Content or community. What's more powerful today?

Social media trends are continuously changing. Reactive content is on fire, videos are taking the lead and Instagram is the new black.

Brands are constantly trying to maintain their social currency, by creating strong communities of like-minded fans who engage with their content.

In some scenarios, we need to consider what’s more powerful…content or community?

Communities move on

Think about new mums. Early motherhood is lonely and mums often find support in the mummy community. But, babies are small for a very short time. What happens when they move on from their current stage? They need something new to engage them, something new to talk about other than nappies and baby food. A mum engaged may leave the community to find something else.

Contrast this with book lovers. They will always be book lovers. A passion doesn’t usually fade; in contrast, it may grow over time. These fans are likely to stay part of a community that they engage with. Unless, the content grows stale and doesn’t keep them there.

How to keep fans engaged for longer

So where does this leave a brand’s marketing strategy? Is it better to focus on building the community or producing high quality content? At agency2 we believe the answer is balancing the business objectives with the audience’s needs – strategies that encompass the proper use of social media and are aligned with business goals, will be more successful towards building communities and keeping them.