The Making Fun of Marketing podcast, explored the world of customer community building and its impact on sales, marketing, and customer success. In this episode, Scott Logan sits down with Nisha Baxi, a community expert and leader at Gong. Nisha shares her experience of turning a passion project into a full-time role and the value of building strong communities.
Listen to the full episode here: https://www.kronologic.com/podcast-nisha-baxi
Here are Nisha's Top 10 Tips to Building a Customer Community
Identify your passion and target audience: Find a topic or niche that you are truly passionate about and determine the specific audience you want to engage with. This will form the foundation of your community.
Understand your community members: Conduct interviews and gather feedback from potential community members to understand their needs, motivations, and expectations. This will help you tailor your community to meet their specific requirements.
Choose the right placement: Depending on your community's purpose, decide whether it should sit within marketing or another department. Consider whether it's a pre-sale community to generate brand evangelists or a post-sale community to facilitate customer success and support.
Cultivate authenticity: Authenticity is crucial for community engagement. Create an environment where customers can connect with each other and share their experiences, enabling a sense of belonging within your community.
Utilize gamification: Implement gamification elements, such as point systems, badges, and ranks, to motivate and reward community members for their active participation. However, ensure gamification aligns with your audience's preferences and objectives.
Establish clear metrics: Define measurable goals that align with your business objectives. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for support, product acquisition, content engagement, and customer success to track the community's impact on your organization.
Showcase customer success stories: Document and share customer success stories within your community. These stories not only inspire and motivate community members but also serve as powerful marketing assets for your brand.
Foster cross-functional collaboration: Encourage collaboration between different teams within your organization, including marketing, sales, product, and customer success. A well-functioning community can scale and enhance various aspects of your business.
Make it enjoyable: Emphasize the fun and engaging aspects of your community. Celebrate milestones, host events, and provide valuable resources that make community participation enjoyable and rewarding.
Evolve and iterate: Continuously gather feedback and adapt your community based on the evolving needs and preferences of your members. Regularly assess the community's impact on your business and make necessary adjustments to ensure its long-term success.
Building and growing a thriving community takes time, dedication, and a deep understanding of your target audience. By following these expert tips, you can create a vibrant community that not only provides value to its members but also contributes to the overall success of your organization.