What is community-led growth and why is it important?

Updated August 8, 2022 in Community marketing

Want your business to expand? Charm your community to support your products and services!

The importance of the community is not new in the business context. But, with the emergence of many communities online, businesses must adapt to them too!

We, as humans, are innately social. We want to connect and be part of a community that gives us a sense of belonging and a safe atmosphere.

Besides, communities give us resources to make better decisions with the help of others’ advice and referrals.

Read: Community marketing 101

The rise of the Internet and the start of the Digital Age further magnified this cultural shift.

Considering this, many companies made use of collaboration and interaction among user groups. Industry leaders who focus on community-building let customers add value to their brand organically. With this, it will become beneficial to your company and your customers.

Having a platform that offers real-time interaction, peer support, and informative resources is valuable to customers. From there, being part of an online community becomes a vital part of the customer journey.

Giving your customers an interactive space empowers them to promote your brand. In turn, your enthusiastic customers become your best brand advocates! This approach is called Community-led Growth (CLG).

In other words, Community-led Growth (CLG) is a marketing tactic. It allows your customers to join in the discussion on your products. This strategy generates customer acquisition, retention, and sales conversion.

Community-led Growth (CLG) strategy is making a big hit as marketing strategists see its long-run success.

community led growth

Product-led growth vs community-led growth

Product-Led Growth (PLG) was the first strategy to be known before Community-Led Growth (CLG). In this process, your product is the main driving force for all your products’ acquisition, retention, and expansion.

Meanwhile, with Community-Led Growth (CLG), your loyal and avid customers are the protagonists of your success.

Marketing strategies are all about drawing potential customers to enjoy your products. With that, we can combine other strategies to amplify its effect.

So, Community-Led Growth (CLG) is not a substitute for Product-Led Growth (PLG). It offers a ‘multiplier effect’ in the existing Product-Led Growth strategy making marketing results better!

Still not convinced about the power of Community-led Growth? Read on to see how important it is to ensure your business growth!

Why is community-led growth important?

Promotion by real people

Active community members are vital to increasing product knowledge in other existing communities. They have the power to make your brand well known if you play your cards right!

Before, word on the street is what businesses thrive on. Now, we also have online communities where people can talk about their shared interests.

They can make discussion threads, comments, hashtags, and other online sharing gimmicks. These new features of community engagements can lead to brand popularity, business growth, and real value to the public.

Real-time and continuous feedback

Community-led companies understand the personal experience of their users. Customers’ remarks provide insights to improve the quality of the company’s outputs.

Sending out user surveys and evaluation forms are good ideas. But it takes time to collect all the feedback, and it does not ensure that most of the community will respond.

Meanwhile, creating an online community for people to communicate with you makes your brand more hands-on. With this, your community members can learn to trust and commit to your products and services.

Also, data generated from their feedback are a valuable asset you can use to improve your business goals and strategy.

Endless referrals in a thriving community

Social media platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook are great community builders. These online communities allow members to contribute quality content about many products.

In these communities, top members can give support and referrals to other users. Some even have the expertise and advanced knowledge to use your products. Meanwhile, there are other users who are at the beginning of their journey.

Remember, your initial members will probably become your untiring brand advocates. They have experience with your products first-hand. If your product is deemed excellent, this will translate into endless referrals.

Focusing on community growth = product and community success

Forming a community starts with a shared interest. Once you launch your own community, don’t make your product the sole center of it.

This will remove the genuineness of your organization once you selfishly promote your brand. Let your community express themselves. Here, you can gauge how they view your brand and build a stronger bond with your customers.

In your online community, don’t just focus on advertising and selling. Commit to community growth and focus on their concerns so they will value your organization.

Read: How to build a community on Reddit

Work with the right community professionals

Building a community may seem like a lot of work and commitment. But, it proves to be worthwhile once organizations see their product’s success.

Investing in community engagement and its growth are sustainable efforts. This way, you can keep enthusiastic customers satisfied and boost sales.

Want to know more about building successful communities for your brand? Check out SOAR’s community marketing services!

SOAR is the #1 Community marketing agency. We have helped many companies to increase their brand awareness and sales conversion. And, we can do it for you too!

We assure you, our team of professionals offers the best marketing practices to add value to your brand.

For more information, book a free consultation with us now! You can also talk to our live chat team for more details.