Episode 388

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Think about some of your favorite brands for just a moment. What aspects of those brands make you feel the most connected to them? Do you ever find yourself talking to your friends or family about a company you love so much because of what they stand for or how they connect with people?

Enter community building as a marketing strategy — the next big thing in brand marketing, according to Mark Schaefer. This week, he will teach us why brands need to hop on this trend as quickly as possible and how agencies can join in on the fun, too.

As business leaders, the best way to reach our audience is to turn that audience into a community and connect with the people who are your biggest advocates. In this episode, we’ll talk about the role of creating emotional connections to your brand, the difference between an audience and a community, how agencies can become leaders in community building for brands, and so much more. Mark will leave you thinking about how your agency can evolve into a thriving community while growing your brand organically.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.
community building

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

  • Mark’s inspiration for writing his book on the next big brand marketing strategies
  • The 3 trends that came together to bring community building to the forefront of brand marketing
  • The importance of having an emotional connection with your community
  • The major difference between audience and community
  • How can agencies begin helping brands with community building?
  • Nurturing organic advocacy for your brand
  • Perfecting community building in both online and face-to-face interactions
  • Some pitfalls to avoid when beginning to dabble in community building
  • Can/should agencies create their own communities?

“If you are only looking at community as a way to sell more stuff or as a way to do customer self-service, you're missing the biggest opportunity in the history of overlooked marketing opportunities.” @markwschaefer Click To Tweet
“The greatest success an advertiser or marketer can have is by doing something so interesting, so compelling, and so unmissable that your customers start talking to each other about it.” @markwschaefer Click To Tweet
“You've got to think about the purpose or beliefs that drive a business and how you can have a bigger impact on the world. How can you achieve your goals in a better, faster, bigger way if your customers come alongside you?” @markwschaefer Click To Tweet
“There's an epidemic of loneliness, isolation, depression, and even growing rates of suicide. And 40% of millennials say they have no friends. So they're longing to belong.” @markwschaefer Click To Tweet
“When many of these other marketing tactics fade away, and we evolve to the next thing, the last thing that's going to be left is community.” @markwschaefer Click To Tweet

Ways to contact Mark:

Resources: