Small Business | Forum « Building Community (TOTW; 9.16.12)

Building Community (TOTW; 9.16.12) (9 posts)

Topic tags: audience, community, totw

Rich Brooks said
8 months, 1 week ago:
This weekend I caught up on all the episodes of Social Media Marketing Podcast (by the way, if you haven’t checked these out, I STRONGLY recommend them. Required listening for any social media marketer.)
There was a lot of conversation around building a community for your business or brand.
What do you think about that? Is building a community a good use of your time, or something just for big companies?
If it is important, where do you try and build a community? On your blog? Facebook? Twitter?
What tactics and strategies have you used successfully to build a community?
Please share your ideas in this thread!
@rich-brooks | # | Top
Ann at greenoak said
8 months, 1 week ago:
i have given up on blogs…since my facebook is getting more interaction than my blog ever did…and i dont twitter…..
. most of our facebook fans are  actual customers and then   others   also passionate about our   niche…. im in a great niche   and   try and post   good thngs about it all the time…. my likers like seeing   what others do with things in a recycling way, they liike to see the new stuff i buy,   for me its all about the things i have to sell…thats what my likers like…
mainly we just try and share the passion… our customers tell us they follow us on facebook… and sometimes they talk to each other on our   page…love that… often they say nice things about their  visit to the store on our page….my co admin…just put a picture of dh and i , our anniversary…and it got   60 likes and 40 comments…. and lots of folks in the store wished me happy anniversary…pretty wierd…
i thnk you need a great focus on your target customers ..i know what my   customers like…and try to keep up wth that… and get what they are excited about….
@rich-brooks
@annfurnivall | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
8 months, 1 week ago:
@rich-brooks I am building a community on Twitter and Facebook (though the latter has been more difficult!). We do not have a blog at this time. AHAA’s community on Twitter is fairly active with mentions of us in their tweets, replies, etc. We continue to add followers almost daily.
Communities, wherever you build them, are important in so many ways. They foster knowledge, events/activities, trust and more. For businesses, they make it easier for customers to buy because they’re a known quantity. (Hope that makes sense – lot going on today!)
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Russell Allert said
8 months, 1 week ago:
If you are going to build a community, which I recommend, make it portable. Don’t rely on any social networking site long-term. Get your own forum (like SME did) and make sure you have complete control over it.
Russ
@russellallert | # | Top
Heather Perkins said
8 months, 1 week ago:
I think it is a very wise idea to build a community, both in your physical location and via the web through social media platforms like SME. Build your communities here and share your pages with one another. Ask for friendly feedback and be sure to do the same for others… =)
@rich-brooks
@heatherperkins | # | Top
Ann at greenoak said
8 months, 1 week ago:
another thing i see working in community building is responding to interested people in ways that show you really heard them…or actually remember something about them …that is so flattering….it shows you actually are sincere about doing business with them, or it might show your skill at digging into a problem and not just skimming the surface with a quick answer that isnt really what potential customer was asking and maybe ignores the complexities……. its boring to do sometimes….but might be worth while with someone in your target audience………….
…..like at my store if i can remember what colors they like or what they bought last time or so many things about our business relationship, its really good….
@annfurnivall | # | Top
CJ Rivard said
8 months, 1 week ago:
I think that community building can be a successful tool for a small bus. (as well as big) for keeping customers engaged and increasing their life-time value; but really depends on the type of business. As far as where to build it, also depends on where your customers are. I love FB as a tool, but not everyone has customers who are active there… (shocking, I know!).
@cjrivard | # | Top
Ann at greenoak said
8 months, 1 week ago:
@cjrivard great point….my business is perfect for facebook….women~ shopping~ their houses…..my customers are already on there a few times A DAY and my business is on the fun side of life….
but who would go to facebook for a mortician or divorce lawyer?
@annfurnivall | # | Top
Judith Gotwald said
8 months ago:
I’ve stuck with blogs. Facebook may draw more interaction but it hasn’t been interesting interaction. I can less but more thoughtful interaction on the blog. I agree with @annfurnivall that there are certain realms that Facebook just doesn’t seem right for and I guess I’m in one of them!
@judithgotwald | # | Top