The Spark for Business Fireworks
When thinking about brand identity, don’t just think about the moving parts of what your brand is and what it does, but about how it can bring people in and give them a place to belong. How does your brand or business amplify your customer’s lives? How do you make it become part of them?
Social Dislocation Creates a Need for Community
With social media use becoming ubiquitous across society, it’s easier than ever to reach out to someone and harder than ever to touch them. Studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between social media usage and feelings of social isolation and loneliness and a 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation survey showed that 22% of respondents reported “often or always” feeling lonely, left out, or isolated.
With nearly a quarter of the adult American population deeply disconnected from the society around them, brands and businesses have an opportunity to build strong customer markets by fostering a sense of community and connectedness.
How to Build Community Into Your Brand or Business
First, be authentic in your social media connections. A good social brand should have a voice and an opinion, but not chase trending topics or pander to the audience.
Next, review your websites and other public-facing materials to ensure that they are on brand and that they are welcoming. Written materials that are simple, open, and friendly bring in people much more quickly than stilted and excessively verbose communiques.
Lastly, if appropriate for your brand or business, consider encouraging low-key in-person events. For all the social media toolkits and channels out there, there is no perfect substitute for face-to-face interactions.
Consider Reaching Out to Experts
With so much else to do while running a brand or business, making community the bedrock of your enterprise can seem like a daunting task. Building community is also done over time and time is often at a premium for brands and businesses.
If community building is something your brand or business would like to explore, but you find yourself short of the time or knowledge necessary to get started, consider reaching out to the social media experts at SML. They have the knowledge and skill set necessary to get your business moving in the right direction with community building.
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