Being from a sales-minded household as a kid, I have always had a bent to get as many people “on board” as possible. No matter the situation, I have always wanted to influence people in a positive way. The more the merrier!
In 2016 this mass appeal might not be realistic or even desirable. In fact, some experts I have been talking to recently are focusing on really engaging a small group of people in a much more meaningful way. Their desire is to create tribes of people who actually care about the specific brand and/or cause.
This is really fascinating to me. I love the idea of building something around sincere and authentic engagement. Think of it this way. Rather than building a marketing website with a bunch of pretty pictures, the history of our company, and a list of the great things we have done, we make the customers the hero of the story. Instead of looking inward for your marketing material, perhaps look outward and tell your customers’ story. Harnessing more than just your company story creates an inviting brand, which makes each customer a voluntary member of the group in a way that no “premium customer” sign up form ever could. Let’s face it; the passion that drives the human spirit has always been about the tribe, and it always will be.
Many have gotten this wrong over the years. They have defined “passion” as “convincing” the masses. This aggressive type of approach may have worked in the past, but these days it is all about inviting fans to join the club.
Let’s take this concept to a different level.
Let’s say you are building a loyal tribe, and you want to provide real value to the tribe members. You want to engage with them at a deeper level. You want to cultivate a community. Communities are built when members tell stories that resonate with the other members, and members share ideas and support each other.
Now community-building is exciting. Why not build a web-based platform that engages at a community level? This will open so many doors for you and your brand. This community you are building can engage mobile fans as well as web fans. You can direct the tribe’s attention to events, new products or any other experience that will elevate their experience with your brand. You can have so much fun with this! You have the option to add the ability for your tribe to post Instagram pictures, make comments to your company Facebook page and tweet about their experience on Twitter. The sky is the limit.
To take this concept to a whole new level, custom web and mobile development allows you to build your own review section where current tribe members to give recommendations and answer questions for the new tribe members. This will create exclusivity which leads to brand loyalty which leads to scarcity mentality. This will lead to a whole new level of sales growth.
Too good to be true? Don’t take my word for it. Take a look at what the experts are saying about the importance of this subject.
Scott Webb- Brand Capitalist
Laurie Macomber- Owner, Content Marketing Boutique Agency: Blue Skies Marketing
Mike Dillard- http://selfmademan.com/
If you are ready to start building an irresistible brand, we can help you navigate your way through the process of building a custom community platform.