Nibletz Staff
For most entrepreneurs, the success of a business relies on the strength and effectiveness of the business strategy, whether it is marketing, sales or even investment. While it is indeed essential to have a healthy market strategy, there is a lot more to the business life than defining a plan for financial growth. Indeed, ore and more successful companies define themselves not regarding monetary worth, but regarding customer satisfaction, employee happiness, and the level of integration and interaction with their communities. In the business world, the community can mean a variety of things. Indeed, it could refer to the users who follow your social media accounts and interact with your company on these platforms. For others, the community is part of the local environment a company belongs to, the town and its inhabitant, the region, and per extensions the economic, social and environmental health in this specific area. So which community does count more in the business world and why is that so?
What Is A Community?
First of all, before defining whether your business community should exist in the digital sphere or the local area, it is essential to take the time to define what a community is. You can find an accurate definition at BusinessDictionary.com/definition/community but if you’d rather get the summarized version, a community refers to a network of individuals who share common interests and who use the exchange of information, ideas and any other resources as a form of collaboration. From a business’s perspective, the community needs to be part of your overall philosophy which means it needs to be a natural process. A tactical and strategic approach is not the way to build a community feeling, as it will unmistakably appear too commercial and salesy. Communities may not provide a direct and measurable financial return on investment in the short term, but that’s because it’s not what they are about. Communities are about sharing common ideas and inspiring each other. Building a strong community is, however, part of creating additional value for those who engage with your business. Used as a differentiating factor, communities deliver a powerful branding message for a company.
Building Your Digital Community With Interactions
The majority of companies perceive communities are being primarily a digital network of people. This is especially true for startups and remote companies that may not have the necessary funds to set a local office. As a result, they begin the creation of a digital community to anchor the company into the reality of the market. Tapping into the advantages of a digital community can be a determining factor of success. But how do they do it?
As a rule of the thumb, when you approach digital communities – whether you choose to build your own such as Crowdfunder or you choose to rely on social media platforms – it is important to share meaningful information. You’ve guessed it: ‘read more here’ and another message in the same vein will not get you any attention. Without meaning, your interactions can be perceived as spammy, and that is the last thing that you want. Building a genuine exchange is indeed the key to the survival of a digital community. Additionally, it’s important to remember that more and more community users expect the possibility to establish a real connection with your company. In other words, you need to remove the clinical automated process that is often deployed to respond to tweets or emails. Your community thrives on contact, and that’s where personalization pays off.
Why Do You Need A Digital Community?
It may seem strange for large companies to maintain a strong digital community, even though they have a multiple of office locations. Shouldn’t they instead be focusing on their local communities? In reality, the creation of a strong digital community is essential for companies of all size. Indeed, social media is the main driver for engagement and relationship for 53% of brands. It’s so important that customers prefer to interact on social media with their favorite brand to checking their website. The reason why online communities are so vibrant is that users find that the Internet has made it easier for them to join and support a cause from the comfort of their home, or anywhere they go with their smartphone. It’s easy to stay connected and integrated nowadays. As a result, decision makers rely on their social media communities, whether it is to launch a new product – it’s an easy way to test people’s reactions – or to improve their brand reputation. Additionally, there is no other communication platform that allows companies to communicate so directly with their target audience and to monitor so clearly how their followers react
Building Your Local Community With Local Values
But there is naturally another form a community, which is the local community. In other words, it is the community of the area where your company is based. Unfortunately, most companies don’t immediately see the advantage of creating a solid local community feeling. They tend to consider it as an additional PR campaign strategy. In truth, the ability to build a local community with strong values impacts on a company’s reputation and brand perception. What’s the best way to do?
First of all, before considering interacting with your community, it is important to ensure that your office building promotes the right messaging. For instance, the building needs to be clean, and the roof fully maintained for the safety of your employees as well as the appearance of your company – if you are unsure how to deal with commercial building maintenance, you can find more at WildwoodRoof.com/commercial-roof-repair. Your next step then is to ensure that your company can promote local opportunities, from the construction of new infrastructure that can benefit from employees and customers to partnerships with local charities and shops. For example, a great way of promoting your local community is to build local products for the office kitchen whenever possible.
Why Do You Need A Local Community?
It may seem like an odd tactic, especially when your company can benefit so much from digital communities, but local communities matter too. Working with the local community means that your company participates in the improvement of the local economy by buying local and hiring local too whenever you can. As you support the local economy, you can be assured that the local economy also supports your company in return. It’s a win-win situation!
