Building a community without a product
Or how to give people a f****** good reason to follow you.
Now I am no community manager. And I am no social media expert.
But I’ve noticed a common thread amongst early-stage startups trying to grow their community: They are (all) focused on numbers.
Last summer, I met with Target’s head of community management during the Techstars program and it changed the way I see community building. The main takeaway was that building a community differs from building a crowd.
Think of it this way: a crowd is like going to your favourite music festival, while building a community is like hanging out around a campfire with your best buddies.
You might find yourself surrounded by thousands of people at the music festival, all staring at their phones or perhaps the stage. On the other hand, hanging out around a campfire is a totally different experience. You might feel more connected to the people around you because you are sharing similar values.
So before you start working on your social or content strategy, ask yourself this question: “Do I want to build a crowd, or a community?”
If you are looking to build a crowd and achieve that hockey stick growth, there are a number of growth hacks available for you. But if you’re looking to build a community, you need to spend a lot of time understanding and sharing your values with your early followers — which may not always result in the kind of growth you are expecting to achieve.
The good news is that having a product or service available can significantly help you build that community. It gives you something tangible to rally your fans around. Until then, you’ll have to provide your fans with high-quality content aligned with your values. In fact, producing and sharing your content on a regular basis is a great way to nurture and engage with your community.
Bottom line, if you are trying to build a solid community, you’ll need to give something of value to your followers.
You can do so by providing high-quality content or by shipping a product/service that improves their lives. If you are offering something that truly adds value to them, they will feel compelled to share it with their friends and you’ll be able to grow this way.
