What is a Customer Community? (+Examples) |

Customer relationships that are one-way are a thing of the past in they were in. The top brands of the times don't simply talk to their customers, they engage with them and build meaningful connections. And this is the point where customer communities come into the picture.

In this post in this article, we'll talk about the definition of customer-centric community, drawing on the latest research in academia to explain what makes a community for customers distinctive. We'll discuss the advantages of having a community for customer support, and give you some instances of community relationships.

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What is a community?

A Customer community is an exclusive space that hosts a relationship between a company or brand and its customers; it could allow inquiries and responses, information exchange, customer education or promotions, as well as customer support and feedback. This relationship could be built by a variety of methods, for example, through the use of email, a website as well as social media platforms, or a dedicated online forum.

The most important thing here is RELATED. Good customer communities aren't just places for brands to throw sales pitches. It's been said that people want to do business with those they "know are like and trust," which is exactly the way a community of customers works the best. It allows the trust of customers to increase.

Community of customers could be conceptually understood as digging into what's called " Social Identity Theory :" when people become part of any group, including excellent customer groups-they experience a sense of belonging, sense of self-worth, purpose and self-worth.

Here are some stunning examples of the kind of customer communities, whether free, enterprise communities, or brand community paid for accomplish...

• A non-profit organization has joined 9,000 nationwide members.        
  
• The faith-based community has expanded to 470 leaders in 67 countries.        
  
• An entrepreneurship org. was launched with 5,000 members. They recouped their capital investment in a community app for customers within 2 half weeks.      
  
• A health-focused launch to 100 high-ticket members increased the ARR by $40,000.        
  
• One community launched a 13-week add-on course and brought in an additional $100k of revenue in 2 months.        
  
• A personal finance group produced $130K over five days, using their most recent course.        
  
• One socially-minded SAAS company mixed a customer-community application with regular meetings and saw a 70% rise in engagement and contributions.        
  

What a customer community is NOT

Understanding the theoretical foundation for community-building helps us understand how great communities of customers do not belong on your email list or even your Facebook group. To reap the benefits of community below it is necessary to have at least created members who feel like they are part of the community.

In this regard below are some the things that a community of customers isn't:

• An email list        
  
• The number of followers on social media you have        
  
• The members of your Facebook group        
  
• The amount of comments of your post        
  
• The people calling your customer service number        
  
• Your chatbot users        
  

Since we identified that the primary ingredient of customer community is being a part of it, it's easy to see the reasons why these aren't customer-centric community. All of them are interactions with your company, however they're not able to convey the feeling of belonging.

The closest we can get here could be an Facebook group  however, in this group, we see lacking brand loyalty and belonging. It's impossible to utilize Facebook to build the kind of vibrant relationship and member-led participation that builds a genuine brand-related community.

Why you should build a customer community

    The benefits of a user community

Access member-led development

A new generation of high-impact businesses built around community membership. Indeed, communities are an extremely profitable business model that McKinsey recognized it as the ideal business model of the future that is a flywheel of community.

We've seen the explosion of member-led growth businesses-including customer communities. If paid, they can create incredible recurring revenue opportunities. But the community also puts the growth of its members into autopilot.

We've talk about community as "a company that is growing its own self," due to the mix of member-generated content, energy generated by members AND AI tools to simplify the management of your community implies that it's easier than ever to create the human connections that drive your company.

The secret is that big brands like Logo, Apple, and Nike are all leveraging which is resulting in massive profits. (See the examples below. )

Forget about funnels. There's nothing like a customer community to grow a brand automatically.

Improve brand loyalty

A study in 2022 suggested that thriving brand communities are able to have a significant impact on the loyalty of customers to brands because the community can become an integral part of a member's identity. Actually, the strong link between social identity and loyalty to brands can be developed intentionally-and it plays into perceived value and customer satisfaction.

The process of transforming customers, subscribers or even followers into members shouldn't take lightly. Contrary to the relationship types, members belong.

Being a part of the community instead of purchasing is a fundamental part of building a community flywheel.

Enhance CLV

We are aware that customer lifetime value (CLV) is fed by retention. However, only a handful of brands get it right. According to a study, SurveySparrow observed that the best companies had around a 94% retention ratio, despite the fact that the retention rate was just 4% in some industries.

Though brand loyalty can be valuable as a whole however, it can also lead into increasing your customer lifetime value. This is a no-brainer as retention and connections-again by converting buyers into members can increase your CLV more than anything otherwise.

Makes selling a breeze.

One of the things that was discovered in the study of flywheels in community demonstrated was that selling can be made radically more simple in a social setting.

The standard sales funnel concentrates on pushing all of your prospects through the sales process as you lose more until you find the small portion that buys.

With a customer community, you don't do this. Most people who are your "leads" are always warm, and unless they quit the community they'll remain in your community whether they're willing to purchase yet or otherwise.

This creates an incredibly wealthy sales environment in which you do not have to depend on fake deadlines or pressure Keep nurturing the relationship and delivering value. You'll be amazed at your results be awe-inspiring in the event that you decide to market an item. Many of our communities tell we that they've got people who want to know what they can purchase.

Then we come back to...

Receive the most comprehensive feedback

Customer feedback is vital. But HubSpot's team of researchers found the following: 42% of firms never survey their customers or gather feedback!

What if there were an easier way to gather feedback than sending out surveys and expecting a response?

Enter: the customer community. When we talked to the Oiselle Volee, a women's clothing company about their customer community, they told us that they had something truly amazing. The Oiselle customer group was providing members with an area to connect with. However, it also offered a valuable feedback loop for developing products. You could receive instant feedback about their product concepts or new products. Sometimes, they even had customers requesting items they had not even ever thought of.

