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What is a micro-community?
Definition
Community building
Community has been a hot topic for years now. But are you sure you really know what micro-communities are about?
- Micro-communities: less people, more engagement
- Benefits of micro communities
- How can a business start a micro community?
- What are niche communities?
- To sum up
Communities have been in existence for as long as human beings have existed on the planet. Earlier, people with similar traditions and rituals bonded and formed communities. Now, with the advancement of technology, people worldwide are part of online communities through branded websites, social media, and other community platforms.
Businesses are trying to form a personal bond and communicate actively with their audience through online communities. The question arises whether a community is always a big group or a large number of people. The answer is it doesn't have to be. A community can be small, where members share resources and engage in collaboration centered on specific challenges or objectives.
There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to forming an online community, but a smaller community with high engagement is better than a large unengaged community. Businesses can integrate micro communities in their strategy to boost operations and produce rewards. Let’s dive into the concept of the micro community and take a deeper look into it.
Micro-Communities: Less People, More Engagement
A Micro-community is a small and private space that is usually made up of less than 30 members. These are exclusive spaces where people, who share the same purpose can come together. As a result, businesses don't need to keep promoting themselves on it. Instead, they can build solid customer relationships by sharing ideas and valuable content.
Often, people mute out the branded messages as they only have one purpose, i.e., to sell something. To not be on that muted list, businesses need to change their approach to micro-communities. Instead of treating it as a platform for sales purposes, it should be used as a close-knit community where the customers can get a little special treatment.
The benefits that businesses can achieve through this are tremendous.
Benefits of Micro Communities
If your business strategy is not leading to success and profits, it's time to change your plan and try out something else. As stated above, a micro community is not just for promoting a business; rather, it is a way to connect like-minded people together.
Here are some benefits that will help you understand why businesses should include micro communities in their marketing strategy:
Increase sales
Now, you must be thinking: How can a micro-community increase sales if one cannot entirely use it for promotional purposes? A community leads to higher engagement amongst its members, resulting in authentic, better word-of-mouth referrals. People refer your business to their friends, colleagues, and family members which boosts your sales.
Also, the members of micro-communities feel safe and welcomed. Usually, these like-minded people share similar thoughts and engage in deep conversations. As a result, you get loyal customers who form a genuine connection with your brand, and are more likely to purchase your products.
Help businesses offer better services and products
With the help of the feedback section in a micro community, customers can leave genuine, honest reviews and their personal opinion on your products. Businesses can use these reviews as testimonials and feedback to help them make improvements in their products or services.
When you cater to your customers’ needs and requirements, they feel valued and are more likely to become loyal customers. Thus, community-led growth is beneficial to both customers and businesses.
Create strong bonds
When people feel safe sharing their thoughts and views inside the micro community, they automatically feel closer to the brand/ business. This further helps the business create long-lasting and productive bonds with their client base.
Also, the members of the micro community can serve as ambassadors for the brand and promote it to their friends and family members.
How can a business start a micro community?
Now that you understand what a micro-community is and how it can benefit your business, the next step would be to build one. Creating a micro-community might seem easy. But without research, one won’t be able to get the most out of it. Here are some ideas on how to launch your micro-community:
Understand your audience
The key to a successful micro-community is its audience. You must understand what interests your audience and what excites them. Here are a few things to remember when you start a conversation::
- Don't degrade any members
- Value your members and provide them with high-quality, engaging content
- Do not promote your products and services vigorously
The whole point of a micro-community is to bring people together. If you push your services and products on them, you will lose them. Try to make members like and adhere to your brand by providing them value and serving their needs through your products.
Make a wise choice when choosing a platform
When choosing a platform, make sure to see where your potential customers are. Instead of creating a micro community on Instagram or Facebook, businesses should turn their heads towards dedicated community building platforms. Such platforms have all the tools and solutions needed for community building and growth.
Share stories and experiences
A micro community is a space where people can come together to communicate. So, when you're launching your micro community, the first thing you should keep in mind is to allow people to express themselves. Offer them the chance to speak about their favorite book or offer them to host live sessions for example!
This way, people should be able to connect with the community comfortably and share their thoughts with other members.
What are Niche Communities?
Niche Communities are small groups that only contain members with common interests. These communities are typically started by individuals who are enthusiastic about a particular topic. With the help of niche communities like-minded people come together to build strong connections.
Despite their small size, online niche communities provide valuable conversations and an engaged audience. Here are some examples of niche communities to help you better understand them:
Niche community Examples
Tribe Customers - In this type of social niche communities, people come together to talk about topics like pets, marketing, law, customer support quality, etc.
Goodreads - Goodreads is a perfect niche community for all those who love to read. It has a huge database of book recommendations, reviews, quotes, etc.
Github - With Github, software developers come together and work together on different projects. It's quite easy to use and even amateur coders can build something creative.
To sum up
With micro-communities and niche online communities, people get access to a safe place where they can share their viewpoints and connect with like-minded people. Businesses should form a micro community to build a loyal customer base, form strong relationships with clients, improve their products and services, and boost overall revenue.
We talked about micro communities in detail and read about the various benefits offered by them. For those who want to start their own micro community, partnering with a community builder or community building agency is our recommended option.
MeltingSpot offers a dedicated platform for community building, whether you need a micro community or a bigger online community. It has the right features and solutions to build your online community, and grow it into a successful one, where every single member is happy to join.
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