Creating a community, est devenu bien plus qu’une tendance marketing : c’est un levier stratégique pour toutes les entreprises ou associations qui souhaitent renforcer la fidélité, développer l’engagement, co-construire avec leurs publics et fédérer des acteurs autour d’une mission commune.
But what exactly do we mean by "creating a community"? Comment la distingue-t-on d’une « audience » ? Et surtout, par où commencer ?
Que l’on soit une entreprise, une marque, une association, un réseau d’affaires, un pôle de compétitivité ou une structure de formation, les enjeux sont souvent les mêmes : fédérer, structurer, animer et faire vivre une dynamique collective.
C’est pourquoi on parle souvent de « bâtir une communauté », d’où la création, depuis quelques années, d’un nouveau métier : celui de « Community Builder » : le Bâtisseur de Communauté.
In this comprehensive guide, we cover :
The fundamental difference between audience and community
The different types of communities customers, members, partners, learners, employees, franchisees, etc.
The key stages in creating a community objectives, mission, activities, first ambassadors...
Whether you want create a BtoB, association, brand or regional communitythis guide will help you lay the right foundations for a successful création d’une communauté.
Audience or community: what are the differences?
Creating a community starts by making a clear distinction between a concept that is often confused: the hearing. Although these two terms refer to groups of people linked to an organisation, they have radically different meanings.
The audience: passive, ad hoc, disembodied
A audience refers to a group of individuals exposed to a particular content or brand. It can be large, occasional or volatile.
On social networks, an audience is measured in followers, impressions or views. But these indicators say nothing about real engagement or the quality of the relationship.
Audiences are by nature focused on the sender: The brand communicates, the audience receives.
The link is often unidirectional, and audience involvement is limited. They may consume, like or comment... but rarely contribute actively or forge links with other members.
The community: active, sustainable, involved
A community is based on a logic of relationships, share and active participation. It involves people coming together around a common interest, a mission or a collective experience. Its members are not simply exposed to a brand: they are part of it.
A community creates horizontal link between its members. Everyone can have their say, share their experiences, respond to a peer, recommend a good practice or a person.
The organisation is no longer the only transmitter: it becomes the facilitator, the host of this collective dynamic. The community acts as a trusted third party.
The community is also part of the long time. It evolves, changes and grows with its members. It is not a channel, but a a living, interconnected space.
Why create an engaged community rather than accumulate followers?
Many organisations still confuse visibility with engagement. By extension, there is confusion between "audience" and "community".
However, a wide audience is not necessarily a loyal community. On peut avoir 50 000 abonnés et zéro interaction réelle. À l’inverse, une communauté de 500 membres actifs peut générer des dizaines de contributions, d’idées ou de recommandations chaque semaine.
Creating a community,is to choose relational value rather than raw reach (mass). It means investing in depth of connection instead of chasing ephemeral virality.
It means banking onlasting commitment, thecollective intelligence and co-construction rather than simply pushing content.
In short, an audience look at. A community participate. An audience follows. A community acts.
And in a world where loyalty, differentiation and activation are key, it's the community that makes the difference.
What are the different types of community?
Creating a community,it means creating a space of trust where people share a common identity, mission, interests or objectives.
But not all communities are the same. Here is an overview of the main types of community you can create, depending on the nature of your organisation.
Create a customer community (BtoB or BtoC)
Creating a customer community pour votre entreprise, c’est créer un espace où vos clients peuvent être valorisés, informés en avant-première sur vos actualités, échanger, poser des questions, partager des retours d’expérience, recommander votre solution ou encore co-créer des produits et services avec vous.
For a BtoB community,, cela favorise souvent l’information autour des produits et services de l’entreprise, la formation, le support entre pairs, le développement de la fidélité et l’amélioration produit.
For a BtoC community,, cela peut prendre la forme de groupes de passionnés, d’ambassadeurs, d’utilisateurs avancés ou de clubs VIP.
A community platform for your BtoB or BtoC customer community, aux couleurs de votre marque, devient indispensable pour faciliter la gestion et l’animation de celle-ci.
Avantages clés d’une communauté de clients :
Strengthen loyalty and retention rates by involving customers in a discussion forum.
Encourage peer-to-peer support and reduce pressure on customer service.
Gather valuable feedback to improve products or services.
Creating a brand community
The brand community brings together people who share a common strong commitment to the world, values and image of a brand. It often goes beyond simple consumption to create a real sense of belonging.
It can include customers, prospects, ambassadors, fans or influencers.
It strengthens identification with the brand and boosts its profile, particularly through a branded platform to animate your community.
Avantages clés d’une communauté de marque :
Renforcer l’identification à la marque, le sentiment d’appartenance et la différenciation sur le marché.
