You’ve heard of ABM (Account Based Marketing) in B2B marketing, but what about CBM (Community Based Marketing )?
According to a McKinsey article in Sept 2022, community is the “big idea” in marketing for this decade.
2 years ago, Michelle Goodall and I coined the term ‘Community Based Marketing’ - or CBM - and we highlighted the trend towards underpinning marketing with community.
We've updated that co-authored 2020 Best Practice Guide to help business leaders and marketers understand community/everything 'community-led' better, and to help community professionals create even more successful business value/outcomes from community.
Download our free 110-page 'What is Community Based Marketing (CBM)? Best Practice Guide'
What is Community Based Marketing (CBM) - a definition
First, we define ‘community’ context as follows:
Definition: Online Community
"An online community (also known as a virtual community, internet community or digital community) is where people come together digitally to interact, share knowledge and build relationships."A shley Friedlein/Michelle Goodall - Guild
These communities are made up of people who share similar interests, goals or a purpose, whether that's working on a project together, sharing best practice or simply sharing a passion.
The word ‘community’ suggests connectedness, togetherness, people joining in and becoming something bigger than the sum of their parts.
As a team, we define community at Guild as something much deeper than a network or a group of people with weak ties, or people connected by the use of a hashtag in social media.
Community is an ever-evolving entity that is much more about the ‘we’, and what the collective can achieve together, than the ‘I’ and what a single person can get from belonging.
Next, here's a definition of marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing:
Definition: Marketing
"The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.
Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
Using this definition of Marketing to underpin it, we define Community Based Marketing (CBM) as follows:
Definition: Community Based Marketing (CBM)
"Community Based Marketing (CBM) is bringing people together around a shared practice, purpose, place, product or set of circumstances to create insights and closer, more valuable relationships with prospects, customers and other stakeholders to deliver organisational value."
Ashley Friedlein/Michelle Goodall - Guild
Why is Community Based Marketing (CBM) the "big idea" in marketing?
Online communities are nothing new, of course. In an earlier article looking at the history of online communities, we show a timeline stretching back to the 1970s. The name of our own product, Guild, deliberately refers back to professional communities from medieval times.
So why have communities made such a comeback?
These are the main reasons why Community Based Marketing (CBM) is increasing in popularity
1. B2B marketing tactics are getting stale, saturated and expensive
A big factor is the increasing cost of marketing and the lack of innovation, especially in B2B marketing.
Traditional marketing tactics have grown stale and buyers are simply tuning out. Acquiring customers is growing more expensive and resulting in diminishing returns.
Community Based Marketing provides a solution: create a community and ensure that prospects and customers value belonging.
2. Marketers increasingly value first party and zero party data
Amidst privacy concerns and regulation, marketers across the globe are facing the loss of third-party cookies, leading to challenges when trying to track and understand buyer behaviour online.
3. The rise of the Creator, Knowledge and Passion economies
The ‘creator economy’ is well known - there are tens of millions of independent content creators and community builders globally.
4. The pandemic and economic uncertainty
The Covid pandemic was a massive accelerant of digital technologies. As individuals, we sought meaningful connections during periods of isolation - a desire for a sense of belonging, connection.
5. Trust in government and institutions declining
Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows that trust in institutions, government and media has been in decline for some years, leading people to trust peers more.
6. Technology businesses are acquiring ‘ready baked’ communities
A significant factor in this renewed interest in community are the big acquisitions in the technology sector.
Where does Community Based Marketing fit in the sales and marketing funnel?
The marketing funnel is non-linear. Communities in B2C marketing can be successful when they are broad and shallow, but in B2B marketing, relationships should be narrower and deeper.
Awareness
At the ‘Awareness’ top end of the marketing funnel you will typically have publicly accessible content, supported and amplified with various forms of paid media and marketing.
Interest and Desire
The consideration/desire stages are perfectly suited to Community Based Marketing.
Loyalty and Advocacy
Sales and marketing can be too focused on customer acquisition when much of the value comes from loyal customers that stick with you over longer periods of time.
The business case for Community Based Marketing (CBM)
Successful community building brings many benefits:
1. Thought leadership to drive inbound leads
B2B marketers use thought leadership as a marketing approach.
2. Extending the value of your content marketing and events
Communities extend the value and improve the reach of your content.
3. Creation of a reputational moat and mobilisation of fans and advocates
Creating powerful communities helps build a company's competitive advantage.
4. Engagement to improve customer retention / reduce churn
Creating a community can measure the impact on retention or churn rates.
5. Revenue generation through supporting recurring revenue models
Businesses can generate predictable revenue and higher customer engagement.
6. Revenue generation through the creation of new revenue streams
Communities are just starting to explore the influence of web 3.0.
7. Premium customer service for top customers
Looking after valuable customers in smaller, more intimate communities can add significant value.
8. Market / customer / audience insight and intelligence
Communities are goldmines for market and customer insight.
9. Impacting your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy
The more people talk about something, the more they share content and links, which can influence SEO.
10. Raising investment and improving investor relations
Creating private investor communities helps improve investor communications and support.
11. Improving talent pipelines
Creating communities to support and nurture talent is increasingly common.
12. Supporting Environment Social and Governance (ESG) strategy
Building communities around ESG issues extend traditional CSR initiatives.
The 10 success factors for Community Based Marketing (CBM)
1. Your community needs a clear purpose
Prospective members need to know exactly why they should join.
2. Clear objectives and metric setting
Be clear on the business objectives behind your community investment and the metrics used to measure value.
3. Small can be good
Quality counts more than quantity in B2B communities.
4. The importance of community management
Someone needs to manage your community; it’s vital for its success.
5. Curate, don’t dictate
Successful communities feel owned by their members.
6. Choose the right community technology platform
Choosing the right platform increases your chances of success.
7. Trust
Trust is essential for a community to thrive and must be built over time.
8. Consistency, persistency and rituals
Building communities involves regular engagement and consistency.
9. Community at the core - not peripheral
Community needs to be embedded within the organisation.
10. Community building is a (highly undervalued) skill
Identifying strong community managers is key for successful community building.
Community Based Marketing (CBM) - read our brand new best practice guide
How can you develop a successful Community Based Marketing (CBM) strategy? The guide includes insights from 30+ experts on effective use of community in marketing strategies.