In the Future of Marketing, the protagonism is the Públic.
images: midjourney
Brief:
How we moved from permission marketing to influence marketing, and finally arrived at communities.
Community isn't a fancy name for your Instagram followers.
The wear and tear of influence formulas and challenges for new community communication models.
Forget about the all-knowing influencer with an opinion on everything, from buttons to cannons. We've entered the era of Communities, where the audience rules, and uncertainty reigns for now.
Marketing and the way we communicate are changing from the era of influence to the era of communities. But what does this mean?
Here's what I've discovered by following Twitter Spaces, Discord communities, Instagram influencers, and industry experts.
From Permission to Influence
When the internet arrived, we saw the rise of PERMISSION MARKETING. You'd provide your email address and, in return, give permission for people and companies to send you content. This method reigned supreme until social media emerged, bringing with it INFLUENCE MARKETING. This time, content creators built their follower bases, influencing them with their opinions.
This model gained strength on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, revolutionizing our relationships. However, over the years, the movement, which thrived on influencers' legitimacy and authenticity, shows signs of fatigue in a "do anything for a like" approach, also known as the "algorithm dictatorship" - we won't dwell on this here, as I'm sure you've heard plenty about it.
It is in this scenario that the third Web revolution emerges. And with it, DIGITAL COMMUNITIES take center stage.
What are Digital Communities?
Communities are groups where people with common interests come together to share what they love most in life. It's a valuable ground for any brand or product to be on. It's where nail technicians talk about nail polish and fashion, where investors talk about money, where travelers share adventures, and where we mature as individuals and as a group.
While in INFLUENCE, a Leader speaks and followers echo, in a COMMUNITY, the Manager encourages people to bring their own topics, and everyone discusses together. Communication is organic - and sometimes chaotic - bringing back the legitimacy of conversations between friends that we missed in the early days of social media.
Cancel Culture vs. Safe Haven
In the digital influence environment, all followers are illustrious strangers, which has created a comfortable space for all kinds of public judgment. Behind a social media avatar, we feel comfortable condemning anything we disagree with, creating a "Cancel Culture." As a result, we live in a sort of digital Middle Ages: the constant fear of being burned at the stake of digital inquisition for any indiscreet comment left on the feed.
This feeling of fear and isolation is mitigated in Communities. Here, you're among your own, those who understand you and share the same values as you. Thus, communities emerge as a safe place to make mistakes and successes, to mature stances, or even to radicalize positions if that's the group's goal. Either way, the community is the group that protects you, where you feel stronger against the world's threats.
Loyalty vs. Attachment
Followers are loyal to their idols. They're ready to defend every flag their leader raises. This is the kind of loyalty brands buy from an influencer when they hire a sponsored post. It's important, but it dissipates as soon as this relationship between the brand and influencer ends or until the next hashtag dominates trends.
However, when people are part of a brand's theme and discourse - as in communities - loyalty gives way to attachment. There's an intangible relationship here, hardly recorded by insights and post-performance spreadsheets but crucial in building these individuals' identity. It creates values, shapes culture, and forms passionate advocates ready to defend a brand, its values, its community whenever necessary. Apple, Harley Davidson, and football clubs are examples of those who have done this very well.
Individual vs. Collective
Influence is based on the leader's number of followers, while the strength of the Community comes from people's engagement with the theme. What matters is not the individual's word, but everyone's perception, with their various conflicts and synergies. People care less about what a leader does and more about assuming their role in the group.
This organic nature is challenging for marketers because they can't control the narrative. This began in the era of influence and online comments, but now it's growing even more organically. Allowing the audience to set the tone, create content, and establish values is crucial for success in this field. There's something we need to strive to understand better.
This is not the End of Influence, but the Future of Marketing starts here.
Many say this is the end of Influencer Marketing, but I don't believe that. Emails may seem outdated today, but they have their value in sending documents that cannot be lost, and therefore, they have lost space but have not been extinct by social networks. With Influence, we should experience something similar.
Influence can reach a broader audience more quickly and at a lower cost, with 1000 devices on websites to measure these results on social media. This is important for short-term goals and will therefore remain relevant in marketing since communities speak to smaller audiences, are not as scattered across all networks, and therefore take longer to grow.
Communities, on the other hand, speak to enthusiasts. Content overrides clickbait. It creates lasting relationships, fans who are defenders directly related to the brand. As a result, the product ceases to be a commodity and becomes part of the public's identity, as Apple has managed to do with the Memojis that you certainly recognized throughout this post.
Which model is best for you?
There's no absolute answer to this question. The use of community or influence varies according to the product, business objective, and - believe it or not - even with the profile of its managers.
INFLUENCE often has an immediate, far-reaching impact. It's interesting for mass products that commonly compete on price. But its effect is ephemeral and makes the brand hostage to an influencer.
In COMMUNITIES, the relationship between the audience and the brand is direct and long-lasting. It reaches specific audiences with a forcefulness that generalization cannot achieve, where each fan becomes a small ambassador for the product. It's incredible but, of course, takes time to build.
A common mistake, however, is confusing one with the other. Calling Instagram followers a community because of the culture or creating a community to beat your sales target for the next month.
There was a time when companies hired stars to sell shampoo when the public was sure that the pop star only washed their hair in coconut water.
Today, these people still love their idols, but when choosing their shampoo, they want to know about their friends' experiences. They want to share their beautiful hair with everyone or cry together for the mess it became after using a bad product.
That's Community Marketing.
The future of communication began when we gathered around the campfires.
We just haven't realized its true value yet.
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