I've been thinking more about community building for Hollow and I'm curious how others would approach it for our brand... We've wanted to do a Facebook group for a while but our team has had hesitation because our customers come from very different walks of life. We're mostly worried about controversy. Example: crunchy granola vegan hikers posting photos on trail vs blue collar hunters posting photos of their latest trophy. How would you handle this (different groups, let it fly, other ideas)?
The root of brand building... If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing. This is where "DR funnels/angles" can actually work against building a brand. If they bring in customers super far apart in values, it could be a problem in long-term brand equity building. Not saying that's your problem, but it's something to always have in back of mind.
@zachmstuck Make your brand organic social the community hub so you can curate what gets broadcast and shut down flame wars. “No politics” rule. And draw a line in the sand re:content policy (ex hunting pics yay/nay) and accept that it will alienate some people.
I'd niche down into probably the top 3 customer cohorts & go hyper personalized groups for them Any content can be more relevant & stronger community would be built overall Harder to manage but way more upside You get a lot of really really good data like this too which is a big bonus
@zachmstuck build it on a broad emotion. Build it on the love of being out in nature instead of hunting specifically for example. there are many ways to connect with nature fracturing groups sounds like an absolute nightmare.
@zachmstuck Chat with @inaherlihy she has a SaaS product just for this type of thing. Connects to your Shopify store basically building you your own Reddit. And read everything from Richard Millington. linkedin.com/in/richard-mil…
@zachmstuck Facrbook groups suck. So much spam. Not worth it. Anything else is better.
@zachmstuck Wouldn’t controversy in the community be good?
@zachmstuck You have very different audiences for each product. I would have different groups for each audience (product)
@zachmstuck Could you have two variations of groups? Kinda like Pokemon Blue & Red. Same same but different?
@zachmstuck I would brand the community about "travel" and "outdoors" All the sub-niches are welcome
@zachmstuck maybe choose a different platform like discord for ex where there's a main channel and sub categories
@zachmstuck vegans wouldnt wear hollow socks so i dont think you have to worry about that dont ask how i know
@zachmstuck The first thing that came to my mind is the “why does your community need to exist” — answer that with conviction and I think other things will fall into place.
@zachmstuck We have people from all walks of life, all nationalities etc all in the same group. I would say don’t over think it just do it! Very easy to phase out the group if it’s not working.. simply stop engaging and the group will die
@zachmstuck @rediemco is our bet on brand communities!
@zachmstuck We sell motorcycles to every end, corner, and cranny of the political spectrum. Most people abide by the rules on our facebook group. Those that don't get group-policed first and then if necessary we remove a post or remove the person.
@zachmstuck Making a private fb group for us has been one of, if not THE biggest win/unlock the last year. It's insane. All 100% free impressions and has created a community beyond what we imagined.
@zachmstuck Shared brand, different tribes. Sometimes the best move is leaning into sub-communities under one umbrella instead of forcing one big tent. Curious - have you considered letting the groups self-organize and then spotlighting the best of both worlds?
@zachmstuck I’d frame it as diversity being the feature, not the bug. Hikers, hunters, vegans, blue collar — all out there using Hollow.
@zachmstuck you need to try playto.so to build your community
@zachmstuck ask them - literally get on a call with 20 customers, with very specific questions and let them do the talking
@zachmstuck IG the Member group type thing there? 🤷
@zachmstuck Building community brings different people together - it can work on any platform.
@zachmstuck we've seen some b2c companies actually buy groups/communities! not a fit for all but very fruitful and efficient (when it works/done tastefully)
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