Increase Your Social Media Engagement [Community Philosophy]

What does your organization stand for? It’s a question leading brands ask regularly to build campaigns that support that message. Your community philosophy is one central thought that brings together people from all walks of life due to that common belief.

Here at Behind The Leaf we believe women have the ability to flourish with the right resources. That common understanding dictates everything we do here. We actively seek out resources because we deeply believe that more knowledge will help women just like us grow into her full potential.

You might be reading this thinking, “oh I know what you mean! You’re talking about the brand mission or its digital reputation.”

Well sister, you are half right! A brand’s digital reputation has more to do with how other people feel about your brand. Your brand’s mission are the actions you take to express your philosophy. For example: 

• We believe useful resources help women flourish, therefore we provide workshops that offer useful information.

• We know women need access to funding in order to scale so we create an opportunity for access by introducing angel investors to women small business owners at Flourish Media Conference

• We understand storytelling is a key launching pad for writers but self published women authors don’t have a reliable resource for connecting with readers IRL in person. So what do we do? We created PublisHER, a Book Fair for Women Authors.

Your community philosophy shows up in many ways. Think about your last client, we bet that brand partnered with you because you share similar community philosophies. If you’ve been struggling with your messaging here is a quick exercise to help you break through that haze for a clear perspective on who you are and what brands best align with your philosophy.

WHO DO YOU HELP?

Take a 10,000 foot view of your business. If you’re just starting out think about who you want to help with your product or services. If you’ve been at this a while, look at the people paying you: what do they have in common?

One mishap businesses face is trying to be everything to everyone but when I mention brands like Cocoa Cola, Fashion Nova, and Mini Cooper you are not confused about who they serve. Thirsty people drink Coca Cola. Young fashionable women [and now men] on a middle class budget who tend to be tech savvy wear Fashion Nova. Young professionals who like luxury but enjoy standing out in a crowd drive Mini Cooper that just happens to be a Mercedes Benz brand.

WHAT PROBLEM DO I SOLVE?

Every business solves a problem for its customers. In sales that problem is commonly referred to as the “pain point.” Your job as the business is to offer the solution to the pain. The community philosophy accepts that every person effected by this pain is equally motivated to solve it.

Thirsty people can drink water but it’s more fun to drink a Coke. Young tech savvy people need to wear clothes but it’s more attractive to wear clothes that express that latest fashion trends on social media. Young professionals need a car to get from point A to point B, but that doesn’t mean the car can’t reflect a quirky sense of style.

NAME YOUR COMMUNITY

Now that you know who you’re talking to and what central pain point they share, it’s up to you to build community around the solution that your brand offers.

Here at Behind The Leaf we use the phrase “forever flourishing.” That call to action resonates with women who are in a constant states of learning. Women and men who value sharing ideas for advancement of women business owners, understand the ripple effect that economics has on our society at large. We call those people in our community TRIBE.

You’ll see many brands create internal language because of the impact it has on engagement. We understand this behavior on a psychological level. We do this in everyday life by linking family members with the same last name or using hashtags to link common themes. Check out the hashtag #novabae to see an example of Fashion Nova building community using this technique.

If you’d like to increase your engagement use the (3) questions above to identify your community. Reward your TRIBE by giving them a name and always give them a call to action so that they can find each other.

If you enjoyed these tips you’ll love our free brand personality guide. Download it and put it to work for your business.

Written by Vivian Anderson