How to Successfully Build an Online Community

A Strategic Guide to Building and Monetizing Online Fan Engagement

As a content creator, your audience is everything. Your followers provide much of the motivation that keeps you creating and sharing. They are the ones consuming your content by liking, commenting, and sharing their thoughts. 

But suppose you're looking to take things to the next level. In that case, you might consider building a community of dedicated fans who not only appreciate your content but engage with it and each other as well. 

Creating such a community is a powerful strategy for any content creator to build trust and foster growth with their audience. Moreover, online communities are beneficial as they provide customers with additional channels to interact with your brand, ask questions, and learn about your product. In this article, we will explore the importance of online communities for content creators and how you can build a thriving one today.

What is an Online Community?

For content creators, an online community is a group that shares your passion, interests, and values. Online communities can be found on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. They are often formed around a specific content creator or topic, and members engage with that content and each other, creating a passionate, tight-knit group.

Due to the ever-growing number of social media users, it's easy for your content to get lost in the customer's feeds, making it difficult to build a consistent following. Online communities, however, provide an avenue for personal, targeted group interactions that help build long-term relationships and increase brand recognition and revenue. 

Community vs. Audience

In content marketing, there is a significant difference between an audience and a community. An audience is a group that tunes in to your content for entertainment or knowledge. An online community, on the other hand, is a group of people who engage with your content by providing feedback, sharing resources, and connecting with your brand on a personal level. A community is a shared space where members can engage with one another online and express their passions and creativity. While an audience can boost your views, a community is what will keep people returning to your content and help build brand loyalty.

Types of Online Communities

There are several online communities that content creators can build. Some of these include content communities, coaching communities, fans or brand communities, and event communities, to name a few.

• A content community is primarily built around the content created by the creator. For instance, a streamer on Twitch who creates niche content around gaming can create a community of gamers who love watching their live streams.
• Coaching communities are designed to offer a more in-depth and personalized approach to help people accomplish their goals. These can range from fitness coaches posting workout videos on Instagram to a business coach teaching you how to make passive income on TikTok.
  
• Brand communities, on the other hand, revolve around the brand or creator. The community's center is usually the brand's mission, values, and products. For example, GoPro has over 20 million followers on Instagram, and for good reason. The brand shares its GoPro shots and tags them, making user-generated content a staple of the content they post. This exchange has helped the brand by creating a solid, close-knit community.
  
• Event communities might be formed to cater to in-person experiences or webinars. Music festivals and comic conventions have some of the biggest online communities of fans who express their love and passion for these events online.
  

Reasons to Build an Online Community

Opportunities to Monetize‍

You can establish a predictable, reliable income stream through an online community. For instance, if you're selling merchandise or offering an online course, you can use your community to help promote these products and services. You can also create paid memberships for your most loyal fans, offering exclusive content and access.

Engage with your audience

By building a community, you can engage with your audience on a deeper level than just through the content you create. Members of your community can connect with each other, sharing experiences and tips that are related to your content.

Increase brand awareness‍

An active, engaged community increases brand awareness and helps you stand out from other content creators. Your community will be more willing to share your content on social media, providing free advertising for your brand.

Build an email list

An online community allows you to build an email list, which is essential for any business. You can use this list to create newsletters to help announce new products, unveil exclusive content, or offer discounts to your most loyal fans.

Get feedback‍

By asking your community for feedback, you establish a sense of trust and attachment between you and your followers. Openly engaging in feedback with your community can also help you tailor your content to fit their needs.

Increase content reach‍

An online community can share your content, expanding your reach across multiple platforms. These shares can boost rankings, increase views, and earn higher revenues through ads and promotions using your affiliate links.

6 Steps in Building Your Online Community

Building an online community is crucial for your brand's success as a content creator. Here are six steps to help you get started:

1. Find Your Why: Identify and clarify why you want to build a community. What value will it provide to your followers? 

2. Identify Your Audience: Identify your target audience. Understand their interests, personalities, and preferences. This will help you tailor your community to meet their needs.

3. Pick a Platform: After understanding your audience, assess different social media platforms and understand what works best for your target audience. You can choose channels where your target audience is most active and engaged, usually a niche platform.

4. Create a Plan: Create a clear plan for engaging with your community by creating content that resonates with them. Create informative, entertaining, and exclusive content for your community to begin establishing a strong bond.

5. Create Content: Your followers want exclusive content that is not tailor-made for everyone but made especially for them. Such content would significantly help you turn your audience into an active community.

6. Promote Your Platform: Promote your platform to attract visitors and get your community to engage and participate. While doing so, avoid spamming or bombarding your target audience with content. This action might separate rather than unite them.

How to Turn Your Audience into a Community

Here are some of the best practices to turn your audience into an ever-growing community:

1. Make it personal: Share your personal moments and stories with your community to form bonds with your audience. This personal touch will create a ripple effect, prompting members to open up and establish community building.

2. Ask them to share their stories: Provide various platforms, such as social media channels, or group chats on platforms like Discord or Facebook groups, allowing your audience to share their stories. Such types of feedback can give insight into what topics and areas they have interest in.

3. Reward Your Audience: Offer giveaways, discounts, early access to your content, and other incentives to your community. This technique will encourage them to share your content and engage with each other.

4. Respond to Questions and Comments: Make sure your audience feels seen and heard by responding to their comments and questions. Make it a point to prompt dialogue and feedback that reassure them they are more than welcome in the community.

5. Listen to Your Audience: Incorporate your community's feedback into your content. Let your members know how valuable their contributions are, and try to meet their needs when it comes to content creation.

6. Encourage Collaboration: Foster a culture of collaboration by encouraging your community members to share content with others. You can also promote community-centered activities like meetups and buddy/group activities.

7. Host Events: While creating an online community, make sure you also find opportunities to meet with members in person or virtual. You can set up meetups, forums, webinars, and other activities to connect your community members on a deeper level. Hosting a live stream on Instagram or TikTok is a great way to interact and engage with your community.

8. Connect with Your Community: Connect with your community beyond social media channels by joining webinars and other third-party platforms. This will allow you to showcase your brand and content and gain new members from those events.

Monetize Your Community with Fourthwall!

Building an online community is essential for content creators looking to foster growth and build trust with their audience. Creating a dedicated group of passionate followers can strengthen your brand, increase engagement, and monetize your content. Follow the steps in this article and implement the tips to start building your community today!

Join Fourthwall, monetize your content, and engage with your community through memberships, merchandise, and a personalized website. Fourthwall allows creators to make money selling items to their followers and offers their audience unique and exclusive features. It also has an easy setup process for creators to create their site and begin promoting their content with memberships, merchandise, and more.