope.

The best brand communities involve participation from as many company employees as possible.

One of the leading ways to bring value to members is to increase their level of access to the business, and what better way to do that than by allowing them to talk directly to resident experts?

Community managers can work wonders with strategy and relationship-building between members, but when the entire company has ownership over the community, amazing things happen – namely, building the sense of trust between your members and your company.

The benefit of the whole company participating in the community is difficult to quantify because – when you boil it down – you’re talking about making transactional customer-to-company relationships and turning them into emotional relationships.

Take a look at this recent conversation that took place inside of the DigitalMarketer Engage Facebook group, where a member of our community describes what it was like to experience a marketing funnel from our Director of Marketing, Justin Rondeau (Justin’s response is included because it’s so great!).

Because Justin is an active participant in our community, our members feel an emotional (rather than transactional) relationship – and that plays a huge part in…

• Retention
• Reducing churn
• And even ascension

Another one of my favorite examples of company participation is the FabFitFun forums.

I’ve scoured the internet for the brilliant community manager behind this ecommerce brand, but for the life of me, I can’t find him/her. To me, that means something amazing…

The entire company is responsible for running the forums.

A quick scroll through the conversations reveals one staff member revealing a “spoiler” in their upcoming subscription box…

Another introducing free members-only workout videos…

And several different employees starting up conversations on topical threads, like this one:

It’s so great to see such a community-centric company!

So, here’s the truth of the matter…

Community managers shouldn’t have to go it alone.

Companies who help their community managers incorporate other members of staff into community discussions and initiatives will have a leading edge over their competition.

With these five community management myths debunked, you know understand what is or what could be holding your community back. Use this understanding to create intentional community management strategies!

(RELATED: 6 Essential Strategies to Build a Thriving Customer Community)

The post 5 Myths That Kill Thriving Communities (And How to Avoid Them) appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

…but we’ll talk about that in just a second.

If you’re looking to leverage community in your business (which you should be), it’s VITAL to understand where your community fits, or will fit, in your overall marketing strategy.

As the Lead Community Strategist at DigitalMarketer, I’ve learned how to effectively leverage DigtialMarketer’s online community to:

• Grow brand awareness
• Reduce churn
• Increase ascension
• Improve customer satisfaction
• Increase customer loyalty

And that’s exactly what you’re going to walk away knowing how to do at the end of this post…

How to use community to build customer loyalty and generate leads and sales.

But first…

Let’s Get Some Things Straight

Like I said, there’s a HUGE misconception when it comes to leveraging online communities…

…it’s not one-size-fits-all.

To understand where your community fits within your marketing strategy — and to make sure it doesn’t try to accomplish too many goals at once — we need to cover a universal truth:

Business owners and CEOs only care about two things:

1. Decreasing costs
2. Increasing revenue

Therefore, for your community to have business value, your community MUST link back to one of those two initiatives.

One easy way to do this is to understand the Customer Value Journey — the process of moving a complete stranger to a raving fan. It looks like this:

(RELATED: Your Digital Marketing Strategy Template (AKA The Customer Value Journey))

DigitalMarketer teaches that the role of marketing is to move prospects and customers seamlessly through each stage of the Journey.

Striking the balance between “asking for marriage on the first date” by making an offer too quickly and being so hesitant that you never ask for the sale.

When we’re talking about using online communities, there’s one more universal truth to wrap your brain around… 

No one community can move someone all the way through the Customer Value Journey.

This means that in order for your community to have any business value — decreasing costs or increasing revenue — it must be set up strategically.

In my research as DigitalMarketer’s lead community strategist, I’ve found that businesses that successfully use community focus their tribes on one of three areas of the Customer Value Journey:

• Aware/Engage Communities
• Excite/Ascend Communities
• Advocate/Promote Communities

Let’s break each down by looking at some real-life examples and see how each type of community addresses different business goals!

Aware/Engage Communities

Awareness/Engage Communities meet people at the very beginning of their journey with your brand.

Notice that it meets people BEFORE the sale is made.

The main goal of this type of community is to raise awareness for brands and products/services WITHOUT directly selling.

Instead, your prospects become familiar with your brand through topical discussions around your industry, products, or services.

Aware/Engage Community Goals

 Communities at these stages meet several important marketing goals, including…

• Strengthening brand awareness
• Increasing engagement with prospects
• Raising offer awareness
• Growing retargeting lists
• Improving website traffic
• Increasing market research

Next, let’s look at some real-world examples of how brands are using communities at the Aware/Engage section of the Customer Value Journey.

