Community-Based Marketing: Strategies to Reach Your Audience

Today, traditional marketing methods are struggling to cut through the noise. Marketing professionals are increasingly recognizing the need for more authentic and engaging ways to connect with their target audience.

The buzz around community-based marketing is louder than ever. More than 76% of internet users are active in online communities, engaging with forums, blogs and vlogs. Community-based social marketing promises deeper customer relationships, increased brand loyalty and, ultimately, stronger business results. But for enterprise-level organizations, the question remains — how do we move beyond the hype and translate the potential of community marketing into tangible business outcomes?

This blog will explore the core principles of community-based marketing (CBM) and provide you with actionable strategies for building and nurturing communities around your brand. We'll delve into identifying your target audience, choosing the right platforms, creating engaging content and measuring the impact of your efforts.

What is community-based marketing?

Community-based marketing (CBM) is a strategic approach that focuses on building and nurturing a loyal community around your brand. Instead of relying on traditional, transactional marketing that prioritizes immediate sales, CBM emphasizes genuine relationships, fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging interaction.

Nas Daily, a vlogger known for his 1-minute videos, shared his perspective on community in a podcast:

"Community is about how many of your followers actually migrate with you to another platform, where you have their data — email, phone number — and can offer them a membership or other value. I encourage everyone to build a community."

Building a true community goes beyond just having an audience. It’s not about passive followers but about creating a space where people actively engage and stay connected over time. Influencer marketing, despite its reach, often falls short in this aspect — it may bring in followers, but it doesn’t necessarily build a lasting community.

While influencer marketing taps into an individual’s existing audience, community-based social marketing builds a community around your brand. Influencer-driven communities revolve around the influencer’s personality and content, while a brand-owned community is rooted in shared interests tied to your products, services or industry.

The online community gives you a direct connection to your audience, greater control over messaging and experience and the ability to cultivate deeper, long-term relationships. It’s about building something that belongs to your brand — an asset that grows and serves your business for years to come.

Related Read: 7 Best Influencer Marketing Strategies You Should Try

Why community-based marketing matters more than ever

CBM offers a range of benefits that contribute to sustainable business growth. Here are the top three benefits of community-based marketing:

1. Organic and trust-driven alternative

Consumers are increasingly becoming sceptical of traditional advertising. CBM provides an organic, trust-driven alternative. Friends or family recommend a brand, and customers are 84% more likely to trust it.

When customers connect within a community, they share experiences, offer recommendations and build genuine relationships. This peer-to-peer interaction fosters trust and authenticity, making community-driven endorsements far more impactful than paid advertising.

2. Cost-effective growth

Compared to traditional marketing campaigns, CBM can be a highly cost-effective way to drive growth. Building a community requires an initial investment of time and resources, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the costs. Research indicates that 49% of brands using community forums have achieved 25% cost savings.

A dedicated community generates organic content, reduces customer acquisition costs and increases customer lifetime value. By empowering your customers to become brand advocates, you can leverage their influence to reach a wider audience without significant advertising spend.

3. Deeper customer insights

A strong community provides in-depth insights into your customers' needs, preferences and pain points. By actively engaging with your community members, you can gather direct customer feedback, identify emerging trends and gain a deeper understanding of your target market.

This data can inform product development, improve customer service and refine your overall marketing strategy, leading to more targeted and effective campaigns.

4 core pillars of CBM

Building a successful online community requires a strong foundation. These four core pillars represent the fundamental elements that every brand should focus on when implementing a CBM strategy.

1. Authenticity

Successful community-based marketing is built on authenticity — establishing real connections and fostering trust. For enterprises, this means aligning brand messaging with core values, maintaining transparency and consistently delivering on promises. When a brand is perceived as authentic, it strengthens credibility and encourages advocacy within the community.

