Subscription businesses, whether offering software, products, or information, are poised for significant growth. According to research, the subscription economy, worth $650 billion in 2020, is projected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025. However, this booming market comes with its challenges. On one hand, buyers are more open to subscription-based purchases, but on the other, we’re seeing signs of “subscription fatigue.” In a 2022 survey, two-thirds of consumers reported canceling at least one streaming service in the past year.
Economic pressures such as high inflation and supply chain disruptions further complicate the landscape for subscription businesses. For instance, US inflation rates in 2022 ranged from 6.5% to over 9%, impacting consumer spending. Additionally, supply chain issues have caused delays in product deliveries, eroding customer trust. Higher interest rates also limit consumer spending on high-priced items and make business financing more challenging.
Despite these obstacles, there is still a growth path. Building a flywheel for your online community is the key to unlocking sustainable success.
What Is A Community Flywheel?
A community flywheel is a way to lift growth, consisting of a community-centric approach to brand building, where a brand joins or creates a community that promotes awesome experiences for customers, increasing audience engagement and translating that into sales.
In simple terms, investing in a community flywheel means that your community members make your brand more valuable through their contributions and participation and bring others into your space. In other words, your community becomes central to your brand’s success and future growth.
Although it is a great strategy to deploy in your marketing department, there is a catch.
It takes an initial investment of time and resources to launch a community flywheel strategy. Getting the first 1,000 true fans (or more!) can be a long road. Once you have those fans in place, growth becomes far easier. It’s like investing in the stock market. It’s easier and faster to compound your returns when you start with a significant investment. That said, the magic of compound returns – for a community or investment – is still available to all who start.
Want to see community-based growth examples? Find out how Gymshark and Notion used online communities to grow.
How to Drive Growth With a Community Flywheel Strategy
Put these community flywheel strategies to work to get your community into operation. Your growth will take off as you put more of these methods into practice.
Lift Engagement With Online Community
Passing website visitors, who visit once and never return, do little for growth. Use these methods to spark engagement.
Build Anticipation And Cliffhangers
When your community members see a good reason to keep returning to your website, like experiencing a multi-day online event, it’s easier to grow engagement. For example, instead of delivering all of your best insights in a single webinar, look for ways to promote your content over a more extended period of time, driving more subscriptions.
Recognize VIP Community Members
Almost everyone enjoys being recognized for their contributions. The principle holds for your online community building. Use community badges, gifts, and thank you messages to encourage your most engaged members to keep coming back.
After you implement those strategies to inspire greater participation in your online community, it’s time to turn to revenue.
Increasing Revenue With Your Online Community
The way you lift revenue with an online community flywheel depends on your business model. Let’s consider a publishing business with advertising and how online events can lift revenue.
Offer Exclusive Digital Events
Many publishers offer conferences, talks, and other offline events in traditional venues. The next way to grow revenue is to offer hybrid and virtual events so that more people can join. Online events have fewer costs than in-person events, so if you don’t have a big budget for them, choose to invest in the virtual format.
Additionally, you can use digital events to lift revenue. First, you can use subscriber-only events as a retention method to encourage subscribers to renew their subscriptions. In addition, you can offer current subscribers a discount or early registration access to your events.
Provide Enhanced Community Curation
From your audience’s perspective, there are a few reasons why event participation is appealing. First is the event’s content, like learning new insights. Second, there is the social and networking aspect of the event – connecting with people who share your interests.
A thoughtfully curated community event is a powerful way to attract your audience. For example, you might invite Gen Z students interested in finance or technology with special guests in those industries. If Gen Z is an essential demographic for you, check out our post on 5 Ways Publishers Can Build Their Gen Z Audience And Earn First Party Data.
If you keep the event tightly focused, so will the public’s experience, and your audience will be more likely to make valuable connections.
Arena Makes Growing Online Communities Easier
Growing an online community takes a lot of heart, thoughtful content, and passion for connecting with others. Arena Community has resources to make online community building easier.
Use our virtual events checklist to plan, promote and run online events without the stress.
Arena also has you covered with technology solutions to build a thriving digital community right on your website. Find out more about building your online community with Arena.
