Top Online Community Trends for 2023

Permacrisis, described as a "long era of instability" and the perception that the globe has lurched from one unanticipated crisis to another, has been named the word of the year for 2022 by The Collins Dictionary. 

In an unfortunate where nothing provides security, businesses had to step up in order to stay afloat and connect with their consumers one-on-one. This would also allow them to build better relations with them and reduce the churn rate. 

Communities have provided a haven this year amid the backdrop of a challenging 2022 for many individuals, reminding us that nobody is ever alone in a crisis. From a business point of view, communities are the perfect place to connect with your clients. 

Moreover, 77% of companies received significant help with marketing through online communities. Therefore, brands that actively engage with consumers through online communities can expect exponential growth in the future. 

So, if your business is just getting started with communities, and doesn’t know which platforms to target, or if you’re having trouble boosting engagement, it may be time to look at some of the latest community trends for 2023. Keep on reading to know more! 

Communities Become Essential to Businesses 

Did you know that 88% of community professionals agree that the community is a critical part of their business? What exactly does this number mean? Let’s take a look at the past year.

2022 witnessed a notable rise in the number of organizations focusing on community-led growth. More businesses are predicted to follow suit by setting up online communities for their stakeholders in 2023. 

Communities are set to become tangible commercial assets in the near future, helping them build credibility and providing a protective economic moat. 

Community-based Marketing (CRM) Gathers Pace

According to a Hubspot survey, 64% of marketers had plans of investing in social media communities like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc., in 2022.

Community-Based Marketing (CBM), first described by Ashley Friedlein in 2020, refers to a new professional marketing field. CBM follows the strategy that brand marketing should be tailored to targeted communities. 

Basically, it aims to bring groups of like-minded people together around a common need or interest. This allows brands to increase trust and awareness amongst clients, boosting sales and customer retention rates. Further, it helps companies build valuable relationships with current and potential clients. 

The "main idea" in marketing for this decade, according to a McKinsey report published in September 2022, is a community, and it celebrates the trend toward grounding marketing in the community.

Community-based marketing is expected to shape the variety of marketing tactics in the upcoming year and beyond.

Communities Boost Engagement for Live Events

According to the 2022 community industry report, in-person events are making a comeback, but virtual events shall remain just as prevalent. 

“29% of communities hosted an in-person event in 2021, despite the surge of COVID-19. 90% of those who host events for their community report hosting virtual events in 2021. 72% of them plan to offer the same number or more virtual events in 2022.”

Communities are the perfect place to reach a wide audience for promoting any upcoming events. Moreover, they help you stay in touch with those who did or didn’t attend and get valuable feedback. 

Community Managers Are Crucial to Success - Cannot be Replaced by AI 

22% of organizations have a dedicated department for community management, with 35% of teams having at least one person focused on full-time community development. 

For a while now, AI has been a hot topic within the CX industry, especially in communications and communities. While there are many applications and software that help deliver impeccable customer experience, they can only help us do so much. 

Community managers are critical to their success because as of 2023, there are still many tasks that cannot be performed by AI, which mainly focuses on assisting with repetitive tasks and predictable scenarios.  

So, What Does the Future Hold for Communities? 

Communities are all about engagement. After all, 5000 community members that do not interact with your business are not as beneficial as 500 users that do. Therefore, in order to boost community engagement, organizations should have a dedicated department or at least one community manager. 

Moreover, communities are more customer-centric and allow you to focus more on building relations and promoting your brand to a wider audience. However, the one common mistake organizations make is expecting quick results from community engagement. 

Communities are for building long-term relationships and trust with your client base. In order to figure out whether your communities are delivering the desired results, you must know the right way of calculating community ROI. Read this ebook to know more!