The most successful creators out there understand the intersection of community and personal brand.
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re one of those creators. And you’re probably wondering how to build a community around your brand. The good news is that there are powerful community platforms for creators that make it easy to accomplish that goal.
Ahead, we’re looking at the ins and outs of how to build a community around your brand. We’ll unpack a few methods to try, but first, let’s talk about why you should build a community in the first place.
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Why should you build a community around your brand?
Building a community around your brand gives your brand more value and staying power.
Whether you’re scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, it’s clear that new brands are showing up everywhere, all the time. When there are so many options available to customers, it can be incredibly hard for them to determine which brand to invest in.
But you know what makes that easier? Having a community that is energized and actively talking about your brand.
When you build a community around your brand, you’re cultivating a group of people who will vouch for the quality of your product. It’s one thing to hear that a brand is great from the brand itself. It’s another to hear praise from someone that is actively involved with your content.
If people see that members of your community are accomplishing their goals by following your work, then they might be compelled to join in too.
Because at the end of the day, the community behind a brand is what keeps it alive, not the other way around. Now that we’ve covered why you should build a community around your brands, let’s look at methods that will help you do it.
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How to build a community around your brand (3 ways)
1. Online Courses
A community is a group of people working to accomplish a goal together.
Creating an online course is a great way to build a community around your brand because you’re providing a group of people the pathway to accomplish a common goal with each other’s help and support along the way.
It doesn’t matter if your brand is about fitness and wellness, starting a small business, or providing support for new parents. When you offer an online course, you can teach people new skills while also keeping them invested in your brand.
Online courses are a great addition to your brand because they can grow with you and your online community. Best of all, you don’t need to be a teacher in the traditional sense (you know, chalkboard, classroom, etc.) to teach an online course. If you have a unique perspective, that’s enough to get people invested.
If you’re wondering how you might go about this, try answering these questions:
- What is something you do well? Think about something that you feel your brand does well. This could be a skill, idea, or lifestyle. It doesn’t need to be something complicated, either. In fact, if you’re starting from scratch, it’s better to choose something simple.
- How did you get good at it? Once you’ve narrowed what you’re focusing on, think about how your brand got to a place where it excelled at what you’ve picked. People love stories. If you can articulate your journey to them—both the ups and downs—they will be more invested in what your brand is all about.
- What steps should someone take to learn it? Remember, your online course doesn’t need to be about a very complex topic or idea. You can show people how to accomplish a simple goal and that can be just as effective. Think about it this way: you’re laying down the tracks for your members to follow so they can accomplish their goals. And for a lot of folks, simply having the steps they need to take laid out for them is all they need to succeed.
If you can answer these questions, then building a community around your brand with an online course is a good option.
2. Paid Memberships
Another aspect to consider when thinking about how to build a community for your brand is offering a paid membership service.
Paid memberships allow you to give members exclusive benefits like live events, networking opportunities, and exclusive deals or offers. The membership should provide them with results that they couldn’t obtain simply by following you for free.
Creating a membership service for your brand is a great way to expand your online community. Most of the major social media websites—including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter—are based around building a “following.” Often, that means that the relationships you build around your brand are limited to one-way, surface level connections.
When you build a community around your brand with a membership site, because you’re opening up the lines of communication with your members. Instead of superficial connections, you’re providing your members with a two-way conversation.
Think of it this way: When you use a social media platform for your brand, you’re talking to people about what you offer. But when you create a membership site, you’re building a community around your brand by connecting people together to interact with each other.
Part of keeping a brand alive is understanding how to sustain the conversation. When you have a membership site, you’re bringing together your biggest fans who will then spread your praises around the world.
3. Course + Community
Okay, this idea might seem wild. But you don’t have to choose between creating an online course or building a paid membership site. You can do both!
In fact, these two methods go hand in hand, especially when you’re thinking about how to build a community around your brand. Providing a membership that is so valuable you can charge for it and giving the members a chance to learn new skills through your brand is a powerful thing.
Remember that building a community for your brand means enabling real connections with your members. This isn’t just about selling people courses and memberships and hoping they stick around.
An added benefit of the coupling of online courses and memberships is that it allows your members to build relationships with each other. That means they can help each other stay true to the new habits they’re developing and on track to completing their goals. And those connections that they form will keep them coming back and renewing their subscriptions year after year.
Experiment with how to build a community around your brand
There’s a lot to think about when planning how to build a community around your brand, but you don’t need to have it all figured out from the start.
When you’re building a community around your brand, there are going to be times where you’re unsure of what to do. There are going to be times where the plans you set into motions end up not being the right ones.
While that might be scary, it’s also expected.
The great thing about online courses and paid memberships is that they can grow with you and your brand. When you’re starting out, you can release content for your online course as you go.
And in your paid membership area—this might seem like a wild concept—ask your members what they’d like to see more of! Not only will that build trust, but it will get people to stick around too. It’s empowering for people to know that they have a say in what this community your building is all about.
Building a community around your brand means making sure your supporters feel that their voices are being heard. These three methods are just a few avenues for you to foster connections with your members and between your members.
Ready to start?
We believe that the best way to build a community around your brand is to choose a platform with powerful community building tools.
Mighty Networks is a leader in the world of online community building and has numerous tools for you to experiment with to foster a thriving community, offer paid memberships, and design online courses. You also get a powerful website builder that gives you the tools you need to deliver your awesome content.
On top of that, with a Mighty Network, you’ll be able to offer all of these pieces together under your own brand, instantly available on web, iOS, and Android. Don’t underestimate the power of your members being able to access your brand wherever they are.
Mighty Co-Host™
We’ve made it to the end of the article, so that means it’s time to get started and Mighty Networks makes it easy to get started with Mighty Co-Host™. Using Chat GPT, Mighty Co-Host™ is here to help you build the community for the brand you’ve been dreaming about.
Type in any ideas you have about the community you want to build in the box below. Mighty Co-Host™ can transform an idea–or even just a few words–into community suggestions that your members will love.
Yes, this includes an awesome name. If you don’t already have one, Co-Host™ will generate a memorable, shareable, and descriptive name.
But the most magical part is that Co-Host™ will also instantly generate an entire brand identity for you.
With the power of ChatGPT-4, it will build you:
- A Landing Page
- A Tagline
- Social Announcements
- Invitations
- A Welcome Post
- Starting Community Questions
Give it a shot!
