When properly integrated into the business strategy, B2B communities offer so much more than a support tactic. Thriving communities provide members with an inimitable and valuable experience and bring value to every department in the organization.

Let’s examine why a vibrant, connected community of passionate people should be at the top of every B2B organization’s wish list.

Increasing brand loyalty and cultivating brand advocates

B2B success is all about building and nurturing long-term, meaningful relationships.  

Promotional one-way communication won’t cut it with today’s ad-exhausted (B2B) customers. They want dialogue and an authentic connection with brands.

Quick fact: 90% of customers said authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support.

Online communities are extremely powerful for building relationships. They connect people around a shared passion or purpose in a collaborative and conversational space and encourage members to interact with each other and with the brand meaningfully—promoting retention and loyalty.

As your community grows and relationships strengthen, so do its advantages to your organization. An engaged community cultivates brand advocates—people who genuinely believe in what you do, want to support you, and tell their friends and peers about you.

Brand advocates are an invaluable asset for any B2B organization. In addition to bringing high-quality referrals, they help boost retention rates and improve products by giving better feedback.

Quick fact: Advocates are up to three times more effective than regular, satisfied customers in inspiring others to purchase. 

Community managers can use a variety of techniques and initiatives to delight members and transform them into passionate brand advocates, such as:

• Offering access to high-level company decision-makers, opportunities to beta test new features, and the ability to influence the brand’s direction
• Organizing exclusive networking events, free publicity, or speaking opportunities at company-hosted events
• Rewarding, recognizing, and elevating advocates

Quick fact: Global research from Nielsen found that 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations over ads and branded content.

Driving value throughout the organization

When you take the right approach* to community building, it will positively impact departments throughout your organization. Let’s take a look at some examples:

*The right approach is to incorporate your community into your business strategy and not simply view it as a customer support tactic.

Enhancing marketing efforts

Marketing departments constantly endeavor to understand their customers. Marketers can watch organic and insightful conversations play out within the community, revealing unique insights into customer challenges, expectations, and desires. 

These insights help marketers monitor evolving trends, hot topics, and customer challenges–information that can be used to refine the overall marketing strategy.

Communities also offer a treasure trove of powerful user-generated content that can be repurposed and used to attract interest, drive leads, and nurture prospects on other marketing channels.

A community can also position your brand as a thought leader and reference within your industry. With an online community, you can build an online space people will flock to for exclusive content, rich exchanges, motivation, and support (and you might be able to reduce your ad spend in the process).

Inspiring product innovation in line with customer needs

A community can also offer valuable, authentic feedback on the product. 

These insights can be leveraged to guide the product roadmap and serve as inspiration for new features. Your community can also offer a pool of potential beta testers!

Quick fact: Over 85% of Fortune 500 companies rely on their communities to identify customer needs.

Reducing support costs and supporting pre-sales

An online community provides a space for customers and prospects to ask and answer questions, share ideas, and share best practices. Each time a customer can solve an issue using the community, it is one less issue for your support team to deal with! 

Quick fact: ​​49% of businesses with online communities report cost savings of 10% to 25% annually.

 

Building a competitive advantage

As products become less distinguishable by brand and price, providing an outstanding customer experience has become critical for organizations seeking a competitive advantage. 84% of consumers say experience is as important as products and services.

Quick fact: SaaS companies founded a year ago face 9.7 competitors compared to just 2.6 competitors for SaaS companies that started five years ago. 

 Online communities contribute to creating a standout experience with your B2B brand. Beyond engaging members, thriving online communities cultivate a strong sense of belonging—a need deeply rooted in all humans. When a member feels a sense of belonging in your community, their loyalty, advocacy, and investment in your success will skyrocket.

Competitors can copy your products and services to some extent. However, it is incredibly difficult to copy a vibrant community of passionate brand advocates, their relationships with each other and your organization, and the content and experiences they share.

Building a B2B community is an ongoing process that involves strategic planning, consistent engagement, and continuous optimization. The key is to create value for members while aligning community goals with business objectives. Here are some critical steps to help you in your B2B community journey.

Define objectives and goals

• Clarify purpose and goal: Determine why you want to build a B2B community. Is it to generate leads, provide customer support, foster industry networking, or promote thought leadership?
• Set business objectives: Establish clear, measurable objectives (e.g., increase customer retention by 20%, acquire 50 new qualified leads per month, etc.).

Identify and understand the target audience

• Market research: Understand the specific needs, pain points, and behaviors of your target B2B audience. Market research is crucial for community building because it enables you to tailor the community’s strategy resources to directly address the specific needs and pain points of your target B2B audience, driving higher engagement and relevance.
• Mutual value creation: The community should be designed to create value for the members and the organization. If your audience needs networking opportunities, the community’s goal could be to foster connections among industry professionals, which in turn builds loyalty and engagement for the business.

