5 ways a B2B community increases profits

You may think that the competition for Instagram followers or the virality of TikTok views is something only pre-teens or pyramid schemes worry about. But it’s totally not the case. Engagement means audience, audience means community, and communities are imperative in driving customer loyalty and satisfaction. So, although the most talked about brand community stories involve the big-boys over in B2C marketing land…. B2B businesses shouldn’t be too dismissive.

Customer advocacy is critical in our world. Our potential clients trust the opinions of their fellow consumers above any marketing advertisement, campaign or communication. That’s not to say that these things aren’t important, but unless they’re backed up by a cohort of delighted customers then they can lose impact. B2B is a world where positive customer stories, solid references, and convincing customer data are central in acquiring new customers.

But beyond customer conversion, B2B communities can directly contribute to profitability. You’re thinking of your current client numbers and wondering how? Well, there are two ways we can increase profits… boost sales, or reduce costs. Your online audience can help with both.

With that in mind, here are five ways your B2B community can increase your profits.

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1. Upselling

Online communities encourage members to discover new products and services, providing the perfect upsell environment. Your users sharing their experience with a product is the most convincing sell there is. It can happen organically through conversations or seeded by a community manager suggesting a product/service for a problem.

With the probability of selling to an existing customer at 60-70% and selling to a new prospect at 5-20%, community members can be a valuable source of revenue. (Source: Marketing Metrics).

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2. Supporting customers

The cost of customer acquisition can be 5-10x more than retaining current customers. Customer satisfaction is therefore as, if not more, important than acquisition.

Through facilitating conversations on best practices, your community of customers can encourage education and information sharing, leading to more satisfied and self-reliant customers. And, unlike most customer support techniques, community support not only scales but improves with growth.

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3. Search Engine ranking

Online communities are an SEO treasure trove. Members are constantly adding new content and pages in a healthy community, creating great content whilst accidentally covering misspelt and long-tail keywords. And also, community sites usually have a low bounce rate and a high time spent on site.

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4. Reducing after-sales support costs

An online community is an effective way to provide client support while also educating and empowering customers.

In an established after-sales community, users can search for answers or submit a question for experts or fellow community members to answer. As the questions and answers build, the community becomes the ultimate customer resource. You can also utilise new clients onboarding to learn how to make improvements, so your induction can be streamlined for future customers.

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5. Research & Development

A community of frequent product/service users offers the perfect R&D opportunity. If given the opportunity, a community can drive innovation and product and service development.

In a technology environment, communities can also provide the trusted environment required for UAT, ALPHA, and BETA testing.

At AXD, we help our clients build brand reputation, forge business relationships and covert their relationships to revenue.

Branded communities are at the heart of our marketing, we work with our clients to build engaged communities, and they benefit from:

• Brand value, loyalty & advocacy
• A point of differentiation
• Social content & social engagement
• Word of mouth growth & PR opportunities
• Personal branding opportunities
• User-generated feedback & ideas
• Search engine ranking improvements.

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For more information, contact us here.