According to Hootsuite’s global report on the state of the digital landscape in 2019, the average Internet user spends more than 6.5 hours online every day, with social media accounting for the greatest share of this time.
However, there’s a difference between people passively consuming content on social media, versus garnering a group of people who continuously contribute to and look forward to participating in an ongoing discussion in your social channels.
This is why we focus on two overarching community building objectives at all times:
1) Continuously growing an audience at a comfortable speed based on a project’s overall goals and objectives, and
2) Creating opportunities for the audience to regularly interact and form unique experiences
To get cracking on this monumental task, a safe non-judgmental space must be provided to encourage participation; from there, relationships between your audiences and project will begin to take shape, slowly turning into a vibrant community.
Ultimately, this is when your project starts to reap the benefits:
1) The community, when organically grown and managed, will become brand advocates.
2) A vibrant community turns into a great source of information, in which newbies learn from regulars who share, freeing up your employees’ valuable time.
3) A well-built community fosters retention, since trust grows from within, and your advocates form a strong line of defense against the buildup of FUD.
4) Priceless feedback and data from the community’s collective wisdom will most often be readily available when requested, which could potentially steer certain decisions for the better.
5) Your project will begin to reach a broader audience, as word spreads and scales over time.
Based in Singapore, Fabian is the Director of Community for BlockGroup.
