Building a Community around Your Product: The Key to Adoption and Growth

In today’s business landscape, understanding your target audience is just as crucial as the product itself, a fact that is often overlooked.

Effective marketing isn’t just about flashy ads or catchy slogans; it’s about ensuring your audience understands why they should choose your product.

It’s not simply a matter of “come and buy my product”; positioning your product as a lifestyle enabler is essential.

Lifestyle choices drive today’s consumers, which should be pivotal in shaping how businesses approach their marketing strategies.

Building a community around your product or service is fundamental for creating this kind of meaningful connection with your audience.

A community fosters a sense of belonging and loyalty, significantly influencing product adoption.

This community-centred approach ensures that customers feel valued and understood, leading to stronger, long-term relationships.

One of the primary questions every business should ask is, “What’s in it for the user?” If the value provided to the community is overlooked, it can negatively impact the later stages of the marketing funnel. Consider a digital lending product.

While acquiring a loan might be straightforward, the experience of repayment and the potential for becoming a repeat customer will depend heavily on the perceived value and connection.

A poor experience can lead to negative word of mouth, while a positive, meaningful connection can result in loyalty and forgiveness of minor issues.

Another angle to this is establishing a meaningful connection with potential customers before they even use your product.

The question is “How then do we create a meaningful connection when the individual has not even used the product or service?” It starts at the awareness stage of the purchase funnel.

A potential customer might see your advertisement, like it, and subscribe to your newsletter without needing the product immediately.

If your communications resonate with their lifestyle, they are more likely to choose your product when the need arises.

This preemptive connection makes them feel heard, seen, and valued, increasing the likelihood of patience and loyalty even if minor setbacks occur later.

Products like Apple have mastered creating emotional connections, making their customers loyal despite negative messages. Some people are just iPhone people.

In the past, creating a connection wasn’t all necessary. Become one of the big names and people typically will want to identify with your brand.

Today, the emphasis has shifted to creating meaningful connections. Take Nigeria, where major ride-hailing apps like Uber, Bolt, and InDriver operate. These services haven’t forged meaningful connections; their appeal is strictly functional, with users opting for the cheapest option.

If one service is no longer the cheapest, users switch to another without hesitation. This isn’t a significant issue in ride-hailing due to limited options, but in the fintech space, where choices are abundant, if the customer leaves it may take a long time before they circle back.

Functionality alone is no longer sufficient; people need to feel a deeper connection. If I attempt to order food from an app and then cancel, receiving an email that reads; “We understand that sometimes you can get sucked into work and forget to eat. At ‘XYZ’ foods we have you covered at any time of the day.

Click here to set a reminder for your meals”, will create a meaningful connection.

This approach focuses on the customer’s needs, unlike receiving a call at an inconvenient time asking why the order wasn’t completed, an approach that centres on the product or service.

Fintech brands like PiggyVest have successfully integrated this approach. By allowing users to share their financial behaviour scores on social media and providing insights for improvement, they foster a sense of pride and motivation, translating to increased product use and organic promotion through word of mouth.

Spotify’s Wrapped feature is a global example of successful community engagement. Users eagerly anticipate sharing their year-in-review, which not only promotes Spotify but also creates meaningful conversations, enhancing their connection to the brand.

As our dependence on technology grows, so does our desire for human-like connections. Big data and AI advancements are pivotal in this evolution, allowing businesses to create personalized experiences that resonate deeply with their audience.

Like the example above, instead of sending impersonal reminders, a food delivery app might acknowledge that users sometimes forget to eat due to busy schedules and offer helpful solutions, making communication about the customer rather than the product.

By focusing on the value provided to the community and fostering connections even before product use, businesses can ensure long-term loyalty and positive word of mouth.

The brands that will succeed in today’s tech-driven terrain will be those that blend their innovation with genuine human connection, making customers feel valued and understood.

About the writer:

Nsongurua Myra Abasiakara is a seasoned marketing professional with an exceptional track record in digital and growth marketing, product marketing, and consumer behaviour analysis for successful and growing brands. Nsongurua, is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK, with over five years of experience in digital marketing working across different industries particularly FinTech startups, where she has spent most of her career driving growth through excellent campaign executions.