Aware/Engage Community Examples

To get a good grasp on what an Aware/Engage community looks like, let’s look at Screw The Nine To Five, a company that sells information and resources to budding entrepreneurs.

Notice they have a Facebook Group linked right on their home page.

This is an Aware/Engage play. Members of the group do not have to be customers to join.

The group functions solely as a way for prospects to get to know the Screw The Nine To Five team before they commit to a purchase.

The company uses their community as a way to get prospects on board with their brand’s mission, as noted here in the group description:

Jill Stanton, the company’s co-founder and admin of the group, skillfully creates tons of community-building content to get members connecting with each other…

And all “offers” presented to the group are tippy-top of funnel, like links to Facebook Live videos on their Facebook Page.

It’s important to notice that any official brand-related content meets people right where they are: in the Aware and Engage sections of the Customer Value Journey.

Now, let’s take a look at a completely different approach to Aware/Engage Communities.

Consider BabyCenter, a parenting community run by multinational manufacturing company Johnson & Johnson.

The site provides a myriad of ways for community members to connect with each other, regardless of the stage of family planning…

…but it also provides plenty of opportunities for offer awareness through ad placements and a shop tab.

Pretty neat, right?

Keep in mind, with Aware/Engage Communities, you’re a lot more concerned with the volume of members than you would be with online tribes that meet other areas of the Customer Value Journey.

That’s because you’ll want as many qualified eyeballs as possible on your top of funnel offers. And volume is critical if you are looking to create or sell viable ad space.

But please remember, valuable, viable communities are all about the connections that members are making with each other.

A community space that ONLY serves to get eyeballs on offers isn’t a community at all — it’s an audience.

Now, let’s look at how to measure the health of your Aware/Engage Community, so you can keep it on track…

Aware/Engage Community Metrics

Communities that meet people at the beginning stages of the Customer Value Journey will have an effect on the following metrics:

• Steady Community Growth: But be careful not to treat your community like an audience.
• Offer Awareness: Use tippy-top of funnel content to drive brand engagement and offer awareness.
• Retargeting List Growth: As members become more familiar with your brand and visit your site, you can retarget them to make offers on advertising channels.
  • (RELATED: How to Use Facebook Advertising Pixels to Create High Converting Ad Campaigns)
• Site Engagement Metrics: As members move from awareness to engagement, you should see an increase in visits to your website.
• Word of Mouth (WOM) Referrals to the Community: If your community is valuable to your members, you should see referrals to the community itself.

It’s important to note that these will not result in DIRECT metrics of your Aware/Engage Community. But if you’ve built a successful tribe, you should see a rise in these areas.

(RELATED: Measure the Growth, Activity, and Experience of Your Community (Correctly) with These 4 Metrics)

Now we’ll move on to…

Excite/Ascend Communities

Excite/Ascend Communities meet people after the sale occurs and are primarily made up of customers.

The main goal of this type of community is to build on the value your buyers receive from your brand and turn traditionally transactional customer relationships into stronger emotional relationships.

Excite/Ascend Community Goals

In contrast to Aware/Engage Communities, the marketing goals of Excite/Ascend Communities include… 

• Growing email list/retargeting
• WOM referrals to brand and/or products
• Raising buyer frequency
• Increasing retention
• Nurturing leads and customers
• Maximizing customer value
• Identifying product/content gaps

Excite/Ascend Community Examples

Customer support forums are prime examples of using community to meet people in the middle of the Customer Value Journey.

Take popular gaming console PlayStation as an example.

Here, the goal of the community content — which is almost entirely produced by the users themselves — is to solve issues with the console and accompanying games through peer-to-peer support.

This keeps customers excited about their purchases. When customers are excited, they tend to purchase more.

Here’s a snippet of one of the conversations in the PlayStation forum:

A customer is having difficulty with the new Virtual Reality product. Another user weighed in with a suggestion to play it with the lights off.

Voila! Problem solved.

A customer learned how to use the product better and is now perfectly set up for the purchase of more gaming products.

Our own DigitalMarketer Engage community — a Facebook group for customers of our DigitalMarketer Lab membership — is another example of a community that serves the Excite/Ascend area of the Customer Value Journey.

Our community serves to add value to our membership product, allowing DM Lab members to…

• Connect with each other
• Share best practices
• Solve situational marketing issues
• Give tool recommendations

…and more.

