The Business of Community
Why is ‘community’ getting so much interest in B2B right now?
Perhaps because there’s a “tidal wave of content marketing that is making it harder for companies to connect with customers and prospects” leading to diminishing returns from content marketing and ABM.
Maybe, as the recent run of tech and finance companies buying media, audience and community businesses suggests, it’s because building (or buying) community is an effective way to lower Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and increase Lifetime Value (LTV).
Whatever the case, B2B brands that invest in community, and commit to doing it properly, are creating priceless feedback loops leading to more effective NPD, increased brand preference and multiple revenue streams.
The Business of Community = Connections + Commerce
This is about investment of time, resource and money by an organisation in content, events, digital experiences and opportunities that reflect the shared interests, values and common challenges & goals of their customers, their people and stakeholders to build community.
By doing this the organisation enables people to connect, communicate and collaborate with each other, creating a sense of belonging, building a stronger, continuous and more meaningful relationship with the brand and opening up more and new commercial opportunities as a result.
And network effects mean that the more members join, the more value they and the brand get from the community.
The Business of Community in Practice
Across 2021 the team at VOLUME has been developing community strategy for a diverse range of businesses in the B2B space, with our radar set to identify and analyse the most interesting community-based business models in the UK and across the world.
So we have pulled our insights together in this deck, classifying the 7 different models of the Business of Community in practice, from ‘Community as a Product’ to ‘Community Based Marketing’ along with 3 examples of each and exploring the 7 key drivers of community in B2B.