Put customer service on autopilot

We've pointed out Apple as a cool customer-centric example in the following. Apple uses their customer community to provide customer support and also gamifies the whole process so that the most dedicated Apple users show up at no cost and provide answers for free!

This is a clever approach to bring trust in the brand that allows users to channel the sense of belonging to the brand that customers are feeling for the brand to an effective way of bringing customer service live.

Instead of calling a 1-800 number or waiting on chatbots, users can get their questions answered through the forum. That's powerful.

Let transformations take place

Customers purchase products or service because they need something. Most often, the thing they want will result in a change of some sort, whether it's a clean kitchen (i.e. oven cleaner), to lose 10lbs (ie. running gear) and to create an ideal garden (i.e. a gardening publication) as well as to enjoy weekend days in the garden with the family (i.e. barbecue ).

However, just because someone purchases the tent does not suggest they're able to camp. This is where a great customer-based community can be found. If you are able to go above the sale, and assist your clients succeed in using your service or product You will soon have rave supporters who'll share the news with others about your company. A community of customers isn't just to increase sales. It's about helping your customers succeed.

There's more! A vibrant customer-based community can offer valuable feedback on your products and services. Feedback that could otherwise require you pay for.

Because of these and other reasons, building a customer community is a great idea. Why are you sitting around to do?

    Learn to use to create a thriving customer community here!

Harness real engagement

If your notion of engagement with customers is to hope the posts you post on social media will receive 15 likes, then it's not the right way to go. Customer communities can lead to real engagement with customers, and create relations with clients- and remember, we said that the aim is for the customer to become part of the community.

It's amazing when you can take off the treadmill of content of social media and build real-time engagement that people enjoy.

8 awesome examples of communities for customers

1. Topstitch Makers

There are many amazing examples of community-based customer services that you can find right here . Take a look at Leigh Metcalf, who built an Mighty Network (AKA a "sewcial network") as an expansion of her sewing and fabric company: Topstitch Studio and Lounge. The company's Mighty Network, Topstitch Makers is a place to learn and offer weekly sewalongs that help members to sew their way to successful outcomes.

2. Duolingo

Duolingo is an app that made language learning fun as well as easy and much free (freemium)! In the background, Duolingo has a dedicated volunteer community that devotes itself to assisting users with their language needs and improving the quality of the application.

Built on the belief that EVERYONE ought to have access language learning, these passionate polyglots even volunteer their time to incorporate new languages and modules onto the website!

3. Oiselle

Oiselle is a female-focused clothing brand for runners that wants to do more than just sell merchandise and help its customers connect and learn from other people. They've built a Mighty Network, Oiselle Volee that is based on the pleasure of exercise. At first, it was just an opportunity to connect with a running partner, but the pandemic expanded what is offered by the Oiselle community does; now its 4000 members can find a community by engaging in real-time conversations as well as thriving online events.

4. Lego

Lego can be described as a multibillion dollar brand, known to kids for the amazing building potential and known by their parents as landmines that hurt the moment you step onto them.

Just kidding!

Actually, Lego is loved around the globe by both children as well as adults, and a collection of devoted builders share ideas on the Lego customer community. Members are able to choose which Lego builds will receive the stamp of acceptance to be genuine Lego kits!

5. Peloton

Peloton became famous in the midst of the epidemic when we were all striving to get fit in our homes. Peloton created a thriving customer community around exercise. Participants can share scores, chat via video throughout their workouts, and support each other in the Peloton Facebook group.

6. Adobe

Adobe products are devoted to making videos, photos as well as music. They're industry standards. However, ask any person who has ever utilized any Adobe product and they'll be able to tell you they're difficult to understand.

The Adobe customer community offers a forum for users to ask questions and get answers, as well as tips for making the most out of the software. Their slogan "Come to get help, and be encouraged," pretty much sums their philosophy, which begins by helping users to understand their software and then takes them on a journey towards mastering their art.

7. Apple

Apple has developed a flourishing customer base that also can also serve as a customer service platform. They've even gamified the experience so that contributors get more points as well as access to more options for community moderating in the higher levels they climb. The users who reach the top levels also get access to a private community.

Yes, you're thinking it, gamifying your customer support so that customers want to spend time providing the other with help is quite a brilliant way to make way to make use of customer communities.

8. Shopify

If you want to experience a fantastic customer-centric community in action, look no further than Shopify. As Shopify allows their customers to build stores that sell their goods The Shopify community is dedicated to training and education as well as answering questions and even hosting live gatherings.

Ready to build your own customer base?

No matter if your community for customers is a no-cost, enterprise community or a paid membership to bring additional revenue Come build by using Mighty!

Mighty integrates classes, content, community, and commerce. Flexible Spaces allow you to build a customer community unlike anything else, mixing with chat, discussions, chat, livestreaming and live events, and courses (if you want). You can choose what features you'd like to use (and switch off the rest). ).

Mighty gives you a suite of member-management tools to make it easy to run the community, and our AI community-engine-Mighty Co-Host(tm)-automates things like member profiles, landing pages, course outlines, and even discussion questions. It's significantly easier to establish a vibrant customer-centric community in only a few hours of time per week.

And with Mighty Pro You get G2's most popular community software in your own branded app-that's your own app on both the App Store and Google Play Store. Plus, when you build using Mighty Pro, you'll work alongside our group consisting of Account Executives and Community Strategists who have scaled the size of 7-figure creator brands as well as 8+-figure subscription businesses.

Book a call today and we'll show you the possibilities of a partnership.