The vast majority of posts by the admin (usually me) are meant to build this sense of community. Like our #RoleCall post that lets members raise their hand if they are an expert on a particular topic…

We’ve found that building a strong Excite/Ascend Community allows members to get even more value from their original purchase. This leads to an increase in retention…

And it encourages customer ascension, as gathering our best customers together naturally leads to discussions of our other products…

Excite/Ascend Community Metrics

Similar to Aware/Engage Communities, the online tribes that meet people at the Excite/Ascend stage of the Customer Value Journey will have an indirect (yet powerful!) effect on some key business metrics…

• Slower, intentional community growth — in some cases, membership is exclusive to verified customers only
• Email/retargeting list growth
• Increase in offer conversion rates
• An uptake in email open rates
• Increase in email click-through rates

Keep in mind, customers who receive value that goes above and beyond their purchase tend to buy from you more often.

And if they have formed emotional bonds with a community of their peers, they are likely to remain loyal.

That’s the power of Excite/Ascend Communities.

Now that you see the key difference in goals, content, and metrics between Aware/Engage Communities and Excite/Ascend Communities, let’s take a look at the last category…

Advocate/Promote Communities

Advocate/Promote Communities meet people at the end of the Customer Value Journey.

The main goal of Advocate/Promote Communities is to equip and encourage customers who are actively providing testimonials and referring their friends, family, and colleagues to your business.

Advocate/Promote Community Goals

As you might have guessed, the goals of Advocate/Promote Communities are specific to online tribes built for their unique place in the Customer Value Journey.

These goals include…

• Increasing the number of customer testimonials
• Growing the number of active promoters
• Encouraging WOM referrals to products/services
• Building affiliate sales of products/services
• Improving retention of active advocates and promoters

Let’s look at how businesses are using Advocate/Promote communities in the real world.

Advocate/Promote Community Examples

The popular review site Yelp has a community program called Yelp Elite (recently rebranded to Yelp Elite Squad, or YES! for short). It’s designed for super-users of their platform.

Admittance is based on user activity — such as supplying helpful reviews and posting engaging photos of venues.

Those lucky enough to be accepted into the program can enjoy many perks, from exclusive meet and greets to members-only events (their page mentions an axe throwing event, I have to admit, I’m intrigued).

Programs like YES! encourage superstar customers to use the platform more often through special events.

And, more significantly, the program strategically rewards their users for using the tool in exactly the way the company intends.

In the same vein, customer relationship management powerhouse Infusionsoft uses their Greenroom community to directly encourage advocates in their customer family.

Through gamification features, The Greenroom allows Infusionsoft superfans to compete among themselves in good-natured challenges by sharing blog posts, booking event tickets, and more.

Advocate/Promote Community Metrics

The metrics of an Advocate/Promote Community should not come as a shock. Successful communities in this area of the Customer Value Journey include…

• New customer testimonials
• An increased number of active promoters
• More WOM referrals to products/services
• Additional affiliate sales of products/services

Now, while your community isn’t a one-size-fits-all, it does have an impact on areas outside its Customer Value Journey stage…

The Halo Effect of Including Community in Your Marketing Strategy

“But, Suzi,” you might be thinking, “couldn’t I expect an Aware/Engage Community to produce excited customers? Won’t an Excite/Ascend Community produce advocates and promoters?”

The answer is: YES!

That’s one of the great things about these online communities — even though the PRIMARY purpose of a community might be meeting people at the beginning of their journey with your brand…

…you will also get excited customers who experience your brand on a deeper level by being a part of your online community.

In the same vein, Excite/Ascend Communities will have a Halo Effect, producing loyal brand advocates and promoters.

As long as you can identify the MAIN reason your community exists — tapping into customers or prospects at Aware/Engage, Excite/Ascend, or Advocate/Promote — you can enjoy the “halo” benefits a successful community will produce.

The Bottom Line

Strategically applying your community into the Customer Value Journey will intrinsically provide the business value you wish to serve.

But it also tackles that pesky misconception that online communities can be all things all the time. 

Trying to have your community be all things will hurt your community and keep it from what it could accomplish.

I’ll leave you with a final piece of advice — don’t measure your community’s success by another community’s metrics!

If you have an Aware/Engage Community meeting people at the beginning of their journey with your brand, don’t judge its success by how many advocates and promoters it produces.

If your Excite/Ascend Community doesn’t happily serve your prospects, don’t worry — that’s not it’s primary function.

By having your community focus on a specific Customer Value Journey category,  you’ll avoid pulling your community in different, competing directions.

The post Build Loyalty, Leads, & Sales in Your Community Using the Customer Value Journey appeared first on DigitalMarketer.