How to Build and Scale a Community Through Social Media

Transcript

1. How to Build and Scale a Community Through Social Media Search London Jadesola Kareem Community Manager 25th November, 2024
2. What We're Learning Today Here are the topics we will cover this evening: Understanding Your Niche and Audience Building Engagement Strategies Sustaining Community Growth Scaling with Limited Resources (No Budget)
3. About Me Hi! My name is Jadesola Kareem. I'm a community manager for the Freelance Coalition for Developing Countries (FCDC). I’ve been in the social media space for 3 years. I’m doing my Master's in Advanced Computer Science. I also love trashy reality TV Shows. @search_ldn
4. Community is Everything! Think about the simplest form of communities and how they develop and grow. (eg. your local barber shop, book clubs, or Sports bars. etc). They naturally bring people together around shared needs or interests. Credit: Shondaland @search_ldn
5. Can your business benefit from community-based marketing? The simple answer is YES. A strong community can contribute to long-term brand sustainability. Some great examples are makeup brands and the king of all communities - Women in tech SEO. @search_ldn
6. Where does social media come in to this? Social media is one of the most powerful tools for building and scaling communities. It enables instant global communication, community building, and networking. When I started at the FCDC, we had around 400+ members, now we’re at over 3k members from 75 countries Overall, Social media is great for awareness
7. Understand your Target Audience You need to understand who you are creating content for. So all your efforts resonates with your audience. Ask yourself these questions. Who is my audience? What Social Media platforms are they active on? (Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc) What are their pain points? How can your community and social media content solve those problems?
8. Content Ideation & Engagement Strategies The foundation of engagement on social media is value-driven content.
9. Tip 1 - Get Inspo from your Competitors (We all do it 🙈) Getting inspired by your competitors isn’t about blatantly copying them; it’s about analyzing, adapting, and innovating. Identify 3-5 competitors offering similar services or targeting a similar audience. ( Focus on those who are doing well) Take a look at their Instagram (It’s easier to spy in grid view) or any other platform and look for what they’re doing differently. Do they prioritize user-generated content, storytelling, or educational posts? After a good spy session, think of how to make some of their ideas your own.
10. Fun fact: I got this content idea after seeing a tweet from a DEI organization’s founder and thinking about how we could adapt it to fit our own approach.
11. Tip 2 - A simple hack for generating content ideas - Ask AI AI isn’t perfect but she can be helpful. I don't mean using AI to write social media copy. I mean using AI to understand what type of content your audience will appreciate. Use this prompt - “I run a brand that provides [ your service] and my audience consists of [your target audience definition]. what type of content would they want to see? what topics would they be interested in” The only drawback is that this won’t help get content ideas on current events
12. Tip 3 - Turn Questions into Content Sometimes the best content ideas come directly from your community. Imagine this: you're scrolling through community conversations online, and someone asks a question that no one seems to have a clear answer for. That’s your cue! Create content that answers that question in-depth. Not only are you helping your community by providing value, but you’re also positioning yourself or your organization as a trusted authority.
13. Tip 3 Continued Example: A freelancer asks, "How do I set rates for international clients?" You notice no one has a definitive answer or that people reply that they’d like to know more about the topic too. You can create a social media post addressing this topic. (Like a carousel or a Twitter thread.) This approach doesn’t just help one person—it serves your entire audience and more engagement. This query alone made me come up with 4 content Ideas to help because no-one had a lot of answers
14. Social Media Engagement Strategies The first and easiest way is to like comments and reply to folks in the comment section. Create content around recent industry events. Use polls. Create fun weekly games that will encourage people to respond. (Like scrabbling industry terms) Trivia games or case study scenarios (make them fun!) Give incentives (free merch) - people love freebies!
15. Scaling with Limited Resources What to do when money is low
16. UGC is a Goldmine. There’s nothing more effective than word-of- mouth marketing. UGC is free marketing—created by your audience, for your audience. That is how the FCDC keeps on growing. People trust content and recommendations from real users over polished marketing campaigns or influencers.
17. The FCDC community has grown from happy members talking about their experience online This post alone got us almost 100 member sign-ups
18. Collab with Thought-leaders, people with some influence Partnering with thought leaders and people with influence in your niche is a great way to expand your community’s reach. Collaborations bring fresh perspectives and expose your brand to a wider audience. Look for folks who align with your values and resonate with your audience. Invite them to co-host a Twitter space, or an IG Live, or create joint social media campaigns. @search_ldn
19. Tips for Collaborating with Thought Leaders Do your research. Look for folks who engage meaningfully with their followers, not just those with a high follower count. Avoid cold pitches; warm them up by showing genuine interest in their work. Focus on how the collaboration benefits both their audience and yours. Be Clear About Your Goals @search_ldn
20. Sustaining Community Growth Keeping momentum after initial growth @search_ldn
21. It’s Bigger Than Social Media Community growth isn’t just about increasing numbers; it’s about making meaningful interactions and creating value for your audience. When you focus on building genuine connections, word-of-mouth growth becomes unstoppable. But here’s the catch, If the quality of your service is trash or you have a reputation problem, no amount of social media content can save you. Your reputation is everything. Make your active members feel appreciated (Giving them shout-outs, collab with them, support them too) @search_ldn
22. Try Something New People love fresh content and fresh ideas It doesn’t hurt to do that. If it doesn't work/perform well, try again. There’s nothing wrong with missing it the first time around @search_ldn
23. This what happened when we tried something new 👇🏿
24. Summary. Know Your Audience very well Content Creation: Adapt ideas from competitors, use AI for inspiration, and answer common questions. Respond to comments, use polls, and games, and offer incentives User-Generated Content (UGC): Highlight member stories to attract and retain users. Partner with thought leaders who align with your community’s values. Sustaining Growth: Provide great service and appreciate active members. @search_ldn
25. Thank you for listening! Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn- Jadesola Kareem. Got any questions? @search_ldn