TOMS Shoes exemplifies how a brand can build authenticity through impactful storytelling and behind-the-scenes content. Their One for One giving program, where they donate a pair of shoes for each one sold, is central to their mission. By highlighting the real-world effect of these donations on communities, TOMS invites customers to be a part of a larger movement.

2. Two-way communication

Community-based marketing requires active listening and dialogue rather than one-way messaging. Enterprises that engage in meaningful conversations with their audience build stronger relationships and gain valuable insights to refine their offerings.

Interactive initiatives like live Q&A sessions, industry roundtables and real-time feedback loops enhance engagement and customer satisfaction.

3. Community

A strong brand community fosters engagement, advocacy and customer loyalty. This requires ongoing support, responsiveness and the use of user-generated content to deepen connections and create a sense of belonging.

LEGO has built one of the most engaged brand communities through LEGO Ideas, an online platform where fans submit their own designs. Winning ideas are turned into official LEGO sets, giving customers a direct role in product development and reinforcing brand loyalty.

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4. Consistent engagement

Maintaining a steady presence within the community is essential for trust and loyalty. Enterprises must continuously adapt, innovate and provide value-driven interactions to keep audiences engaged over time.

Regular brand updates, exclusive insights and personalized interactions keep the community informed and invested in the brand’s evolution.

Read next: How to start a successful brand community (with pro tips)

Community-based marketing strategies to follow in 2025

Here are some key strategies brands can use to implement community-based marketing effectively in 2025:

1. Create a digital community hub

Platforms like Facebook Groups and Reddit offer excellent avenues for engaging your audience. Facebook Groups allow for private, focused discussions and relationship building, while Reddit communities can tap into existing niche interests and reach a broader audience. These platforms provide spaces for direct interaction, feedback collection and sharing valuable content.

How to create a digital community hub:

· Identify relevant platforms where your target audience is active.

· Create a group or subreddit focused on a specific topic related to your brand or industry.

· Establish clear guidelines for participation and moderation.

· Seed the community with engaging content and conversation starters.

· Actively participate in discussions and encourage member interaction.

· Promote your community through your other marketing channels.

Pro tip💡: Create an environment where you as a brand can engage with customers directly and where customers can interact with each other in order to resolve issues, provide product feedback to internal teams and help to reduce churn with initiatives focused on brand loyalty. 
 
A community management platform would make it easier for brands to engage and moderate their online communities. Features such as direct messaging enable seamless interactions. 

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2. Run brand challenges and interactive campaigns

Challenges and interactive campaigns are fantastic ways to spark engagement and create a sense of community. They encourage participation, generate user-generated content and build excitement around your brand.

How to run a brand challenge:

• Define a clear objective for your challenge or campaign.
• Choose a theme that resonates with your target audience and aligns with your brand values.
• Set clear rules and guidelines for participation.
• Offer incentives or rewards for participation.
• Promote your challenge across your social media channels and within your community.
• Actively engage with participants and showcase their contributions.

3. Leverage user-generated content (UGC)

UGC is a powerful tool for building trust and authenticity. By showcasing content created by your customers, you demonstrate the real-world value of your products or services and build a sense of community ownership.

How to leverage UGC:

• Encourage customers to share their experiences with your brand through contests, prompts or dedicated hashtags.
• Feature the best UGC on your website, social media channels and marketing materials.
• Give credit to the creators and acknowledge their contributions.
• Create opportunities for community members to share their stories and testimonials.

Additional Read: How to leverage user-generated content to drive engagement & conversions on social media

4. Host online and offline events

Events, whether virtual or in-person, provide opportunities for community members to connect, network and deepen their relationship with your brand.

How to host online and offline events:

• Choose a format that aligns with your community's interests and your brand's capabilities.
• Promote your events through your community channels and other marketing platforms.
• Create a welcoming and engaging environment for attendees.
• Follow up with attendees after the event to maintain momentum.

5. Creating exclusive content and resources

Offering exclusive content and resources to your community members adds value and incentivizes participation. This could include early access to new products, behind-the-scenes content or even educational resources related to your industry.

