Community-led PR strategies – a ‘trend’ that’s here to stay

There’s one theme that has become very prevalent in most conversations I’m having with clients at the moment, and that’s community. 

We’re increasingly looking at ways to strategically and authentically integrate our clients’ brands into their communities. For some, that’s on the ground in neighbourhoods; for others, that’s into interest-based groups that exist both on and offline.  

The reason for a lean towards community is unique to each business and sector, but for me it ultimately drills down to the power of loyalty and repeat business.  

By being part of a community, brands can build and maintain trust with their audiences - a bedrock of success. Trust, loyalty, reputation, connectedness, openness, and engagement are all synonymous with community and are all great assets for a brand to have.  

Putting the public into public relations 

For the PR industry, a shift to community-focussed strategies enables us to engage audiences in a new way. That being said, community-building strategies also feel reflective of the ‘original’ PR world, and very aligned of “public relations” (relating to the public) in its truest form. It certainly isn’t the first time community has had a moment. 

However, this ‘trend’ has the potential to stick around for a while and will become a bigger part of strategic comms in the next five years. But why now? The pandemic shone a light on community, but almost five years down the line it feels like it’s here to stay.  

As technology continues to advance at such a rate, it is my belief that a lot of us will harness and embrace it while simultaneously seeking increased ‘real world’ experiences from our community.  

And if there’s anything I’ve learnt from working with tech clients such as Talk Think Do, it’s that we should use tech to enhance our lives, not let tech use our lives. We’ve seen many examples in the last two decades as to how technology can create new routes and platforms for community, and I think this will only continue to evolve. 

Developing a community-first strategy    

As we become more conscious of the challenges facing our planet, we’ll be driven to think closer to home – for everything from experiences to groceries. The ‘on my doorstep’ mentality can only drive more connection to our neighbours, and while this may not be a fast evolution, those geographically close to us will become ever more important.  

The Covid hangover still lingers too, and we can’t underestimate how the pandemic has rerouted consumer behaviour long term.   

There are five key areas to consider in developing a community-first comms strategy:  

STAKEHOLDER MAPPING & ENGAGEMENT  

Building a picture of who your key stakeholders are and keeping it updated is the only organised way to truly get a sense of who’s in your existing and target communities.  

PR teams should be considering not only their brand’s corporate audiences, but those who represent their industry, their local government, neighbours, education institutions, relevant or nearby charities, community groups, and business organisations.  

Determine how is best to communicate, engage, and build a relationship with these groups, and deploy appropriate tactics.  

CSR & ESG  

Now a mainstay in most PR strategies, but evermore important when community building. Authenticity is imperative for a community-led strategy to work, and the entire organisation needs to be bought into supporting key stakeholders, so that they support you.  

Identifying what the brand stands for, what it believes in, and what it can do to give back is important for delivering CSR and ESG activities authentically.  

PROFILING TEAM REPRESENTATIVES, NOT JUST LEADERSHIP  

It takes a village to build a brand too, and the customer wants to know who they are buying from. It’s no longer enough to simply profile the MD or CEO, instead, we want to hear from the experts in their field and the teams who’ll greet us at the door. 

It’s not about disregarding leadership, but instead identifying additional news angles and areas of opportunity to celebrate other voices in the organisation. 

This is especially true for localised brand building, where the power of reading about the restaurant’s new sommelier and then meeting them on your first visit is a fantastic way for your diner to connect more quickly and deeply with the brand. 

COLLABORATIONS 

Brand-to-brand activations with complementary businesses taps into and shows acknowledgement of existing communities and can pull together customer bases with common interests.  

In my experience, this works particularly well to engage niche communities. For example, a bike brand partnering with an ultra-lightweight luggage company to offer a collaborative range of bike packing gear taps into a niche group of cyclists eager to embark on their next overnight adventure. If new product ranges aren’t a possibility, then joint competitions, shared expertise, or featuring spokespeople on each other’s podcasts are a great way to authentically connect with your shared communities. 

OPEN DOOR POLICY 

On a functional, practical level, the role of the press office should evolve with a community led strategy. It’s important to not confuse customer service here, but to enable your customers and community to connect and engage with you your contact function should be seamless. 

By deploying a community-building strategy, we must be open to new opportunities on varying scales. Being readily available to other PRs, influencers, the media, charities, customers… and of course our communities.  

Community-based PR strategies can add value to a brand in a multitude of ways, and outcomes such as loyal customers, repeat business, and increased collaboration can positively impact the bottom line too.  

The cherry on top is that relationship building and community-led activity delivers real feel-good factor for all involved, so makes for a highly rewarding project too. 

Leila Willingham became the CIPR’s youngest ever chartered PR professional in 2022. Leila, who is the associate business and account director at Liz Lean PR, has represented large scale brands including Nuffield Health and  Royal London. Her cross-sector experience has given her strategic knowledge across multiple PR and communications disciplines.