How often have you witnessed an influencer address their followers are their online family, peers, or even community? We don’t know you or your favorite but what we know for sure is that you have seen this more than often. Most of you might also be a part of that community while others would wonder if the influencers actually mean it or are doing it for clout.

Now, that is completely based on your personal opinion. To each, it’s own. But it is important to know that either way, influencer marketing is based on community. Throughout the various phases of influencer marketing, we have seen people prejudice it as unimpactful, then gradually we saw big brands work with bloggers, then the small businesses on Instagram joined the league, and of course, there was a lot more in between, but now that the digital world has finally crowned influencer marketing as the marketing strategy since the existence of social media, people are finally coming around the fact of building online communities.

Social media is now no more just a space to build an audience but also to turn it into a community. Your online community is your strong support through your journey as an influencer. You want your audience to stay with you and continue with you on your journey from being a micro-influencer to a mega influencer one day.

What is the purpose of an online community for influencers?

The way an influencer addresses their followers is important. Don’t believe everything Shakespeare says. There was no influencer marketing in the 17th century. In the 21st century, everything is in a name.

It’s not the case that if you call your influencers their audience, they would rage against you. No! But how you address them defines your tone, your intent, and shapes your way of expression towards them.

When you call your Instagram followers are your fam, community, friends, online family, companions, you are filling the gap of connectivity between you and your followers. By building a community you are doing the feelings of fellowship and belongingness.

There are different niches of influencer marketing dominating the digital world. And no matter what niche you belong to, if you are unable to build a community, you will not be able to strike the fancy of the brands that could give you business. A huge number of followers is not the only factor considered by brands. In fact, there are top micro-influencers that are able to work with prestigious brands. And that has been possible for them because they have come so far by building an online community.

It is not only the responsibility of the influencers to build more than just an audience on social media. The same goes for brands as well. Brands often think that it’s content marketing vs influencer marketing. The latter is important, no doubt in that. But it’s the former marketing strategy that helps build an online community.

One of the top influencer marketing strategies of 2022 is to build an online community. It helps to build engagement on your profile. You come across some beautiful virtual moments like your followers becoming friends with each other in your comment section, some hearty discussions on live sessions, people standing up for each other as well as for your against trollers, seeing massive support when you start something new. There’s so much warmth and strength that an online community can bring.

It helps you create a developing and safe environment for your followers. But the question remains, how to build an online community? It’s simple. Believe us, it does not take much. We will not indulge you in any more aphorisms and get straight into talking about the top ways you can build a social media community.

1. Try to get to know your followers

Your online community is your family and what kind of family would it be if you don’t even know them? We are not implying that you should know the names of all your thousands of followers, or know their childhood history or what college degree did they specialize in. All you need to know about them is what type of social media content do they like, ask them about some of their fun memories, indulge them in storytelling in the comment section, or ask them if they like what they see on your profile. Depending on your niche you always keep asking them questions to make them feel noticed and considered. You cannot know your followers individually but you can always try to know them personally.

2. Share your plans with them

When you choose content creation over curation, you have the responsibility to keep enhancing and experimenting. When you are just starting out and do not have an active community, the only way to find out if your experiments can land or not is by initiating them. But when you have achieved a certain number of followers, you can simply share your plans and ask for their opinion. This way you get the information straight from the horse’s mouth and it becomes easier to gauge if your plans can be successful or not. Furthermore, asking for your follower’s opinions makes them feel valued.

3. Stand up for them

We have advanced a lot as humans and in terms of technology. But you will still come across ‘not so advanced’ humans who take pleasure in trolling. And until we get a technology good enough to eradicate them completely from the face of social media, we have to stand up for each other. As an influencer, it is your responsibility to make your followers feel safe. You do not always have to address the trollers to strike back. Simply deleting the offensive messages and blocking them can be useful. The trollers not only attack influencers but also followers. Now since you are followers are so protective of you, it only makes sense if you do the same for them.

4. Be honest with your collaborations

One of the top ways to be true to your work is to stick to your niche and work with brands from your niche. If you do otherwise, you might lose the balance in your content, and hence, you won’t be able to strike the right tone with your followers. You can use WORD Marketplace to find the best brands from your niche. All you have to do is pick a campaign, make your content submission and wait for approval. As soon as your nail your submission and get the client’s approval you get paid. It’s that simple to work with brands of your choice.