This article comes from Jennifer Susinski and Jeni Asaba’s panel talk, Five Tips on How to Show Your Community Respect, at our 2022 Customer Marketing Summit, check out the full version here.

In today's interconnected digital landscape, building a strong and engaged community is paramount for businesses and organizations seeking to cultivate brand loyalty, gather valuable insights, and drive meaningful customer interactions.

However, creating an exceptional community experience goes beyond surface-level interactions. It requires a solid foundation of respect, trust, and personalized engagement.

In this article, our industry experts Jennifer Susinski, Global Customer Advocacy & Experience Manager at Taulia & Jeni Asaba, Senior Manager of Community Engagement & Advocacy at Jamf, will share five actionable tips that can help you create a vibrant and inclusive community.

By implementing these strategies, you will not only enhance customer engagement but also foster a sense of belonging and strengthen the bonds between your organization and its community members.

Our experts will delve into the practical insights and proven techniques that can promote respect, meaningful engagement, and personalization within your community, empowering you to create an environment that thrives on genuine interactions and mutual respect.

As we explore each tip in detail, you will discover how leading with value, meeting community members in their comfort zones, helping them grow and develop, setting clear internal expectations, and infusing fun into community initiatives can transform your community into a vibrant hub of connection and collaboration.

By following these tips, you can create a community experience that resonates with your members on a deeper level, fostering loyalty, and advocacy, and ultimately driving the success of your organization.

So, let's dive into these essential strategies and unlock the full potential of your community 🔑.

Lead with value
Meet advocates in their comfort zones
Help your advocates level up
Set expectations internally
Infuse fun!

1 - Lead with value

Value lies at the core of any successful community and to cater to the diverse needs and wants of your advocates, it’s vital to offer a wide variety of value-driven initiatives.

Our experts Jennifer Susinski and Jeni Asaba, emphasize the significance of this, explaining how leading with value can strengthen relationships, foster trust, and enhance community engagement, highlighting 2 approaches:

🔍 Focus groups

Jennifer Susinski highlighted the importance of organizing focus groups within the community. By involving advocates in these groups, community managers can gather open and honest feedback on topics that hold significance for the members.
This approach not only demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement but also ensures that the community's solutions and experiences align with the advocates' expectations.
Jeni Asaba adds that they implemented a similar strategy, bringing in their CTO, CEO, and other leaders to virtual meetups. Their customers were impressed that the CEO was willing to dedicate time to answering their questions, as it demonstrated their value to the company.

🧪 Beta programs

Beta testing serves as another valuable opportunity to engage advocates. Jennifer Susinski shared her experience of hosting a focus group of roughly 20 customers who agreed to conduct a beta test in their live production environment.
This level of trust is earned through an advocacy program that prioritizes building strong relationships over time. Engaging advocates in beta testing allows them to play an active role in testing new offerings or enhancements to existing products, fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration within the community.
Jeni Asaba also mentioned that one of their customer heroes secured his current job due to his connection with the community at Jamf. She shared that witnessing customers grow in their careers and knowing they played a part in that success was incredibly rewarding.

2 - Meet advocates in their comfort zones

To foster a sense of belonging and active participation within a community, it is crucial to meet advocates in their comfort zones. Just as individuals have their own preferred ways of engaging with others, community members also have unique preferences.

Here Jennifer Susinski and Jeni Asaba, discussed why meeting advocates in their comfort zones fosters inclusivity and strengthens community engagement, and how best to do this.

🖥️ Respecting different engagement preferences

Jennifer Susinski highlighted the importance of understanding that customers have specific ways in which they prefer to engage with organizations. Some advocates may feel most comfortable interacting one-on-one through platforms like Slack, while others may prefer thoughtful emails.
Virtual meetups, where hot topics are discussed, may be the preferred choice for some advocates, while others may prefer to participate as silent listeners. Recognizing and embracing these diverse modes of engagement creates an environment where all forms of participation are valued.

⚖️ Personalization and adjustment

It’s crucial to take the time to understand each advocate's preferences and adjust your approach accordingly. Jennifer Susinski suggested gathering information about advocates' preferred modes of engagement as soon as they join the community.
This personalized approach sets both sides up for success and ensures that the relationship between the community members and the organization is fruitful. Adjusting to advocates' comfort zones not only enhances their experience but also strengthens the relationship overall.

🫱 Supporting reservations

Jeni Asaba emphasized the importance of not brushing aside shy advocates but finding ways to help them overcome their reservations. For example, offering Toastmasters sessions as a group activity can help shy advocates build confidence and strengthen bonds within the community.
By providing opportunities for personal growth and success, community managers create an environment where advocates feel supported and motivated to contribute their voices.
Jennifer Susinski shared a success story of a shy customer who, over the course of three years, became a confident speaker and actively contributed to product development.
By involving advocates in discussions with internal stakeholders, community managers empower advocates to speak on behalf of the organization and foster a sense of partnership.

