How To Build an Online Community for your Business

One of the reasons I love social media is that it puts small businesses on the same playing field as the big guys. Anyone can start a Twitter page, anyone can join Facebook, and anyone can start blogging - there are no barriers to entry. But there’s also a lot of confusion around what tools to use, how to get started, and how to use them effectively.

Every company should be leveraging social media tools to talk to their customers, identify their target audience, and become an expert voice in their industry. But how do you get your online efforts off the ground, and what are the biggest factors to consider? Here’s my advice on how to build an online community for your business, based on my experiences building Sprouter’s online community over the past two years.

Have a goal in mind from the start. The biggest mistake I see people make in social media is adopting every technology because it’s the hot new craze. While it’s important to pay attention to trends in the industry, if it doesn’t make sense for your business you shouldn’t be using it to build community. Location-based services like Foursquare are getting a ton of press lately, and while it makes sense for a product-based local business like a coffee shop to start building a presence on these networks and offering discounts to people in the area, it won’t make sense for everyone. For example, if you’re a B2B company or you don’t sell directly to consumers how would this benefit you? Pick and choose the platforms that will best help you reach your target demographic, and build your presence there.

Don’t make your customers come to you.So many businesses make the mistake of starting their own online communities, and then wonder why people aren’t flocking to them. The answer is that your customers are already interacting on several online communities, and they can’t fit any more into their busy day. So instead of trying to divert their attention away from those sites, start to have a presence where they hang out. And if you do want your own community, make it easy for people to interact from other places – give them the ability to share your content on Twitter and Facebook, and look into adding your network to services like Ping.fm and Hootsuite.

Go niche.There are tons of niche online communities out there. Whatever your interest – golf, knitting, reality TV – you can find a community of like-minded people who are talking about it. If you want to build your own online community the key is to go as niche as you can. If you own a bakery don’t start a general cooking community – they already exist in spades (Epicurious, Bakespace, etc). Instead, find what makes you unique, or choose what you specialize in, and build a community around that. If you’re famous for your butter tarts start a blog about them – I promise you there are many others out there with that same specific passion, and they will be your most vibrant community members.

Do it for the right reasons.If you want to build a community solely so you can sell to people, don’t bother. The reason the biggest online communities work (Facebook, Twitter, etc) is because they aren’t trying to sell you something at the end of the day – the sites are all about interacting with your friends and peers, and sharing relevant content. Your goal when cultivating a community should be to get your customers talking (to each other and you), and to provide them with some sort of added value – whether that’s a webinar discussing a topic you’re knowledgeable about, or how-to blog posts, or simply facilitating introductions between like-minded community members. If you do it right, your community will come to trust you, and inevitably either purchase your product/service, or recommend it to someone they know.

Invest enough time and resources.One of my favourite social media personalities Scott Stratten always stresses the importance of staying current on social media platforms. Many companies set up their accounts, update or contribute something once, and then walk away. That’s not going to build community, and Scott says it’s akin to walking into a networking event, saying hello, and then turning around and walking out. If you want to start building a community recognize that it will take consistent time and effort – at least an hour to create content every week, and a little time each day to respond to people and interact. If you can’t devote this time consider hiring a Community Manager like me – someone who can devote their time to making sure it flourishes.

Every company has to start somewhere.I know you’re overwhelmed by social media tools. I was too when I started two years ago and didn’t even have a Twitter account or any clue how to use it. There are a ton of great 101 guides for getting started with social media for your business – check out Twitter’s 101 Guide for Business(it has helpful case studies of small businesses using the site effectively), and read prominent blogger Chris Brogan’s post If I Started Today(I read it on the day I started and it helped me out immensely). The bottom line is you can hem and haw all day long about social media, or you can just jump in, experiment, learn, and start connecting with your customers.

Hopefully this helps get you on the right path – for more great advice on building an online community I suggest reading Dharmesh Shah’s book Inbound Marketing– it’s a really informative book for beginners. I’ll be writing a series of How-To posts over the next few months outlining how to get PR for your startup, how to connect with other entrepreneurs online, and more. Have a topic you want to hear more about? Let us know in the comments and we’ll make sure it gets covered.