Is Community Building The New Future of Digital Marketing?

This Author Boldly Predicts So

I have long been a fan of author and futurist Mark Schaefer. My excitement for his work began in 2017 when his book The Tao of Twitter radically altered my views on the practicality of social media. Since then, I have read virtually all of his books, including his latest masterpiece, “Belonging to the Brand: Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy.”

In it, Mark explores how three global  megatrends are colliding to make community the next seismic inflection point in the world of marketing. Following his bestselling books KNOWN and Marketing Rebellion, he offers a compelling look at how businesses often overlook the huge upside of community as a marketing approach despite its growing appeal among customers. Filled with pragmatic ideas and on-point case examples, “Belonging to the Brand” is a must read if you are looking to successfully navigate the changing landscape of digital marketing and customer relationships in today’s world. 

Reading  this book had a profound impact on the roadmap I’m personally setting for my “Great Books, Great Minds,” brand, the sentiments of which I shared with Mark in a recent call. Below is an array of additional insights I gathered from that conversation.  I hope you find them valuable in resetting the dial of your  marketing efforts. 

On What Sparked His Decision To Write “Belonging To The Brand”

Mark: “Well that’s a great question because writing a book is such an important decision. It’s a commitment where when you have a theme, you better be right about it because you’ll spend a lot of time with it.  You’re will be sacrificing many months of your life over this idea. 

All of this  started to coalesce for me in 2018 when I wrote a book that many are familiar with called Marketing Rebellion. There was a chapter in that book about belonging and community where I predicted  this would play a significant role in the future of community. Then, boom, one year later, we’re in the midst of a  pandemic where we’re locked in, and we’re locked down, and we’re lonely, and we’re isolated. People sought out online communities in droves, and businesses started to take it more seriously. People started telling me, ‘Mark, all these ideas you had are coming true right now.’” 

On The Importance of Community In Today’s World

Mark: “There was a headline in the New York Times that just crushed me. It was a main article, and the headline was  “The Loneliest Generation.” And it talked about the fact that we've got a mental health crisis going all around the world that touches every generation. However, for young people today, there are just unfathomable levels of depression and isolation and loneliness, and it’s a very very complicated problem. It’s a very profound problem. It’s an expensive problem. 

These thoughts hit me so hard because as you know, I started the book “Belonging to the Brand” by sharing a story about my life and a terrible experience I had when I was twelve years old that drove me into isolation for a couple of years. During that period I was  living as a shadow of a human being in an attempt to escape a bully that had appeared in my life. The good news is that I was resurrected and revitalized through an opportunity I had to join and receive acceptance through  a community. I never forgot that.” 

On How This Experience Informed His Views On The Role of Community In Marketing

Mark: “What I’m saying is look, there’s no more powerful way to build an emotional connection with your customers than through a community. Yet most businesses aren't doing it. I have never been to a marketing conference in my life where community was a topic at the conference. And yet, this movement toward community based marketing is staring us right in the face. Because people need community. And in my view, it’s the only type of marketing people actually want amid this world of ads, marketing pitches and other sorts of in-you-face marketing approaches we’re often subjected to. When there’s a commitment to building community, you naturally attract people who love you and support you and will buy whatever you have for them.” 

On The Intersection Between Digital and Face-To-Face Communities

Mark: “Well, an important idea in my book is that almost every digital community had a real life component at some point. And as you know from your experiences, Michael,  when you meet people finally face to face, it just takes that friendship, that trust, that relationship to a whole new level. Honestly, it’s been fascinating  how when we meet in the metaverse, it’s not as good as real life. But I believe it’s better than Zoom. In my digital community, we’re going to have our first real life meetup at my house in June, which will be interesting. People are flying in from all over. We’re going to have a live event. And that was fostered by the metaverse.” 

On Why He’s Hopeful About The Impact of “Belonging to the Brand” 

Mark: “Recently, I had the good pleasure of interviewing prominent business thought-leader Tom Peters, who was named one of the top ten business influencers of the century. He wrote “In Search of Excellence,” arguably the best selling business book of all time. When I talked to him two years ago, he told me he was retiring. And so when we talked recently about the new book he recently released, I said,  ‘what’s the deal? You told me you were retiring.’ He said, ‘well, I think it gets down to this: the people who are the most successful speakers, writers, and business leaders are desperate to get their ideas out. They’re desperate. It’s this sense of desperation that this is important, that others need to know this, that’s what really drives you.”

So I think that’s why I have so much hope for this book, because oh my gosh I just want people to read it and say ‘yes, this is something that we need right now.’ I hope everyone has the same reaction you did (Michael) to the book. So far, the reviews are very good and they’re coming in. I'm getting lots of good feedback, but I want the ideas to spread. I want the ideas to propel because I believe this is the right time for this community based business approach. This is the right thing for society right now.”

 “Great Books, Great Minds” is my full-time work and life passion, a labor of love fueled by the endless hours of work I put into researching and writing these feature pieces. So if you enjoy this digital newsletter, find it valuable, and savor world-class book experiences featuring epic authors and book evangelists, then please consider becoming a paid supporting member at $6.00 a month or $60.00/year. 

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Diamond-Michael Scott, Global Book Ambassador, Great Books, Great Minds —“Igniting a New World of Community, Connection, and Belonging, One Book at a Time”