Cultivating Community to Build Brand Loyalty

In recent weeks, we have discussed the surge in outdoor cooking, the emerging audience of Gen Z and Millenials, and how to drive outdoor sales with digital marketing.

As we conclude this series on growing your outdoor brand, let’s turn our attention to a crucial element for lasting success: building an authentic, engaged community. In today’s digital landscape, it’s not enough to just drive sales or accumulate social media followers; genuine consumer engagement is essential for sustaining your audience long term.

How to Foster Deeper Community Connections

Once we identify our current/target audiences and create engaging social media strategies (find more information on this in last week’s blog), we need to take it a step further for them to become real fans and brand advocates. Below are some actionable ways for you to grow your community:

1. Education
You need to grab your customers’ attention with quick clips on social media that intrigue and engage them, but there must be a place to further educate and immerse the audience in your brand. 

• • • YouTube is a great place to hold long-form, educational content that fans can dive into – with segments on “How To” use the product, create recipes, achieve beautiful tablescapes, and more.
    • Instagram Broadcast Channel: Similar to YouTube, brands can look to create a Broadcast Channel on Instagram. This gives you the opportunity to engage niche audiences that want to dive into exclusive content and promotions. Broadcast channels also allow for followers to feel like they are part of a VIP community with insider content. 
    • Podcasts: There is a rise in audio media consumption, which allows brands a form of marketing that feels conversational and approachable. Digital audio reaches consumers audibly, leading to better brand recall and sentiment. Brands can host their own podcast, or make efforts to guest star on other podcasts that resonate with their audience.
    • Community Newsletters: This one may seem a little more obvious, but continuing to create educational, inspiring and relevant newsletter content is another touchpoint to reach your audience about your product or service.

2. Collaborate
Collaboration with industry experts, celebrities, and influencers further drives credibility and support for your brand. Look for ways to collaborate on new products with brands that resonate with your audience. For example, we worked with our client Hestan to collaborate with BauTeam and Cosentino on a special project for  KBIS 2024. The result was an exclusive indoor kitchen that received national recognition and positive feedback across all brand audiences. 

3. Exclusivity 

• Events are one of the best ways to get people excited for your brand. Being able to show consumers (in person) why they need your product adds another layer of personal connection. Events can feature anything from live entertainment, food, celebrity/influential guests to community activities. Take it a step further and create even more tailored, exclusive events for your best customers or designers. 
• The design community is all about experiences and having a genuine connection with a brand. For example, C.Next is a summit hosted by Cosentino that brings together designers and industry leaders to an exclusive summit. Designers immerse themselves into the different brands and leave with more industry knowledge and connections. Personalized events such as this allow for your brand to become more than a product, but a lifestyle and experience. 
• New Products: By creating these niche, engaged communities, you have the opportunity to evaluate your customers’ feedback and act on their needs. Listen to what your customers want, and use this as a launchpoint to create new products. Give your best customers and fans exclusive early access to these new product launches, or create products only available to them.

The Result: Brand Loyalty 

The ultimate goal of growing your community is to create brand loyalty. By catering to your audience in an intentional and authentic way, you will end up selling more than a product – you give them a memorable experience. From there, they will become brand advocates for you, repeat purchasers, and they will continue amplifying your brand in their social circles.