Amplify visibility through unsolicited recommendations and word-of-mouth.
Create a strong and lasting emotional bond with the brand's ambassadors and committed fans.
Create a community of ambassadors or influencers
Les membres d’une communauté d’ambassadeurs ou d’influenceurs are often advanced users, passionate customers or key influencers.
They represent the voice of your brand, take part in your campaigns and carry your message. Bringing them together in a dedicated community strengthens their commitment, the recognition they receive for their role and their ability to spread your brand.
Avantages clés d’une communauté d’ambassadeurs ou d’infuenceurs :
Create a solid bond of trust and increase the number of organic talks about your products or services.
Facilitate the co-creation of content and personalised offers.
Strengthen social proof and trust in your brand.
Create a community of partners (resellers, distributors, integrators)
Les membres d’une communauté d’ambassadeurs ou d’influenceurs are often advanced users, passionate customers or key influencers.
They represent the voice of your brand, take part in your campaigns and carry your message. Bringing them together in a dedicated community strengthens their commitment, the recognition they receive for their role and their ability to spread your brand.
Avantages clés d’une communauté d’ambassadeurs ou d’infuenceurs :
Create a solid bond of trust and increase the number of organic talks about your products or services.
Facilitate the co-creation of content and personalised offers.
Strengthen social proof and trust in your brand.
Create a community of testers or beta users
Ideal for software publishers, start-ups or innovative brands, the community of testers or beta users helps to improve the offering before it goes to market.
Elle implique les utilisateurs dans le processus de génération d’idées, de création et de validation.
Key benefits :
Build user loyalty and gather concrete feedback on the "user experience".
Involving customers in product innovation and iteration.
Encouraging future adoption through co-construction.
Create a community of investors or strategic stakeholders
La communauté d’investisseurs ou de parties prenantes stratégiques is particularly useful in growing structures, mission-driven companies or cooperatives.
Cette communauté permet de mieux impliquer les actionnaires ou financeurs dans la vision long terme pour suivre le développement d’une entreprise et ses actualités tout en bénéficiant d’une considération et d’une reconnaissance avérée.
Key benefits :
Promoting transparency and trust in governance.
Provide access to high-level strategic feedback.
Facilitate buy-in to the strategy and the involvement of investors.
Create a community of members (association, federation, trade union, cluster, competitiveness centre, etc.)
In associations, members are not simply members: they are often active contributors, project leaders or even representatives.
The communauté d’adhérents d’une association ou d’une fédération permet d’échanger sur les enjeux de l’écosystème économique, de la filière ou du métier sur un territoire, de mutualiser les bonnes pratiques et de porter une parole collective plus forte auprès des partenaires publics ou privés.
A community platform to help you managing your trade association devient indispensable pour faciliter la gestion des adhérents et l’animation de la communauté à un seul endroit.
Avantages clés d’une communauté d’adhésions pour une association ou une fédération :
Encouraging the exchange of best practice and skills development.
Provide feedback on needs on the ground to better guide local, regional, national and international initiatives.
Strengthen collective representation with partners and institutions.
Les clusters (Numeum, Digital League…) ou pôles de compétitivité (Axelera, Tenerrdis…) are unique in that they bring together companies, research organisations, schools and institutions to work on a common project. common sectoral or territorial issue.
A community platform becomes a collaborative platform to connect members, encourage cross-fertilisation of innovation, structure collaborative projects, promote local expertise, and manage the network at the industry level.
Key benefits :
Stimulate inter-company and inter-organisational collaboration.
Accelerating shared innovation and structuring projects.
Promote the expertise and successes of its members and the local ecosystem.
Les réseaux des syndicats interprofessionnels (MEDEF, CPME…) represent and defend collective interests by federating different branches and economic sectors with state and institutional authorities, but these networks also create cross-disciplinary exchange dynamics.
Animer une communauté d’un syndicat inter-professionnel, c’est ici permettre aux membres de get informed, debate, make suggestions, get involved and a shared vision. It also means providing tools for coordination between local, regional and national levels.
Avantages clés d’une communauté d’un syndicat inter-professionnel :
Promoting the circulation of strategic information between members.
Unite around common positions and actions.
Create a foundation of solidarity and cross-sector mutualisation.
Create a business network community or business club
Souvent appelés « Club d’affaires » ou « Business Club », les business networks bring together entrepreneurs, managers and decision-makers with the aim of develop their business thanks to the strength of the collective.
Créer une communauté dans le cadre d’un réseau d’affaires, c’est donner de la profondeur aux rencontres et building trust between its members to faciliter les recommandations d’affaires : prolonger les échanges, initier des synergies, faire vivre un esprit de réseau au quotidien, lors d’événements physiques et via une plateforme communautaire pour faciliter le networking between its members.
