In order to achieve any ultimate objective, we must have carefully designed initiatives and a guiding philosophy.
– Dennis Chung
We are all familiar with the phrase, “If you build it they will come.” In the world of online marketing, I think the inverse obtains: only if they come, can you say you have built something great.
In a popular Ted Talks by Simon Sinek titled “How great leaders inspire action“, he repeated one profound saying:
People don’t buy what you’re selling, they buy why you’re selling it.
With this in mind, the importance of a community philosophy for brands comes into view. Philosophies drive ideas, and action, they inform how, why and what we do. Without defining why you want to build a community, and clearly outlining the value you want to add to your customers and followers, it is impossible to develop a strategy for community growth, retention, and effectiveness.
All companies should ask themselves:
- Why do we do what we do?
- Who do we want to attract and why?
- What are their values?
Find the core principle, the core values that drive your action. This reason, this truth, should form a central theme of why and who you want to be apart of your community.
When seeking to build a digital following, understand that what you are truly building is a community of like-minded individuals, who’s ideas, values and interests intersect. This is NOT just about your brand and what you can directly contribute/gain via your products or services. People do business with persons they like, similarly, persons buy from people that they think like them as well.
In one of my recent posts, 6 Tips for Rebranding for 2016, I sounded the call for each and every one of us to build a tribe (complete with shofar in hand). Every serious online marketer wants to expand their audience and achieve influencer status in their respective niche. A powerful personal brand, resulting influencer status and its benefits are directly tied to the amount of persons willing to listen and more importantly make decisions based on said ‘influence’.A tribe is important for a number of reasons:
- Increasing your social influence
- Brand relevancy
- Expanding your client base.
However, your reasons for creating this tribe are more important than the tribe itself.
There is a popular maxim that says, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. This saying speaks volumes in any interaction, because without a goal in mind, no destination can exist. For brands, this is even more important because they are based on values and a promise of the same. If you don’t know the motivation behind the promise, how can you ever hope to truly deliver on it.
If content is king, its creators are destined to be royalty – Kemal Brown