Building Your Online Community

As we discussed in a recent blog post, one pivotal step in the successful social media marketing process is to effectively create a community! This time we're going to explain community-building through the Four I's of Digital Community Creation!

There are numerous variations on the "Four I's" in the field of marketing, but for today's purposes, we feel like these are the most applicable. Check them out!

Invite - Businesses and solo entrepreneurs must promote their social presence and actively encourage their audience to follow them! It's not enough to simply have the accounts; you need to get the word out!

Inform - Once you've attracted your following, keep that growing community informed about upcoming promotions, exclusive discounts, new products and so on!

Involve - As you probably already know, a successful community of followers is founded on participation and involvement! Businesses should invite involvement from their social audience by opening discussions, holding contests, creating polls...think of the possibilities!

Influence - Some marketers use this interchangeably with "impact," but whichever you prefer, the goal is nearly the same: to have a long-lasting and clear community-wide effect. This can be a call to action in the form of making a purchase, of course, but in the social/community-oriented marketplace, it can just as easily be related to a cause that's important to the business or solo entrepreneur. Think beyond your business...it's the best way to foster social network communities!

We now have a whole new Social Media Marketing Team in place to specifically provide expertice and support for our member business owners. For a clearer idea of how our social media marketing platform can benefit your business, check out the video. Then contact us about a free test-drive to experience the difference.