An application for Business Club est alors souvent la meilleure solution pour faciliter la communication et l’accès au réseau entre les membres.
Avantages clés d’une communauté d’un réseau d’affaire ou business club :
Multiplier les opportunités d’affaires grâce aux échanges réguliers et les recommandations d’affaires.
Foster trust and local synergies between members.
Structuring a team around events and relationship rituals.
Create a community of volunteers or contributors
Used extensively by NGOs, associations and events groups, the community of volunteers aims to coordinate people who give up their time for a common project.
Targeted promotion helps to strengthen their commitment and loyalty over the long term thanks to a strong mission qui porte l’association.
Key benefits :
Facilitating the organisation of collaborative projects and field missions.
Create a lasting link with committed people who are not employees.
Publicly promote the actions and impact of the collective.
Create a community of learners (training organisation, school, alumni, etc.)
Whether they are learners in initial training, continuing education or graduates, these communautés d’apprenants facilitate mutual support, access to resources, peer mentoring, networking and alumni involvement.
They extend the value ofeducational experience long after classes have finished and become a veritable a lever for attractiveness for future learners in joining a network of professionals.
A platform dedicated to a learning community for its training organisation is ideal for during the course and for build loyalty among your members once this has been completed.
Avantages clés d’une communauté d’apprenants pour un organisme de formation :
Stimulate mutual support and the sharing of teaching experiences.
Create a lasting link between the institution and its former learners.
Enhance the attractiveness and reputation of the school.
Create an employee community (internal, CSR, corporate culture)
As part of an HR, CSR or internal transformation strategy, creating an employee community allows strengthening corporate culture, internal commitment and cross-functionality.
Cela favorise le partage de savoirs, l’intelligence collective, et permet aux salariés d’être plus engagé et, pourquoi pas, de devenir ambassadeurs de l’organisation. Une an internal communication platform or application is ideal for achieving these objectives.
Avantages clés d’une communauté de collaborateurs :
Improve internal communication, cohesion and support for the company's values.
Encouraging participative innovation and distributed leadership.
Creating a cross-functional, inclusive channel for teams to express themselves.
Create a community for a network of franchisees or sites (multi-establishment)
Networks of sales outlets, boutiques, agencies or franchisees share the need for internal communication, harmonisation, dissemination of best practice and a sense of belonging to the network.
Une communauté d’une réseau de franchisés ou multi-sites via a platform and a internal community application aux couleurs de l’entreprise permet de creating links despite geographical dispersionThe aim is to promote local success stories and create a space that brings together all the members of the network.
Key benefits :
Harmonise practices and service levels between establishments.
Create a sense of belonging and recognition for the network.
Encourage internal communication, feedback on local initiatives and the pooling of expertise.
In short: choosing the right community model for a sustainable community
Creating a community, isn't just about opening an online group or organising a few events.
Creating a community is a real strategic project which requires a vision, a strong mission and a detailed understanding of its audiences.
By making a clear distinction between "audience" and "community", choosing the right type of community to build and laying the right foundations, you maximise your chances of creating a lasting community, a space that is engaging and useful for all its members.
In the next article, we'll look at how to move from de choix du type de communauté aux étapes de création et de gestion d’une communautéDiscover how to identify and develop your ambassadors, industrialise your processes and effectively manage a community over the long term.
See you in our next article:
How to Build a Community: 10 Essential Steps to Create and Launch Yours
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Why create a professional (BtoB) community?
Creating a community allows you to gather around you members who share the same issues, interests or values. It's a powerful way of building loyalty, generating collective value and strengthening the feeling of belonging to a project, an association, a company or a network.
What is the difference between an audience and a community?
An audience is passive: it receives a message. A community is active: it interacts, exchanges and contributes. A community lives, evolves and makes a lasting commitment to a relationship of trust with your organisation.
What type of community should I create for my business?
It all depends on your objectives:
To build customer loyalty: customer community
To bring your partners together: ambassador community
Pour animer un réseau économique ou d’affaires : business club or B2B community
To represent a group : member community
To support learners or employees: internal community or training
The number one challenge is always to clearly define the mission and the value provided.
Do I need a specific tool to manage my community?
Yes. Platforms like SuperConnectr, are designed to save you time: a good community platform centralises the management of members, the sending of emails, the publication of content, the organisation of events, the connection and exchange between members and the collection of data, while guaranteeing complete customisation to your image.
Is a mobile application really useful?
For professional use, yes. A mobile community application allows your members to stay connected, receive real-time notifications, register for events, view content or chat, all in a seamless, colourful environment.
Discover the SuperConnectr community platform!
An All-in-one Community Platform, 100% personalised with your Brand identity.
Give the members of your network a community web Platform and mobile App with your Brand to manage, engage and promote your community!
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