8 Essential Strategies to Build a Thriving Customer Community

When I joined the DigitalMarketer team three+ years ago, I didn’t know much about community management.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(NOTE: Want to build a thriving online community that positively impacts your business’ bottom line? Become a Certified Community Manager Specialist and learn how to leverage Facebook Groups, forums, and social platforms to build a community that will drive leads, sales, and customer loyalty today!)

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.

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.

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.

“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!

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