Community-Based Marketing (CBM): The Super Tool to Win Your Customers

“You cannot buy engagement. You have to build engagement.” -Tara-Nicholle Nelson

Increased reach, customer acquisition, and brand awareness—all these are the elements of an ideal strategic plan. And every brand, at some point, aims to achieve these goals by investing in community-based marketing.

Well, CBM is certainly not the new kid on the block. It’s a marketing tactic that’s been in the industry for a while.

So, what is it, and how can brands leverage it to gain a competitive advantage? Let’s dig in to find out!

What is Community Based Marketing (CBM)?

Community-based marketing is a strategy that targets brand marketing towards a specific audience or community. It focuses on bringing like-minded people together with a shared interest.

The result? Increased brand awareness and better relationships!

With better awareness, brands can win the trust of the community that they’re targeting. This leads to better sales opportunities, customer acquisition & retention, and increased ROI.

Brands can identify different communities in different places such as –

• Slack
• Discord
• B2B Forums
• Virtual Events
• Social Media Platforms

Generally, a branded online community can be found across a combination of these mediums. But many organizations opt for closed communities to develop a stronger relationship with their users and get a 360-degree view of their needs and preferences.

With CBM, brands leverage the connection between themselves and the users, in order to attract more customers. This leads to 2X sales as brands are able to focus more on what their customers want.

Is Community-Based Marketing the Right Fit for You?

As we all know, there’s no such thing as a “one-stop solution” when it comes to marketing strategies. So, there might be a chance that CBM is not the right fit for you.

CBM is ideal for brands that are constantly innovating and releasing new products, updates, versions, and offers. This way, brands get the opportunity to keep their target community/audience always intrigued and interested in their products and services.

With CBM, brands attempt to build engagement that’s ongoing and evergreen. Not just this, CBM is great when it comes to offering a stellar CX.

3 Benefits of Following a Community-Based Marketing Approach

The benefits of maintaining an engaged community are plenty. Let’s take a look at some reasons to follow a CBM-led approach.

1. Increased Sales and Revenue: With CBM, brands can create awareness about their products and services. They can also gather valuable customer feedback in the form of user-generated content. An online community is a goldmine when it comes to generating customer loyalty and getting authentic feedback. Using this feedback, brands can improve their products and services which ultimately results in better sales and revenue.

2. Creation of a Unique User Experience: Purchasing products from a specific brand enables people to join a community. It gives them an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than just discussions about your products and services. A unique customer experience is created when brands use a community to raise engagement levels and involve their users in product ideation and creation by utilizing their feedback. This motivates users to keep making purchases from the same brand and generates loyal advocates.

3. Innovation and Product Enhancement: With community-based marketing, brands can test their products and services on their existing users and customers. Using their feedback, they can make product enhancements, innovate, and get first-hand insight into what their users want.

With CBM in their corner, brands can reduce dependence on paid ads in the long run. How, you ask? It leads to the creation of organic traffic that is testimony to the authenticity of a brand.

Focus on Your Audience for Your Community to be Influential

Online communities are the perfect medium for brands to build a reputation and maintain it in the long run. Here’s a pro tip- brands should never forget to connect with their community of users with a sense of empathy. This will give them a sense of belongingness and authenticity. When a brand can win the customers’ trust, its community-based marketing efforts will be successful.

Wish to Create Cutting-Edge Communities That Boost ROI? Talk to Us!