While large online communities have played an important role in digital marketing for your business, now is the time to shift the focus to smaller ones, so you can achieve even more via online brand engagement. Enter micro-communities.
Micro-communities have grown markedly over the past few years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced so many companies to pivot to the digital space to sustain and grow their business. More and more, digital marketers have found that unlocking the power of micro-communities is paying off in the form of increased brand recognition and engagement, resulting in even greater financial gains.
Micro-communities are niche online groups, built around the most actively engaged members of your target audience. These groups include people who have in common a thread of alignment, such as location, lifestyle, interests, etc. They can exist on one or several online platforms, from Instagram to Facebook to LinkedIn to members-only sites, providing an online environment that is more intimate and focused than larger forums.
Micro-communities are effective in terms of digital marketing because they are compelling to an audience that is committed to participating in focused conversations and sharing ideas about a brand. They enable you to target your most engaged followers. Micro-communities benefit businesses like yours in this way because they provide highly engaging content in an online space that values privacy, community, and connection between your followers.
Micro-communities can help you grow your business and increase brand awareness by way of micro-influencers who, like traditional social media influencers, are considered experts in a particular area or niche. Micro-influencers expand your audience via their perceived authenticity–people tend to trust and engage with those they view as similar to themselves or as people with a common interest or goal. Furthermore, they contribute high-quality, thoughtful content themselves–content often in the form of dialogue that encourages audience participation, thereby increasing overall brand engagement.
If you want to strengthen your reputation as an authority in your field, micro-communities give you an outlet for targeted messaging for the very specific audience you have. They allow you to stimulate interest and to foster relationships among your followers based around the product or service you have to offer; and these relationships are essential because they encourage feedback from your audience that can help you improve what you have to offer, as well as your overall business model.
Micro-communities can pay off even more because they inspire loyalty to a brand. Loyalty is built when you can interact with your audience in a much more direct and personal way, as is possible within a micro-community. When consumers feel like they have a relationship with you, they are more likely to tout your brand to others they encounter in person and across online platforms who would benefit from your product or service. This allows for the most beneficial kind of value-added for your business.
Building a micro-community for your brand can provide many opportunities to enhance your reputation and grow your business. If you want to start a micro-community, let the digital marketing mavens of Eye See You Now (ESYN) help! An Austin, Texas-based professional digital marketing company, ESYN is focused on increasing the digital footprint and enhancing the online presence of your business. The skilled digital marketing specialists at ESYN are ready to assist you through the use of proven methods, including building micro-communities on social media platforms. Please contact the digital marketing experts at Eye See You Now to discuss your digital marketing needs during a free consultation.