Building a Social Community
Brands are built by community. But how do you build a community for your brand on social media?
Let’s take Instagram for example:
This is a community. It’s inhabited by a Instagram star, friends and collaborators of the Instagram star, adoring fans and a few “trolls.”
Five ways to build a brand community:
- Make it Matter: Provide relevant content to your viewers.
- Boots on the Ground: Interact with as many viewers and commenters as possible.
- Partner Up: Collaborate with other like-minded Instagramers to create even more relevant content and reach new people.
- Welcome Fan Fuel: Ask viewers what they want to see next – ensuring your new content is relevant.
- Be Gracious, No Matter How Trivial: Thank your followers for their support.
Giving your followers what they want and/or need and consistently reminding them that you appreciate them is the best way to build a supportive social community.
Need any help building your community? Let us know! Amperage specializes in helping our clients connect with their target audiences in motivating, measurable ways.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
