“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh
Do you ever catch yourself daydreaming about that big goal you have of bringing a large group of people together?
Ever think about how “one day” you’re going to have a giant community of supporters behind your brand?
We’ve all been there.
When it comes to community building strategy, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to start.
But, we all have to start somewhere, and, today, I urge you to start small.
In the fall of 2014, I started playing with the idea of launching a social community in travel. While I was very excited about this idea, I also felt slightly overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin.
One thing that someone advised me to do back then was to take it step by step, and start small.
Have you been thinking about creating a social media community of your own?
Here are some community building strategy steps that will help you get started…
1). Brainstorm a topic (or subtopic)
Let’s face it. There are lots of social media communities out in the world. Think about the communities you’re already a part of on social media, or communities that brands you like have created.
The key for launching your community is to hone in on a topic that you’re passionate about. Really think about carving out space for your community by focusing on a niche.
For example, rather than launching another “makeup tutorial” community on YouTube, maybe you can solely focus on giving essential skin care tips. Or, let’s say you love video editing, but instead of a general video editing group, you can create one specifically for people interested in learning Adobe Premiere.
Whatever your expertise is in, there’s a way to share your advice. You just have to figure out what exactly you’d like to focus on.
Download my free Community Building worksheet to get started
2) Invite more audience members
Do your best to research who your core audience is, which will help you attract other audience members with similar interests.
Rather than picturing an entire group of people, imagine that you’re trying to invite just one person to your community. Who is this person? Where could you find this person online or offline? What is this person interested in?
3). Create a network of ambassadors
Once you start inviting more people, existing community members can help “recruit” new members. Excited fans will often refer their friends through word of mouth, and things will naturally start to unfold.
4). Invest time in creating a welcoming community
Remember: the community you’re creating is designed to empower and inspire the community members. You’ll want to ask your members questions about what inspires them, what their goals are, what their struggles/challenges are, what their dreams look like. When new members join your community, make them feel special and part of the community. Ask them to introduce themselves, and encourage them to share content or start conversations.
5). Celebrate community milestones
Celebrate new community members and be thankful for their support. After all, your community couldn’t exist and thrive without its members. Be relatable and create fun conversations in your community.
I’ll soon share more tips on how to engage community members and fun conversation starters.
Do you dream of creating a community? What do you aspire to create one for? Share in the comments!
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