Why Your Startup Needs an In-App Customer Community—And How to Build One

By Kate Johnson

Scaling a startup is no easy task. It requires building a product, hiring help, and a whole lot of funding. Luckily, there is a way to achieve more with less. An in-app customer community allows you to build your own tribe of supporters who believe in your vision. Also, it will let you work with a devoted audience, unlike the case of external communities.

Companies like Airbnb and Robinhood use the power of community to achieve massive growth. Here is a guide to help you scale your startup using in-app communities.

Understanding the power of customer community

They say there is strength in numbers, and this is true for Airbnb, a globally recognized brand. The company was founded by three friends who rented out air mattresses for extra change to cover their rent.

However, before Airbnb became the giant company it is today, it was once a small startup that understood the power of community. It all started by persuading strangers to rent a room, then these strangers convinced others, and the cycle went on. The business relied on word-of-mouth marketing and referrals to gain customers.

Later, it created its own in-app community to increase networking, support, and referrals. This trusted community now has thousands of active members who open discussion boards to ask questions or assist new hosts and guests seeking reviews or feedback.

A few things startups can learn from Airbnb's community successes include:

Provide an impressive user experience

A simple and attractive interface is a must if you want to persuade users to use your community platform. Tools like feeds or open discussion boards with likes, reactions, and comments will keep your community members engaged all day. Airbnb has a modern and sophisticated in-app customer community interface that encourages engagement and transparency.

Offer incentivization programs or loyalty rewards

Creating a strong incentive for users to create content on your in-app community is very important to increase engagement. Airbnb awards its most active and helpful community members with badges. This little digital emblem can mean a great deal to users. For one, it's visible on their profile, and it also ranks their user-generated content (UGC) higher than other community members.

Use push notifications

Personalized brand interaction can increase your community marketing efforts by helping you to retain users. People are more likely to engage with brands that make them feel special. Think of push notifications as useful inside information that alerts customers on deals or interesting events regarding your brand. Utilizing them for your in-app community will keep discussion boards active.

For example, sending a snippet of an interesting discussion on your community to users may prompt them to share their own perspectives and insights.

Define your community's purpose

As a startup aiming to achieve growth through the use of in-app communities, you must first define your community's purpose. Your community should have a different objective from that of your business.

For example, if your startup is in the retail industry, your community should not be based on selling products. The purpose of your community should be to provide clarity, support, networking opportunities, and so on. Communities should have a different aim, which in turn supports your business's goals.

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Drive engagement

Robinhood is another great example of a startup that used an in-app customer community to scale growth. The financial services platform gained mainstream attention in late January 2021 during the GameStop frenzy, where some Reddit users shorted the GME stock.

After the crisis, Christine Brown, Robinhood's COO at the time, realized the power of communities and set out to establish the company's own in-app community as opposed to external communities beyond Robinhood's control. The in-app community "Under The Hood," is a great resource for reliable information from the company to its users.

Robinhood built its community by providing value—educational content, news, and discussion boards for traders to connect. In turn, the in-app community has helped increase engagement concerning new listings on the exchange. For example, Robinhood has managed to garner lots of traction with news of the company listing cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB) on its platform.

Robinhood has managed to keep its name on the lips of investors and crypto enthusiasts simply by utilizing community marketing. Here's what startups can learn from Robinhood's customer community successes:

• Have an efficient onboarding process. Startups need to create an efficient onboarding process when users register on their platform. Ideally, registration should be quick and simple. Also, the more time a customer spends navigating your app, the more likely they are to abandon it. Robinhood has an intuitive design, which makes it easier to use its platform.
• Engage with community members. One of the most important factors of an in-app community from the customer's perspective is being able to connect with the brand easily. Knowing that their concerns or questions are heard and answered will help build a more engaging and long-lasting community.

Best practices to ensure customer community success

The internet has made connecting a whole lot easier. Through the use of in-app communities, you could solve some of your complex growth funnel concerns and scale your startup. Startups can follow these best practices to ensure community success.

Define your audience/target market

• Make a list of customers who provided feedback about your products.
• Put it in a spreadsheet and take it further with a survey.
• Conduct target market research by setting up mail-in surveys or online surveys on your app.

Research the competition

• Research competitors in your niche and make a list.
• Research and explore their communities to learn what you can offer.
• Use your research to find a gap that gives your startup a competitive edge.

Set up a content plan

• Once you have completed your target market analysis, create an engaging content plan unique to your audience.
• Plan your content for the next three to six months to get conversations started in the community.

Set up a customer community

• Choose a platform.
• Establish community guidelines.
• Create an introductory post for new users on how they can use the platform.