How to create exclusive content and resources:

• Identify the types of content and resources that would be most valuable to your community.
• Create a dedicated section on your website or within your community platform for exclusive content.
• Promote your exclusive offerings to your community members.
• Regularly update your exclusive content to keep members engaged.

📽️ Also watch: How to build and manage an online community

Successful CBM examples

Here are three brands that have successfully implemented community-based marketing to foster strong, loyal communities.

1. Strava

Strava is the leading social platform for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. It offers tools to track activities, analyze performance and connect with others in the athletic community. The company's community strategy is built around a shared passion for sports.

Features like activity feeds, kudos, clubs, challenges and user-generated content, including discussions and solved topics, help create a sense of belonging and motivation among athletes of all levels.

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2. Nas Daily

Nas Daily, a media company, creates short, impactful videos that tell stories about people, cultures and places around the world. Its goal is to share positive messages and inspire global connections.

The community strategy of Nas Daily relies on authentic storytelling, engaging visuals and a strong personal brand. It encourages interaction by asking questions, inviting comments, and featuring viewers in their videos, which fosters a sense of global citizenship and shared experience.

In addition, Nas has expanded its community through Nas Daily Academy, an online platform that offers courses and workshops on content creation and community building. This initiative allows them to connect further with its audience and empower individuals to create their own stories.

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3. IKEA

IKEA is a global leader in home furnishings, recognized for its affordable and functional designs. IKEA fosters a loyal customer base through the IKEA Family program, which provides exclusive discounts, design workshops and inspiration.

Additionally, IKEA actively engages customers through in-store experiences, online communities (like sharing videos and stories of working with social entrepreneurs) and a commitment to Scandinavian design and sustainability.

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3 best tools to build and manage brand communities

You need apt tech support to build a strong brand community. Here are three top tools to help you create and manage engaged communities:

1. Sprinklr Social

Sprinklr Social is a comprehensive unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM) platform that offers robust community management features. It allows you to engage with customers across various channels, moderate conversations, analyze community sentiment and gain valuable insights to improve your brand strategy.

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Benefits of using Sprinklr Social:

• Enhanced customer engagement: With tools for real-time interaction and community management, brands can foster deeper connections with their audience.
• Improved efficiency: Features like bulk actions in reporting and automated media optimization streamline workflows and save time.
• Comprehensive insights: Advanced analytics provide valuable data that help brands make informed decisions about their marketing strategies.
• Flexibility in communication: The ability to customize messages and integrate various communication channels allows for a tailored approach to customer interactions.

2. Higher Logic

This platform specializes in creating and managing online communities. Higher Logic offers a user-friendly interface, allowing you to build branded communities, facilitate discussions, host events and provide valuable resources to your members. It's a good choice for organizations focused on building strong member connections.

3. Vanilla Forums

A flexible and customizable forum platform, Vanilla Forums enables you to create engaging online communities tailored to your specific needs. It offers various features, including discussions, Q&A, blogging and gamification, to encourage interaction and participation. It's a considerable option for those who want more control over the look and feel of their community.

Final thoughts: The future of community-based marketing

In an increasingly fragmented and noisy digital world, community-based marketing offers a powerful way for brands to cut through the clutter and build lasting connections with their audience. Shifting from transactional marketing to long-term, relationship-driven engagement through community is a strategic shift that enterprises must embrace.

Brands that invest in building strong communities will have a distinct competitive advantage. They'll benefit from increased brand loyalty, positive word-of-mouth marketing and a deeper understanding of their customer base.

To navigate this change and effectively manage your growing community, Sprinklr Social is your go-to solution. With Sprinklr, you can scale your community-building efforts, streamline workflows, and unlock valuable insights to drive growth and engagement.

Planning to take your community-based marketing to the next level? Book a Sprinklr Social demo today.