According to an article published in WTM Global HUB, the concept of community is essentially about a group of customers or followers who are engaged and invest in what a brand offers.
Community building is a marketing approach that has received increasing attention in recent years. Consumer priorities and values are changing, and now one of the best ways to grow your brand and retain customers is by creating exclusive communities that they want to be a part of.
In the travel industry, building brand communities can be a fantastic way to not only improve customer relationships and increase bookings, but also enhance your reputation and brand value as a travel provider. In this WTM Global HUB article , SEO Travel explains what a brand community is, why it’s important, and how travel companies can create their own.
Most travel brands now have social media accounts where they connect with current and potential customers, but followers on these platforms are not automatically part of a brand’s community. There is more to a commitment than simply being a follower; Community members are often repeat customers, regularly interact with the brand’s content, may receive benefits, and often promote the brand to their friends and family because they are so strongly behind it.
A community connected to your travel brand could simply be a group of customers whose continued support earns them things like early access or exclusive discounts. Alternatively, it could be a pool that customers have to pay to access, giving them unique experiences or a different level of service than your brand.
Building brand communities is becoming more and more of a priority for travel companies right now, as it is one of the best ways to retain customers, develop a strong brand identity and maintain a competitive advantage over other companies. While building a community takes dedicated time and effort, it’s a diverse strategy that’s easy to adapt for all types of businesses, with many benefits.
Why is building your community important for travel brands?
Building a community is important for all kinds of brands. But in the travel industry in particular, building a community among your customers and followers has a number of benefits that are particularly relevant in a market where competition is fierce and unique value is essential for customer retention.
Customer loyalty
One of the biggest benefits of building your community is that it can greatly increase customer loyalty. When a customer belongs to a group that offers exclusive treatment and benefits, they are much less likely to look to a competitor for the same service because you will be offering them the best possible value.
In fact, 66% of brand community members said that communities have had an impact on brand loyalty.
For travel brands, customer loyalty often translates into repeat bookings, creating a consistent and relatively reliable revenue stream. When a client feels loved by your brand, enjoys being part of your community and trusts your service offer, your company will undoubtedly be the first one they think of when booking a trip.
Customer commitment
In addition to loyalty, brand communities are also an important part of increasing the engagement a customer feels with your travel brand. This engagement will make it much more difficult for them to drop customers and switch to a competitor, as they will feel personally connected to your brand and have a harder time leaving a community they feel a part of.
This doesn’t mean you should create a cutthroat type of community where any interaction with other brands leads to exclusion (which would be incredibly difficult to monitor anyway). Instead, it means that humans enjoy feeling like they belong, and creating a brand community will feed this sense of pleasant inclusion that makes customers less inclined to leave.