Creating an engaged community within your app can become the differentiator keeping you ahead of the competition. Why should you invest in building your in-app community, and where to begin? See our insights.
By 2022, the number of app downloads worldwide will reach 258.2 billion. With the vast diversity available on the market, staying on top can be challenging. To be a step ahead, you need much more than just the right product or service. Nowadays, it's all about providing the best experience possible: that's what would make your customers feel engaged and stay with your brand long-term.
Today’s consumers expect understanding and patience; they want to express themselves and feel heard while getting excellent service and experience. That's where community building comes in — bringing joy to your customers and creating a significant competitive advantage for your brand. Let's go through various aspects of that.
Why building a community in your app matters
If you want your users to remember your app and appreciate it, you need to engage them and create a bond. Building a relationship between your brand and users is the first step, but connecting your customers and creating a community is a real game-changer. It's the key to unlocking your app’s full potential.
How does it work? By allowing connections between users, you enable them to meet and interact virtually through a community engagement app, just like they would in real life. The bridge you create for interaction has its basis in mutual interests and the willingness to share.
Think of your consumers as a group of people; the same passions and feelings drive them, and they love sharing it. Finding this common element can bring your brand and its audience together, and that's where the real synergy happens. As soon as your users feel connected, they can start engaging more with your platform (and it's a fact that customer engagement is key to brand loyalty). Let's dive deeper into how you can create your in-app community.
Give your users the full stack of social tools
The success of building an in-app community depends on the performance of your platform, user experience, and the quality of content your audience sees. Let's take a look at the three main components of an engaged in-app community.
Integrate a Messaging feature
Did you know that people exchange over 41 million messages every minute? This fact brings us to the first step in engaging your users: start with enabling an in-app chat solution. Integrating a Live Chat to your app allows your users to have discussions in real-time from anywhere. It's like a virtual community with no borders and limitations, and your users would love it! That's how you can start encouraging your consumers to express themselves while getting more engaged with your app.
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Inspire users to share their unique Profile
A Profile feature is about giving your users the space to share their personality. They can provide details that would define and distinguish them. It means your users can get closer to your brand and find people who resemble them to build a connection.
Show your users exciting and relevant content in the Feed
People appreciate personalized experiences, and they demand good-quality content. When you know your audience and understand their behavior, you can catch their attention by having a well-designed Feed that fits their expectations. The trick is to have an algorithm-based update mechanism that would display content related to your users' interests; show your audience what they want to see. Having a relevant Feed will encourage your users to start sharing. That's a good indicator of your community’s success, as engaged people are the ones who will stay with your brand long-term.
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To wrap up, look at the new generations who spend a lot of time on their phone: what can we learn from this? The answer is the most popular apps are those with a sense of community. If you build one for your consumers, they will be delighted and engage with your brand on a deeper level. That's how you create your authentic brand ambassadors and loyal users, and that's the way to be ahead of the competition.