Developing a community around your products or services is an excellent way to get new customers. MSMEs that lack access to loans or finance can’t buy a sturdy retail space. Flash floods can wipe out all the inventory in one day. Animal breeders don’t have access to weather forecasts, and drought can cause herds to perish. By building a community around your products, you can create a lasting brand name and gain new customers.
The global supply chain can be disrupted by natural disasters, which have a severe impact on MSMEs. The ability to respond quickly and build a strong community can help MSMEs survive a crisis, even during heightened tensions. It will also assist them to survive if they are forced to shut down.
Creating an everlasting customer community doesn’t come in handy; it asks for a handful of patience, a lot of effort, time, money, and some value-driven practices.
To create a well-rounded and tireless community of customers, you should:
- Consider Your Customers as Thought Leaders
Recognizing your target audience as well as developing content that speaks directly to them are primary steps to attracting customers. Consider creating listicles or viral content as ways to engage with your audience. But to build a community, you need to use your expertise to offer solutions to common problems that are faced by your target market. Then, share it with your audience. You might even want to make it a game – you can post your content to your social media accounts, too! Make sure you produce fresh content regularly!
Once you’ve positioned yourself across your customers, you’ll be able to reach out to your potential client base and become an authority on your topic. By addressing their needs and concerns, you can establish yourself as a trusted resource in your industry. Your audience will trust you and will remember your advice. Once you’ve earned the respect of your target audience, your business will be able to market itself more effectively.
- Revolutionize & Co-Create Your Brand Language & Identity
Using customer co-creation can drive innovation and attract media attention. A company’s customers are an invaluable resource in understanding what consumers want and need. By allowing them to contribute to the creation process, brands can create new products, improve processes and strengthen brand identity.
For example, LEGO has a community of fans, which it is bolstering with the help of a new initiative called LEGO Ideas. By letting fans co-create new products, brands can build brand loyalty among consumers. Using customer co-creation can also generate new product ideas and solutions for complex manufacturing challenges. This approach has been successful with all organizations, from MSMEs to big corporates.
- Identify Your Shared Purpose with Your Customers
As a company, you have a powerful opportunity to make a positive impact on your customers’ lives. You can do this through your core values by engaging your employees in a purpose-driven journey. Create a purpose-driven culture to motivate team members and foster teamwork. Try to be as big and challenging as possible when identifying your purpose. Rather than using industry jargon, think big.
A common misconception is that companies must have a higher purpose if they are to grow more. Unfortunately, the majority of companies aren’t clear on this. They are quick to respond to social events and diversity numbers, but if they don’t meet their promises, their customers will see that as fake and untrustworthy. Instead, they’ll start looking for a new company that is able to keep their promises and improve their lives.
A shared purpose is a common purpose that everyone in an organization shares. It inspires a sense of purpose, collaboration, and promotes social good. And it helps align the commercial side of your business with the social side of the equation. So, if you’re ready to build a shared purpose with your customers and make it a priority, take this step.
While the idea of a shared purpose may sound like a cliché, it’s actually one of the most powerful marketing tools to improve customer loyalty. The need for shared purpose can fuel a brand’s marketing campaigns and increase customer engagement. Leading companies such as Adidas make it a point to develop a shared purpose with their customers, and the mission statement they create is a powerful example. It guides all aspects of a company – from its culture and code of conduct to its business decisions – to make them as aligned with its consumers as possible.
- Include Your Customers Alongside Your Business Development Journey
To develop a successful brand as an MSME, you must understand your customers and make them a part of your business development. It is not enough to be a good brand; you also need to be a good company. To do this, you must be proactive, not reactive. Make sure to respond quickly to customer concerns. Your customers should always be the center of your business. Make sure to keep in mind that customers have very different needs and preferences than you.
Consumers be more likely to trust suggestions from real people than advertisements. More than ninety percent of people trust recommendations from friends, while only seven percent of consumers rely on consumer opinions. Investing in your customers’ opinions is a smart move because they represent your biggest asset. By using the power of their voices to promote your brand, you’ll also reduce customer acquisition costs, which determine your profitability.
Your customers will surely appreciate the effort you put into your brand development, and it’s a sure way to create an iconic symbol. The power of your brand will live in the hearts and minds of your customers. Your actions, messaging, communications, and interactions will all help to shape the image they will have of you.