When you’re looking for help with your marketing, and you go on Google or ChatGPT and read some articles, you’re going to find a lot of similar information: create a marketing plan, have a website, do SEO, run paid ads, etc. These are all important parts of a marketing plan, and I write about all that stuff too. One marketing effort, however, that is not talked about as often is community engagement marketing.
What is Community Engagement Marketing?
Community engagement, as it relates to marketing, is the practice of becoming involved in one’s local area to build connections and foster goodwill. The effort not only contributes to the community’s well-being, but it also helps to humanize your brand, showing that there are caring owners and employees behind the business—all of which helps to create relationships that lead to customer loyalty and referrals. It’s marketing—even though it doesn’t really feel like marketing.
Does this Benefit B2B or B2C?
It might seem at first like relationship-building is best-suited to only business-to-business (B2B) companies. The sales cycle for B2B is generally longer and requires a lot of nurturing. On the contrary though, while the sales journey for selling a latte or handcrafted earrings is generally short—often an impulse buy—building trust and familiarity within your community can be the factor that turns those impulse shoppers into repeat customers and loyal brand advocates. Community engagement drives word-of-mouth referrals, customer retention, and a positive local reputation—benefits that are valuable to both B2B and B2C models alike.
Benefits of Community Engagement Marketing
While any marketing effort helps to drive sales, specific marketing tactics achieve different goals within your marketing plan. For instance, you might focus on search engine optimization (SEO) if you’re trying to reach top-of-funnel prospects—potential customers who are just beginning their search for a product like yours. On the other hand, you might use email or retargeting ads to reach bottom-of-funnel prospects—those who are already familiar with you and are more ready to make a purchase.
Community engagement marketing fits in as a strategy for building trust and customer loyalty. Rather than aiming for immediate conversions, it focuses on relationship-building through meaningful connections. This strategy aligns with HubSpot’s flywheel concept, which suggests that business momentum is perpetuated through providing an above-and-beyond customer experience—and relationship cultivation is a huge part of that.
What Community Engagement Looks Like in Practice
First, and most importantly, community engagement needs to be authentic. People can see through a person who shows up to an event merely to try and win some sales. Engagement needs to start from a place of genuine interest in your neighbors and colleagues. In practice, this type of marketing might look like:
- Attending Chamber of Commerce after-hours events
- Giving an educational presentation on your company’s work at a school
- Volunteering with local nonprofits on service projects
- Participating in area fundraisers
- Sponsoring a local sports team
- Offering student internships
- Hosting open houses, workshops, or educational sessions
- Featuring local people or stories in marketing content
The best approach, of course, aligns with your business and your values. Don’t overthink it though—there is no shortage of ways to get involved, so sometimes you just have to jump right in.
Why Community Engagement Marketing Is Often Overlooked
When you’re doing research on marketing tips for local businesses, you’re apt to find advice on branding, websites, email marketing, social media, and all those well-known tactics. Why is community engagement, despite its effectiveness, often overlooked? There are a number of reasons:
- It doesn’t scale easily: Community engagement is personal and hands-on, and it takes time to build relationships. It’s not something you can automate or outsource.
- It’s difficult to measure: It’s a huge advantage in marketing to be able to measure what is working and what is not in order to manage your budget effectively. But how do you measure the impact of a conversation at a charity fundraiser? How do you measure whether your time at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon will bring in new business? The challenge in measurement can lead people to mistakenly believe these efforts are not providing a sufficient return on the investment.
- It takes time. Unlike digital advertising where you can see immediate conversions, building trust and recognition through community engagement is a long-term game; the payoff, however, may lead to greater sustainability.
- It’s not as sell-able: If we’re being honest, a lot of the advice put out there is written by marketers who are selling their services, and community engagement marketing is not a product than can be sold. That’s not a criticism; it makes sense agencies would talk most about the services they are selling. It does, however, lead to some unintended bias that the most talked-about services are the most effective.
Conclusion
Remember, just because community engagement marketing isn’t talked about as much doesn’t mean it is ineffective. In fact, while community engagement may not be a quick win, the effort builds something far more enduring—trust, connection, and loyalty. When you’re a genuine part of the community, people remember you and recommend you. If you’d like to learn more about planning your own marketing, let’s chat.
