How to Successfully Build a Brand Community Using the Community Flywheel Model

Why Community Marketing is the New Trend

In the early 2000s, brands effectively conducted advertising and marketing by reaching broad audiences through mass media. However, since the 2010s, new technologies have enabled marketers to target specific demographics and their needs with customized ads.

These personalized ads were effective, but as we entered the 2020s, new privacy regulations and the rising costs of performance marketing led to the rise of community marketing, which focuses on creating deep emotional connections with consumers and enhancing brand loyalty.

Today, community marketing utilizes technological advancements and changing consumer behaviors to encourage more meaningful interactions within communities, establishing long-term relationships between members and the brand as a sustainable growth strategy.

Building an Effective Brand Community with the Community Flywheel Model

The Community Flywheel Model refers to a self-sustaining loop of continuous growth and engagement within a brand’s community through four main stages: attract, engage, fulfill, and amplify.

1. Attract

This stage involves drawing the interest and participation of potential members and customers in the initial phase of the community. Methods to achieve this include:

• Key Content: Provide valuable content and experiences that attract potential community members.
• Influencer Engagement: Use influencers and brand advocates to attract new members and spread the word.
• Key Products: Focus on a few unique products within the brand to draw customer interest.

2. Engage

This stage involves fostering interactions among community members and maintaining ongoing interest and participation:

• Foster Interaction: Encourage interactions among members through forums, social media, and events.
• Provide Support: Offer excellent customer support and actively participate in community discussions.

3. Fulfill

This stage aims to meet the needs of members, thereby increasing customer loyalty:

• Loyalty Rewards: Reward loyal members with exclusive benefits and recognition.
• Co-creation: Involve community members in product development and decision-making processes.

4. Amplify

This stage involves sharing the community’s success stories and spreading the brand’s message widely:

• Share Success Stories: Highlight testimonials and success stories from community members.
• Expand Reach: Use word-of-mouth and social sharing to attract new members and amplify the brand message.

A properly functioning flywheel through these four stages aims for a virtuous cycle of regular member engagement, positive feedback, active participation from brand advocates, and a continuous increase in member numbers.

Enhancing the Community Flywheel

One way to enhance the Community Flywheel is by implementing a purpose-driven team. A purpose-driven organization means a structure where each team member is involved in every process to achieve a singular goal.

Focusing on community marketing, a purpose-driven organizational structure would form a team with members from product, marketing, brand, sales, analytics, and insights departments under the goal of ‘a brand community for the customer.’ This team collaborates to design, develop, test, and launch products based on rapid market testing and community feedback. This approach allows brands to quickly respond to community needs, continuously improve internal execution strategies, and minimize risks.

Conclusion

Community marketing has proven itself as a growth strategy, establishing itself as a major trend in the marketing world. By focusing on genuine engagement and utilizing the Community Flywheel Model, brands can build vibrant, loyal communities that drive sustainable growth and success.

The Community Flywheel provides a structured approach to creating and nurturing a thriving community, aiming for a virtuous cycle of ongoing engagement and expansion. Brands that adopt this strategy can expect effective marketing performance even in a changing marketing environment.