Community engagement is a process in which people work together in the form of groups affiliated by geographic proximity, particular interest or specific situation to advance issues affecting the work and well-being. It is a very powerful driver of community level progress, and it also brings changes to the environment.
Community engagement helps us engage the community better to achieve long-term outcomes, discourse based decision-making, and implementation. The word community is used for a group of people, whether they are stakeholders, interest groups or citizen groups.
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The community may be of exact graphical location or a community of similar interest or a community of affiliation or identify such as industry. The linkage between communities and the brand is a broad concept. It saves the focus from the individual to the collective.
Community engagement is complex and extensive. It requires some resources such as time funding and people with necessary skills who work under the supervision of leaders in the communities to resolve the issues and get some particular goals achieved.
Community Engagement Models
Some of the Community Engagement models are the following:
- Community education
- Community organizing
- Community building
- Institutional Engagement
- Direct service
- Deliberate dialogue
- Economic Development
Different Types of Community
Following are in various types of communities:
1. Interest Communities
These are the communities of people who share the same interest.
2. Action Communities
These are the people who are trying to bring about a change.
3. Place Communities
These are the communities of people brought together by geographic boundaries.
4. Practice Communities
These are the people in the same profession or who undertake the same activities.
Why is Community Engagement Important?
Community engagement is crucial because it ensures that community members have access to valued social settings and activities.
They feel that they can contribute to those activities and develop a functional capability to participate fully.
Community engagement is also essential in business because it can bring community involvement that increases brand awareness.
It makes your business popular as more people are allowed to know your brand product and services. It will also help you maintain a trustworthy and generous business image.
Three Main Goals of Community Engagement
Following are three main goals of community engagement:
- Decision-making provides opportunities for communities to contribute to improving decision-making.
- Improve existing relationships with or within communities.
- Relationship development involves building new relationships
Impact of Community Engagement
Brands complete and offer good quality products and packaging and all the things that attract the customers towards themselves.
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Still, one thing that can set your brand apart is community engagement. As brands recognize the importance of community engagement, they are now using various social media channels to connect with their consumers and ask them about the feedback that provides other buyers a prospective insight of the product. You can have an idea by taking Nescafe as an example. They have an Instagram page on which they repost all the stories that have their product in it. Customers are delighted to see their photographs on the official page, and therefore they take high-quality pictures with Nescafe coffee and send them to the brand's official Instagram page. This has not only increased product demand but also consumer satisfaction and loyalty towards the brand.
Conclusion
Community engagement can provide you an edge over the other brands, and guess what? It does not take that much effort and investment but provides you with significant outcomes.