Develop a content strategy

• Content plan: Create a content calendar with a mix of educational, engaging, and promotional content. You could include content formats such as webinars, blogs, white papers, case studies, and Q&As. For more content inspiration, download our guide on how to create a content strategy.
• User-generated content: Encourage members to contribute content, such as case studies, guest blog posts, or testimonials, to enhance engagement.

Build and engage the community

• Invite early members: Start with a group of core members, such as loyal customers, industry influencers, or partners, to seed the community.
• Facilitate discussions: Encourage members to participate in discussions, ask questions, and share their experiences. Introduce topics that resonate with the community.
• Moderate actively: Keep the community safe, relevant, and focused. Enforce rules, manage conflicts, and ensure the content stays on topic. Creating guidelines for a community helps ensure consistent, fair, and transparent moderation, fostering a positive and inclusive environment for all members. Get our ultimate guide for online community guidelines.
• Networking opportunities: Organize virtual meetups, roundtable discussions, or collaborative projects to foster relationships among members.

Promote the community

• Marketing campaigns: You could use email marketing, social media, and partnerships to attract new members. Highlight the value of joining the community.
• Incentives: Offer exclusive content, early access to products, or networking opportunities as incentives for joining and engaging with the community.
• Celebrate successes: Recognize and reward active members, celebrate milestones, and share success stories within the community.

Measure and analyze community success

• KPIs and metrics: Track metrics such as engagement rates, member growth, content interaction, and conversion rates.
• Feedback loops: Regularly gather feedback from members to understand their needs and improve the community experience.

Scale and evolve the community

• Growth strategies: Introduce new features, content types, or sub-communities as the community grows. Consider expanding into new regions or industries.
• Sustaining engagement: Continuously engage the community with fresh content, challenges, or events to keep members active and involved.
• Long-term engagement: Plan for long-term sustainability by continuously aligning the community’s direction with business goals and member needs.

Selecting the right community platform is a critical decision that directly influences your community’s success. With numerous options available, the process can be daunting, particularly when factoring in your organization’s unique situation and your audience’s specific needs.

Begin by understanding the specific needs of your target B2B audience. What types of engagement opportunities and resources resonate most with them? Are they seeking networking opportunities, industry insights, knowledge-sharing forums, product support, or thought leadership content? Once you have clear answers, you can begin exploring platform options. If you’re uncertain, take the time to engage directly with your audience—through surveys, feedback loops, and conversations—to pinpoint their crucial engagement drivers. This understanding will guide you in selecting a platform that meets their needs, ensuring they feel valued and remain engaged.

Next, ensure the platform aligns with your organizational goals. Clearly define your primary objectives—whether it’s driving engagement, strengthening branding, or managing content—and choose a platform that excels in those areas. For example, Hivebrite is renowned for its robust customization features, making it an excellent choice for communities focused on building a strong brand presence.

Additionally, take into account your organization’s current situation, including budget constraints and available human resources. While platforms like Hivebrite offer extensive capabilities, they may require a higher investment and dedicated management. Evaluating whether you have the resources to maximize these features or if a more cost-effective platform better suits your needs is essential.

When evaluating platforms, focus on two critical groups: your end-users and your administrators. For end-users, consider the user experience—is it intuitive, easy to navigate, and does it encourage repeat visits? Administrators should assess whether the platform’s configuration and content management are straightforward enough for non-technical staff to handle effectively.

Choose a platform that aligns closely with your audience’s needs and the community’s goal regarding specific features and functionality. This might include features such as searchable member directories, industry-specific job boards, event registration, discussion forums, interest groups, content libraries, email campaigns, and seamless CRM integration. The platform should be scalable, flexible, and capable of evolving with your engagement strategy as your user base and activity levels grow without sacrificing performance. Additionally, ensure it offers customization options and data integration capabilities with crucial systems like Salesforce to support your broader business objectives.

HR Acuity

HR Acuity’s empowER community is a dynamic online space designed to meet the evolving needs of HR professionals by fostering continuous engagement, resource sharing, and professional networking. The community’s primary goal is to provide HR professionals with valuable resources, facilitate meaningful connections, and support their professional growth in the complex field of employee relations. Key results include a 51% year-over-year growth in membership, an 89% increase in event registrations, and a notable business impact, with community membership doubling the average deal size. Powered by Hivebrite’s platform, empowER has become a thriving hub for HR professionals, significantly contributing to HR Acuity’s business success.

Gong

Gong’s community aims to empower sales professionals and revenue teams by creating a collaborative space where they can connect, share insights, and enhance their skills. The community focuses on providing valuable resources, facilitating knowledge exchange, and offering expert guidance to help members excel in sales and revenue strategies, thereby driving professional growth and improving overall performance.

Find out more about HR Acuity and Gong’s communities and how they are impacting their organizations in our on-demand webinar.