Technology and social media can facilitate a relationship but it takes real people engaging in real conversations to build a thriving social community. John Doyle of Alure Home Improvements shares his approach on how to build an interactive community from their national tv exposure from Extreme Home Makeovers and how they saw a 5000% increase of substantial growth in their social media community at the 2012 Inbound Marketing Summit New York

When companies are looking for innovative ways to get people to like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter, don’t look to the person next to you,  imagine yourself in the consumer’s shoes and ask yourself why you would  join a social community.  The marketing team determined that contests and giveaways would spark interest, conversations and get consumers involved in the community, especially during the holidays.

John touches on a several key factors on how their team took a different approach and didn’t promote from the home improvement aspect of marketing:

• Power the community through holiday giveaways, including “Clash of the Thanksgiving Side Dishes ” and the “Ugly Sweater” Contest 
• The product they used for giveaways that offered minimal costs and gave the community an engaging and fun experience 
• The path to earning consumers’ attention and how to connect with your customers in real life and “on their terms”

The secret to building a successful community isn’t about giving away great prizes or coming up with mind blowing social marketing campaigns.  It’s about the emotional connections you build with your consumers and how their emotional ties connect them to your products or services.  To learn how to earn your customer’s attention and how to nurture and maintain the relationships, watch the video below.