3 - Help your advocates level up

Empowering advocates to develop new skills and grow personally and professionally is a powerful way to demonstrate respect and invest in their success.

Our experts shared the importance of offering opportunities for learning and growth within the community, emphasizing how helping advocates level up enhances their engagement and elevates their impact within the community.

📖 Training programs

Jennifer Susinski emphasized the importance of providing advocates with training programs that keep them informed about product updates, features, and functionalities.
By equipping advocates with the knowledge and confidence to represent the brand effectively, community managers enhance their impact within the community.
Interactive training sessions or workshops can be launched to allow advocates to delve into specific areas of interest and receive in-depth guidance.

📣 Spotlighting advocates

Acknowledging advocates' expertise and giving them a platform to share their insights and experiences is a powerful way to support their personal growth.
Jennifer Susinski mentioned the use of hero BIOS, where advocates' level of experience and expertise is highlighted, creating a space for learning from each other.
Additionally, community managers can feature advocates in company blogs, invite them to speak at events, or involve them in thought leadership initiatives. These opportunities not only showcase advocates' abilities but also foster a sense of pride and loyalty within the community.

💭 Collaborating for thought leadership

Jeni Asaba highlighted the significance of collaborating with advocates who are interested in being thought leaders.
Involving them in social media teams or seeking their suggestions for collaboration can help elevate their status and amplify their expertise.
Sharing their blogs on the company's platforms allows their successes to be highlighted and builds credibility for their professional careers.
Recognizing and showcasing advocates' achievements can have a lasting impact on their growth and the community's engagement.

4 - Set expectations internally

To ensure the success and longevity of your community program, it's crucial to set clear expectations internally. Here are some of the best approaches to help you get started:

📈 Educating internal teams

You should clearly communicate the benefits of the program to different departments within your organization. For sales teams, emphasizing how advocates contribute to less stressful sales cycles through reference calls and valuable insights is crucial.
Product and engineering teams should understand the value of customer input in shaping enhancements and new features.
Support teams can benefit from proactive engagement with advocates to reduce support costs and enhance the overall customer experience.
By educating each department about the specific benefits, community managers ensure a unified understanding of the program's value.

📝 Defining expectations and involvement

To maximize the benefits of the community program, community managers should define the expectations and involvement of each team.
This alignment clarifies the role of each department in supporting and collaborating with the community. For example, sales teams may be expected to nominate customers to the community and participate in reference calls.
Clear expectations foster effective engagement with advocates and streamline collaboration.

🔄 Routine communication

Jeni Asaba highlighted the significance of regularly educating the organization about the purpose and goals of the community program.
This can be achieved through department training, all-company presentations, frequent updates in Slack channels, and even LinkedIn messages.
Proactively reaching out to colleagues and sharing information using various channels ensures that the messages about the community program are effectively delivered.

5 - Infuse fun!

While building a community is a serious endeavor, it's important not to overlook the element of fun. Creating enjoyable experiences and infusing fun within your community fosters stronger connections, boosts engagement, and keeps members coming back for more.

🎉 Diversify fun opportunities

You should think outside the box and offer diverse opportunities for fun and lightheartedness for your community. This can include hosting quizzes related to current holidays, organizing virtual events, or arranging activities.
The goal is to provide moments of relaxation and enjoyment for community members, allowing them to unwind and connect with each other.

👋 Treat people as individuals

Infusing fun into community initiatives is crucial because it treats community members as individuals rather than accounts.
Recognizing that everyone needs a break from work and appreciating the value of diversified experiences helps create an environment where advocates can have fun and relax.
By offering fun options, you are showing you acknowledge the human element and are providing an outlet for community members to enjoy themselves.

🫶 Forge deeper relationships

Infusing fun into the community experience fosters stronger connections among community members.
Shared laughter and enjoyable activities create memorable experiences that forge bonds and cultivate a sense of belonging.
By providing opportunities for community members to have fun together, you are facilitating the development of deeper relationships within the community.

Final thoughts

Building a respectful and engaging community requires deliberate effort and a commitment to understanding and meeting the needs of your advocates.

By following these five tips shared by our experts, you can create a community that thrives on mutual respect, meaningful engagement, and personalized experiences.

Remember, showing respect to your community members goes beyond the transactions. It's about building meaningful connections, valuing their input, and nurturing their growth.

When done effectively, these efforts lead to enhanced customer engagement, increased loyalty, and ultimately, the success of your community and organization.

So, go ahead and implement these tips, embrace the power of respect and engagement, and watch as your community flourishes into a vibrant and supportive ecosystem!