Calling your Facebook group a community does not make it one.
Hundreds of members. Nobody talking. But congratulations on the Facebook group, I suppose.
ORIGINAL EPISODE: Hur du bygger community och skapar autentiskt innehåll #119 · · Audio in Swedish
One customer shares a cleaning tip. Another asks how to remove a stain. That is a starting point for a community. In episode 119, I describe the engagement around Västerbottenssåpa and why a group needs a reason to exist. Fredrik and I also discuss UGC, customer service and The Gallerist’s ads: what do we actually have to tell, show and help the customer with?
A phone camera is no proof of authenticity.
Looking homemade says very little about credibility. A video can be shot on a phone and still feel like a commissioned line from someone who has never cared about the product. A carefully produced film can tell a story that hits home.
If we start by choosing between AI, a phone and an expensive camera, we have skipped the content. What can we stand behind? What does the product deliver? Which situation should the customer recognise? We need those answers however we film it.
Planning is not a problem in itself. The problem comes when you plan a feeling of closeness with no basis in reality. Or automate away your own thinking and settle for something that sounds much like everyone else.
Listen at this point · 07:13Borrow an approach. Do the work yourself.
There is a difference between taking inspiration from an ad and swapping your product into someone else’s script. The difference becomes fairly clear when you put the videos side by side and the same person says the same thing, scene by scene, about two entirely different products.
You can learn from an opening, a pace, lighting or a way of building a story. Then you need to find what your product and your people have to say. What have you spent time on? What did you want to improve? Why did the product turn out as it did?
If that answer is strong, you do not need to hide it behind a generic creator line. The story of the work, craft or decision behind the product can be the material itself. It can be thoughtful and well produced. But there needs to be something of your own beneath the production.
Listen at this point · 14:03What should members do once they have joined?
A group is easy to start. You create it, send an email and bring people in. Then it goes quiet. They have no relationship with one another and no clear reason to start talking. Your wish for a community is not automatically a reason for customers to participate.
In the episode, I describe how we saw engagement around Västerbottenssåpa before bringing it together in a group. People shared their experiences in the comments, cleaning tips and ways to use the products. There was already something to build on. The group gave that conversation a shared home.
That order is worth considering. Look for the behaviour first. What do people ask one another? Which experiences do they want to share? Is there something they want to show or help others with? That is a better starting point than everyone at the last event talking about community.
Listen at this point · 28:22Customer service must not become a ticket-closing machine.
A customer asks how your product differs from a competitor’s. You can answer with a ready-made sales paragraph. Or try to understand what the person actually needs to know. What will the product be used for? What are the customer’s circumstances? When is your option right, and when is it not?
For me, this is part of marketing. The comments are part of the ad too. Other people read the questions and see how you respond. There you can demonstrate product knowledge, care and judgement in ways a perfectly worded slogan struggles to replace.
A library of answers can help the team work faster. But if everyone gets the same pasted text, you have saved time on the wrong part of the encounter. Use the information, understand the question and answer it. Sometimes the customer just wants clean laundry and to get on with life. Help with that.
Listen at this point · 35:26A good-looking ad still needs to answer a question.
In the second half of the episode, we look at The Gallerist’s ads. We review the material we see; this is not a verdict on their ad results. We do not have the account’s sales data and cannot infer profitability from a good-looking photo or an ad that has been active for a long time.
What interests us is what the different approaches do. An unexpected claim can make someone stop. A close-up can help the customer see the details of a lifestyle product. A price objection can open the way to explaining materials, manufacturing and why the product costs what it does.
Choose which hesitation the ad should answer. Is it price, the material or how the product looks up close? Then you can decide whether you need a demonstration, a close-up or an explanation from the person who makes it.
Listen at this point · 44:20The story has to hold up all the way to purchase.
A founder’s story can give people something to follow. In the video review, we see a fast opening move into a calmer pace, introduce the people and take us into the work on the product. The pace has different jobs in different parts of the film.
But the details need to agree. In the conversation, we notice the same video mentions two different sales figures. One possible explanation is that an older segment has been reused. Whatever the explanation, it is a reminder to check the whole story when updating material. A strong hook does not help if the next part makes the customer doubt what is true.
A longer film gives you more time to explain before the click. Check that the information is consistent throughout, then follow the viewer to the page. The customer should be able to continue along the path the film made interesting.
Listen at this point · 1:00:03This article is based on the conversation and adapted for reading.