Have you listened to your customers lately?

There’s an overwhelming number of ways a business can participate in communities on the social web these days (Facebook Fan Page, LinkedIn Groups, Twitter Communities). One often overlooked method is creating your own online social network for your brands community.

Having your own online social community is like chatting at a cocktail party compared to yelling during a stadium concert as with other large social networking sites. It’s a place where like minded guests can have an honest discussion without all the background noise. With your own social networking site you can make your brand social, amplify a cause you’re passionate about, or simply forge strong relationships with like-minded people.

4 Benefits of your own community network

There are many benefits for you or your  business having a social networking site. It’s a great ways to add value and connect with potential customers. More specifically, it will help you:

1. Build Brand Loyalty – Having a place for your customers to go and engage with you can further your brand loyalty. How? By developing trust and customer satisfaction through community engagement, leading to repeated buying behavior even when your products or services are more expensive.
2. Grow Evangelism -Customers who really like your products or services will want to talk about them with other passionate enthusiasts. Creating your own social network will make them feel they have an exclusive connection to you brand that most consumers don’t have, and giving them continuous opportunities to discuss the brand and keep it top of mind. Having your own social networking site provides customers with the motivation, tools, and means to evangelize your products to friends and family.
3. Garner Customer Feedback – Creating a custom social network provides a common place where your customers can voice their opinions and provide feedback on your product and services. It also allows your most loyal users to suggest new product features and and gives them a place to report bugs, all of which helps build trust and transparency.
4. Promote Discussion – It’s important to open up the dialog, not just between you and your customers, but between your customers themselves. Connecting your community members to each other has the benefit of building trust and relationships leading to a stronger and more loyal community. It also allows you to listen in to concerns and opinions that may not be shared directly with you.

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