The paradigm has shifted, now e-commerce has given more dominance to buyers. Now, the buyers have full control over their buying journey and decision making process. Today, the definition of a good buying experience has changed, earlier it was just about the purchase stage but the digitization has shifted to include it with pre and post shopping experience. The D2C model is enabling brands to create a community with the customers by engaging with them on a daily basis. With this, the brands can offer personalization to its customers and can resonate with more customers that can eventually lead to increased sales.
In the simplest terms, a brand community showcases brand loyalty at its best. People present in the brand community are emotionally invested as they will buy from your company, digest the content, tell their friends and family about your company, and more. The brand community is built in a way to create brand awareness. Prathamesh Krisang, Co-founder and Chief of Growth, Magicleaf, a brand that sells stevia drops made from all-natural ingredients harped on the idea of creating a community of customers “Yes, we are very serious about community building. We have already piloted our No Sugar Club with a few champion customers and will roll out this community to a wider audience soon.”
He further added, “Community building has become essential right now. With the rising cost of acquiring new customers and the low entry barrier to starting a D2C brand, it is essential to nurture solid champions who love your brand and what it stands for.”
Priyanka Salot, Co-founder, The Sleep Company that provides SmartGRID mattress which has a digitally native comfort technology told about this, “Sleep is becoming a major issue in today’s generation, not just in India but throughout the world. People are suffering from a variety of sleep problems. And the prevalence of insomnia is gradually rising. So that’s where we want to establish a community, and that’s what we’re doing. We use a lot of material with influencers and professionals to truly help our company reach its goal and vision.”
Aakash Anand, Founder & CEO, IDAM House Of Brands commented on this and further highlighted, “Community-driven marketing is the best and most sustainable way of gaining paid customers. Our first priority as a business is to create the best product, second is to tell our audience about it. By way of transparency on social media, we are able to reach out to millions of people and try to create a community of like minded people who will help us build our brand and take it to newer heights. Community building also helps in building LTV which helps brands in longer run. This reduces CAC at a business level and the repeat ratio also moves up which is a healthy sign for any business.”
