How to build true brand community for the long haul

01/28/22 • 12 min

If there was ever a buzzword for 2021, that word would be community.

It swept the internet like a freight train. If I had a dollar for every time I heard a founder on Twitter mention community, I’d be stupid rich! In the mid-late 2010s, all brands used to care about was good branding and low-cost acquisition funnels to entice customers and users. Then, suddenly, Ads became expensive, and brands were forced to start selling everywhere. Overnight, it felt like everyone was then looking for a Head of Community, or Community Manager, to cultivate relationships with an existing customer base.

It seemed that no one cared about audiences anymore and everyone cared about tribes, dedicated groups of people who support your cause.

Community. Everyone talks about it, and yet few seem to understand it, let alone get it right. So, I’d like to introduce a few community experts into the conversation, people who actually understand what it takes to build and grow tribes of their own. Because if we’re all supposed to be building communities, we should probably know why we’re building them in the first place, and what we’re (possibly) up against.

Let’s explore...

If there was ever a buzzword for 2021, that word would be community.

It seemed that no one cared about audiences anymore and everyone cared about tribes, dedicated groups of people who support your cause.

Let’s explore...

Previous Episode

How an agency comprised solely of Gen Z employees creates viral ad campaigns

What do Salt-N-Pepa, Wilson Phillips, and Whitney Houston all have in common?

They are all prominent figures that some of my Gen Z friends have never heard of. Ever. I know it’s mind-boggling, but there are people in this world who don’t know all the lyrics to “Shoop” by heart.

Do you know who members of Gen Z heard of, though?

Younger megastars who rose to fame on YouTube and TikTok like Charli D'Amelio, Loren Gray, and Brent Rivera.

There’s no getting around it. Gen Z has different celebrity heroes than older generations. They also favor content that’s very different than content from a few years ago. They have grown tired of being fed polished, picture-perfect ads and have flocked to TikTok in search of something new and more authentic.

To better understand how brands can engage Gen Z; I interviewed Charlie Naus, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Carson+Doyle.

Carson+Doyle is an agency composed solely of Gen Z employees and they work to help brands market to Gen Z audiences.

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