Spotlight Marketing #1: "The community is the business" with Mark Schaefer
Introducing an exclusive Q&A with author, keynote speaker and marketing strategy consultant.
👋 Hello, Branding enthusiast, how are you doing today?
This week, let's explore a new section of the letter: Spotlight Marketing. It is a great addition to our dear Brand Revealers and Marketing Buddies. Occasionally, we will invite authority authors to join the letter and share marketing wisdom and strategies.
💡Spotlight Marketing!
How did I discover Mark Schaefer?
I stumbled on the book Known while researching book publishing. I then read an extract from Belonging to the Brand, and it clicked with many ideas and investigations I was curious about. I followed Mark’s work on LinkedIn and thought of inviting him as a guest. I wanted to ask him some questions about his book.
The power of an email
You never know if someone will resonate with your project, and it is not a given. I believe in my work and also know I am a starter. Following that, I just approach any guest with that mindset of curiosity and service to myself and my readers. Hopefully, it works, and for some, they say yes! That is what happened with Mark; he replied and kindly said he could help me and be a part of the letter. Knowing he is a busy man, I thought this shorter format would work best. While being short, it still brings insights and a focus on marketing and branding growth.
☕ Grab your coffee or chocolate and enjoy the read.
Who are you? What is your profession?
My name is Mark Schaefer. I am an author, keynote speaker, educator, marketing strategy and business consultant.
Where are you located?
Knoxville, TN, USA.
Mark
Where can we discover your work? (website, socials…).
For this Q&A, we are focused on Mark’s book Belonging to the Brand, with an eye on community as a trigger. A spotlight on how we can leverage the community as a brand catalyst.
Experience belonging to understanding building communities. How pivotal is it to understand the relieving meaning of belonging to create meaningful bonds for community?
In 2019, I wrote a book called "Marketing Rebellion" that predicted that community would be a major part of marketing in the future.
Then the pandemic hit and most people turned to online communities as their major form of social connection. The predictions in my book were coming true. And yet the research showed that people are more isolated, lonely and depressed than ever.
Communities are not new, but most businesses have not considered why they are important now, or how they can be part of a brand marketing effort. That's the new thinking behind my book, and it's happening.
Mark
Do you remember the first member of your brand community and/or business community? Is there a difference for you?
It's hard to know who was first. My community grew out of a newsletter – most communities start as a content audience.
There was a group of enthusiasts who were obsessed with learning about the future of marketing like me and we decided to be more formal about it. We needed a place to meet and discuss. We landed on Discord and the community grew from there.
Mark
What are your thoughts on collaborative communities becoming your marketing assets? Could you share more on identifying the opportunity to leverage peer-to-peer communities to enhance one community?
One of the case studies in the book was a community called Boss Mom. Dana Malstaff started a movement out of a Facebook Group that addresses the needs of mom who are entrepreneurs. Today, she has 80,000 members and a million dollars in revenue. She has no traditional marketing. No sales team. No advertising, SEO or branded content. The community is the business.
❇️ So she identified a need, created great conversations and support around that, and, most of all, created a safe environment for people to be themselves.
The community is all the marketing she needs. She's just one person but this strategy can scale to big brands like Sephora.
Mark
Branding at the core starts with the founder, the vision, and the idea. Yet, branding becomes a community with service as a goal.
Where do you stand within this ecosystem?
Does the founder need to dissolve within the community at some point in time for the community to embody the brand?
And is it the ultimate mission of a brand to stand as a community?
A community does not necessarily have to start with a founder. It has to start with trust. For example, LEGO has a huge community that is not focused on any one person. But there is trust and love toward the brand.
Mark
What do you qualify as a community? What is a community for you?
Many people confuse an audience with community.
→ A community has three defining differences.
❇️ First, people know each other. There is communion.
❇️ Second, there is a unifying purpose.
❇️ And third the community members have the ability to move and grow the direction of the community. It evolves as they evolve.
Mark
You can connect and discover more of his work and mindset @markwschaefer
🧠 Reflections moving forward
I am currently reading the book Known, and I am having many aha moments on those concepts and truths you stack as you build a brand. Mark also shared a few days ago a powerful state of affairs concerning the difference between a personal brand and a corporate brand. Something I observe and investigate about. You can dive into his proactive analysis here.
After reading his content and discovering his books, one key idea stands out for the future of communication, market fit, education and beyond.
→ We cannot overlook the art of building a personal brand.
We need to learn how to position ourselves mindfully and purposefully. In a manner that shines through and truly reflects who we are. Your brand becomes an ally, a vehicle, a friend and a home for ourselves and for others who share our values. It is the work and endeavor to craft a brand that sustains and grows beyond who we are. One that belongs to and serves ''our people'' and tribe.
I hope you enjoyed this new interview format. I will try to bring in authority authors on board to complement our ecosystem. If you enjoy this letter → 💖 put a heart on it and feel free to share it with peers, friends and family! It helps more people discover this space.
Until next time, story tell that brand.
Keva.