The community is so popular, but are you sure you really need it?

The Internet has never been short of concepts. Following micro-business and self-media, the concept of community and internet celebrity also became popular in 2016.

When all the people operating in the Internet industry are talking about "should I build a community for marketing", and when various Internet public accounts are talking about the practical aspects of community operation (not counting Yiwan Liangfen), this concept has a tendency to be destroyed, just like O2O last year.

The concept of community is very popular, but are you sure you really need it?

If social media is a marketing method or channel, let’s first look at the existing connection between brands and audiences:

Don’t know who your target group is

Think back, what are the biggest features of the two advertisements of Hengyuanxiang and Melatonin?

Important things should be said three times? Prime time broadcast? Why do we need to invest like this?

John Wanamaker: I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted, but unfortunately, I don't know which half

Since I don’t know which half is wasted, I’m sorry, I can only brainwash you on a large scale and with high density, because I have plenty of money.

Well, it is undeniable that this trick was successful, but then what?

Can't find where they are

Are you sure your member database is OK? Where do they like to go and who do they like to be with?

Yes, that’s right. The illusion of the brand is that they are all in your member database, but they are as cold and aloof as goddesses.

No communication with them

The only communication is after a problem occurs with the product, if a customer service complaint phone call can be considered a form of communication. .

Even if we know what group the consumers are, we still can’t find a good way to communicate with them.

An official document in the style of a news broadcast press release? "Mr. Zhang's speech on food safety during the National Day?"

Or is it a Da Vinci furniture-style cry?

The significance of community to brands

For brands, the more important role of building a community is to naturally build more "touch points" with users and extend the connection time between the company and users.

Ask yourself, after the product is sold, do we have other channels to communicate with consumers?

Ask yourself again, do we have a way to communicate with consumers before the product is produced?

The sale of a Nokia phone marks the end of the sales process.

The sale of a Xiaomi phone marks the beginning of the sales process, and the phone is just an entry point.

With the help of this entrance, brands such as Xiaomi build communities in order to establish more communication channels with consumers, customers, or fans.

If the process of connecting a brand with its users is compared to the process of falling in love, then this process must be a long one, with 99% of the time being passionate and occasionally a little naughty.

Therefore, building a community is to establish a long-term relationship between the brand and the users, rather than a one-night stand.

The traditional membership system involves registering basic information, sending discounts and promotions, and sending birthday wishes. This is not a long-term relationship.

This is a buying and selling relationship.

The best relationship is participation and co-construction

The best products are not those that are kept in a laboratory and studied for ten years, and then released one day in the hope of becoming a hit. They often die when exposed to the public.

The best product is one that audiences or fans participate in. No matter how ugly the product looks, users will never deny it.

Because, either, this product was voted by him, for example: the cover of Men's Health was voted by fans:

• Or, the product is designed by himself, for example: the model design of LEGO Ideas is selected by fans through voting.
• Or, this product was invested and produced by him, for example: the crowdfunded Ip Man movie.

Denying this product is like denying one's own son, which is indirectly denying oneself. Do you think his father would agree?

Customization and customization

I recently read Qiu Yong's "New Media Revolution", in which he mentioned:

"Companies often talk about personalized customization for consumers," thinking that this will attract consumer participation.

However, the original English word for this word is customization, and the accurate translation should be customization rather than customization.

Consumers can independently choose the style, color or function combination of products, which is called customization. In fact, the space for consumers' autonomy is very small. The difference of one word means that we can rethink the relationship between manufacturers and consumers.

• Customization is the collection of consumer needs so that manufacturers can achieve limited-scale mass production
• Customization means that manufacturers open up their manufacturing links and resources to allow consumers to participate in the production itself.

3D printing is a way to achieve customization. The inspiration is how manufacturers provide production tools, raw materials and even platforms, and consumers can "hand-produce" what they want.

Co-creating consumers are the valuable users of enterprises.

Because they are not only satisfied with being just fans, but they are eager to become employees of the company without paying a salary.

Key points to consider when building a brand community

Yiwanliangfen believes that when a brand builds a community, it must consider at least several factors:

• Is the business more on the ToB side or the ToC side?
• Relatively speaking, it is easier to build a community on the ToC side, but it is undeniable that the business on the ToB side is also executed by people, right?
• How to refine the value of your products or services?

The specific product or service is important, but the values ​​or feelings behind it are more important. This is especially important for small and micro entrepreneur brands. BMW and Mercedes-Benz can embody a luxurious and elegant lifestyle, but as a hotpot seller, can I only build a community around hotpot lovers?

How to design and open up parts of a product or service to allow fans to participate?

In other words, how to collude with consumers on a product?

Which link can be opened? Is it the logo design? Or is it a system naming?

Okay, now the question is, do those who sell construction machinery need to build a community?

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