Being part of a community, tribe, or social group has been on the rise for the past several years. People are longing to be heard, valued and appreciated. They are seeking support, like-minded people, a safe space to express themselves and a sense of purpose – like they are contributing to something bigger than themselves.
When people find an online community they resonate with, they immediately think ‘these are exactly the type of people I need in my life right now’. There is such power, loyalty, trust and devotion that is developed when an online community is built in the most efficient manner to support your niche market.
Here are our top recommendations on how to create an online community for your niche
- Before you even start thinking about building a community, make sure you have thoroughly developed your customer personas – Who are exactly your ideal clients? Where do they live? What’s their lifestyle like? What are their paint points? What do they truly desire? How can you get in touch with them?
Get as specific as you can. At Wise Up Marketing, we dive deep with our clients on identifying their target market by hosting Digital Marketing Strategy Workshops. The more you know about your niche market, the easier it is for you to get yourself in front of them, speak their language and receive feedback on the problems you are trying to solve for them.
- Once you have a strong understanding of your niche market, list all the reasons why creating a community for them to join would benefit them in the long run. Communities are built to grow and be nurtured. The most important questions you must ask yourself are – Why would they want to join your community? What are you offering to your community at the beginning, middle and future stages with them? What is so unique about your online community that compares to no other?
The answers to these questions are exactly what will create excitement, buzz and are essential when developing a Social Media Strategy & Content Strategy. Think of it like you are leading the pack – your vision and the movement you are seeking to create is why they truly want to join you. Remember, what you desire to seek is truly seeking you.
- It is important to explore the different digital and offline channels your ideal niche community engages with. This will help you carve out a plan of action of which channels to establish a presence and ultimately build a strong community on. When evaluating these channels, make sure that your brand and communication strategy is aligned with your preferred choices. Once you have selected the channels that you, your brand and niche market resonate with, explore all the different options these platforms offer you to communicate with your potential community members (ex. instant messaging, paid advertising, sending out invitations etc).
- You may have heard that content is gold online. It is what can attract attention, what people engage with and what can be the deal breaker when it comes to joining a community. Content needs to speak to the audience of your choice. Once you have a strong understanding of your niche market, you are able to customise the content to suit their needs, spell out what you are offering them and how it will help them. Content should be tailored to match the voice and tone of the audience. It should be relatable but relevant. It should have personality and depth. We recommend testing and measuring different types of content to see what sparks the interest of your ideal niche community.