Communities within marketing are a growing feature, and it's great to see marketers from all walks of life coming together to discuss, motivate, and help each other through this amazing industry. But how does one start a community?
In this article, we’ll be looking at how to start building a community, the importance of passion, how you can grow your community in a short amount of time, and how to deal with negative comments or criticism. Sounds good? Then keep reading below.
Starting to build a community
When you start to build a community, one of the key things you need to be aware of is that it can take time to build, from the content and resources you plan on sharing, to growing your community, you need to have a plan in place before your community starts taking shape. Your key motivator to bring your community to life has got to be that you want to help people and bring them together; otherwise, what is your goal in bringing these people together?
Creating a community is no small feat, and without that, you need to be prepared for it to be hard work. It can take a lot of effort to get it off the ground, and with that in mind, you need to prioritise it with other aspects of your life popping up. It can be easy for it to go down your list of priorities, but if you keep working at it, you can create an amazing community just like Sophie and Joe have.
Passion is key
When you’re building your community, one essential thing is that you must have the passion to get to the end goal; otherwise, it’ll take a lot longer and you won’t enjoy the process as much. Remember, if you’re just trying to build because you feel like you have to rather than want to and putting on a fake persona, your potential target audience will see right through and will avoid your content and community. If it gets to that point, there’s no shame in stepping back and having a rethink of what makes you really passionate; after all, when creating anything, your passions and interests can change throughout the process.
How you can grow your community in a short amount of time
We mentioned before that building a community is no small feat; it’s hard work and can take a lot of time to get going. However, this is not always the case, and sometimes you can hit your goal at a much quicker pace with a few key steps.
Trial and error can be essential to getting your community moving, and doing it constantly will reward you quicker. By posting and creating your work, you should monitor how people are reacting to it. Do they like what you’re posting? Do they not? If they do, that’s great; keep going with it. However, if it’s the latter, then have a look at what’s not working. It could be that it just needs a few new design choices to keep up with current trends, or it might be that the content altogether is just not what your community needs right now, and you’ll have to produce something new so it keeps you on track to grow the community you want.
Additionally, you need to keep on top of your content; it’s key to your success, and with that, it should stand out to your community so they keep coming back, but even more to potential members. If they see anything that catches their eye, they’re going to pay attention to you, your work, and what you’re trying to build and eventually join. It’s worth noting, but if you really want to make your content stand out and be authentic, your audience can see right through the words and content if you don’t fully believe or have interest in what you’re doing, and if that's the case, why should they? Finally, make your content actionable. Let your audience see how you made your designs or posts, as well as the information you’ve already included, so that when it comes to their own work, they’ve expanded their skillset to try new ideas.
What you should do with negative criticism or comments
Building your own community can be a very personal goal, so when a user leaves criticism or even strong negative comments, it can leave you disheartened. However, don’t let it get to you. Make sure to ask them why they didn’t like the content and what they would like to see next time, if it’s genuine criticism. You can learn from the feedback and improve your content to be the best it can be. Sometimes, though, you will get negative comments just for the sake of being negative. Don’t let this affect you or your passion; reassure yourself of what you’re doing; and don’t let it stop you from creating something amazing.
Conclusion
We hope this article helps you get started on thinking about or building an amazing community for your desired target audience. Always create a community with the aim of helping others, so they can eventually help each other! It might take time to build it to the vision you have, but if you keep the passion and motivation, you can get there. And remember, you might get some constructive criticism at some point with your content, but take it on board and apply it to your work so it can be the best it can be.
What next?
Want to know more about building a community? We spoke to Joe Glover from The Marketing Meetup and Sophie Miller from Pretty Little Marketer about their journey to creating such amazing communities. Click here to watch our webinar episode, where they go into more detail about how to create a thriving community.
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