Guest comment: The rise of branded communities of purpose

Engaging consumers over social media’ must be one of the most over-used phrases among marketers today. In a space that is – as it says on the tin – predominantly social, brands are falling over themselves to work out how to lure consumers away from their friends on Facebook and attract their attention to the brand’s product.

It’s not an easy task. Facebook ads are getting mixed reviews, and marketers are realising that they’ll have to come up with something pretty smart to encourage consumers to group together around a branded product.

Richard Millington, the online community builder, says on his Feverbee blog that brands are starting to realise that “washing machines don’t bring people together”. In other words, having a good product is not generally enough of a reason to create a community (arguably with one or two notable exceptions – the iPad, for example) – whether that’s a brand’s own online environment, or a Facebook page or Twitter feed. Brands need to offer something to consumers that they can’t get elsewhere, and that creates, in the words of online community expert, Vanessa di Mauro, ‘the burning imperative’ for consumers to get involved.

So brands are successfully building what we call ‘communities of purpose’ – communities that have a clear goal, either defined by the community itself (such as raising money for a particular charity), or defined by the individual within the community (such as a branded site for people trying to lose weight); or a clear purpose, such as supporting mothers through pregnancy or campaigning on a specific issue.

How do brands do this, successfully?

Pampers Village is a great example of a community with a very clear commercial purpose: to create a support network for mothers at very specific points of their lives - i.e. during pregnancy and the early childhood years. Of course, the reason for doing this is commercial – Pampers is creating a community that has value to its target audience to encourage them to buy Pampers’ products – but, done well, consumers will happily participate.

Any community should be clear in its purpose, and in defining the time it will take to achieve that purpose. In Anthony Mayfield’s words: “...those purposes might last a few hours or a few decades. That purpose might be the marketer’s fantasy of grouping around the purpose of buying a product, celebrating a scrap of content, or a politician’s nightmare of an organised populace come to dictate terms on a piece of legislation.”

It must have a clear reason for people to come to it, too. Either because it offers exclusive content, or advice that you can’t find elsewhere – but it has to offer value. And consumers should understand what the connection is with your brand, too. If you make furniture, consumers might not understand why you’re suddenly trying to raise money for a third world farming project. But if you were helping a third world school development programme by kitting out schools, that would make sense, and be relevant to your brand.

Whatever your purpose, involve your community in achieving it, and support milestone achievements. Community builder, Nancy White, talks about 'heartbeats’ that make up stages of a community – small goals and achievements that people can reach and that keep them motivated within the community. For example: achieving your first week of exercise (the motivation might be what that week means in terms of improved fitness); achieving your first weight loss goal; or reaching the community's first target for donations.

You can reward little victories by encouraging the Community Manager and ‘Power Users’ within the community to share their successes, and celebrate them by posting messages within the community. This can also be done graphically through an integrated badge system that automatically rewards members for reaching pre-determined milestones. For example, 'DawnF' has posted 100 times within the community / has lost 10 pounds of weight /  has run a marathon / has received a 5-star rating on a message board post.

Finally, and most importantly, set clear guidelines for your community to follow. Be clear about the vision, tone and style of the community, what you’re trying to achieve, and the terms of the site’s use. Create an environment where your users can share experiences, get involved with the community’s goal and help each other achieve their individual goals. Keep them motivated and deliver value – and in return, you’ll earn their loyalty.

This article is based on a white paper on communities of purpose, which is available to download here: http://www.emoderation.com/about/publications.

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