Unless you’re Taylor Swift, the days of creating and owning a monoculture are long gone.
We’re all living in different pockets of the internet. We all have our own obsessions, hobbies and online cliques. In other words, we are all part of our own online communities, feeding each other a constant loop of the latest news, products and activities taking place within our sector of interest.
So, in a world where everyone is sitting in separate rooms, listening to their own communities’ channels, how does a brand cut through to the masses? The answer? Maybe they don’t.
That’s where community marketing comes in.
For a consumer brand, pinpointing and building your own communities can create something traditional advertising can struggle to achieve: a genuine connection between a brand and the people who choose to engage with it.
From beauty and fashion to food and beverage, wellness, homewares and retail, communities can become powerful drivers of awareness, advocacy and long-term brand loyalty.
At Agent99, we see community marketing as an increasingly important part of consumer PR. It’s not simply about finding an audience and broadcasting a message. It’s about understanding where people already gather, what they care about and how a brand can add genuine value to the conversation.
So, what exactly is community marketing and how can consumer brands use it effectively?
What is community marketing?
Community marketing is the practice of building meaningful, ongoing relationships with a group of people who share a common interest, passion, lifestyle or set of values.
Unlike traditional marketing, where the brand often sits at the centre of the conversation and speaks to the masses, community marketing puts the community first and is a little more personal in its approach.
That could mean a skincare brand finding or creating a space for people to discuss skin health, a fitness brand bringing together runners, or a homewares brand connecting people who share an interest in interiors and design.
The important distinction is that the community needs to have a reason to exist beyond simply buying a product.
For a consumer brand, this might take the form of an growing an online community, fostering an ambassador network that genuinely understands and loves your brand, joining social media groups relevant to your audience, or taking things offline with events targeted at groups built around a shared passion.
Why is community marketing important for consumer brands?
Because people trust people.
Consumers are increasingly influenced by recommendations from friends, creators, experts and communities they already identify with. A strong community can therefore become an important source of credibility for a consumer brand.
Community marketing can help brands:
- Build stronger customer relationships
- Generate word-of-mouth advocacy
- Encourage repeat engagement
- Gather genuine consumer insights
- Generate user-generated content
- Identify emerging trends
- Create more authentic brand experiences
It also gives brands something incredibly valuable: feedback.
The strongest communities aren’t simply audiences for a brand to speak to. They are sources of insight that can help a brand understand what consumers actually want, what questions they have and what matters to them.
This is where consumer PR can play a role. PR has always been about understanding audiences and finding the stories that resonate. Community marketing takes that thinking a step further by creating an ongoing relationship rather than a single point of interaction.
How can brands identify the right community?
Not every community is the right community for every consumer brand. The biggest mistake brands can make is starting with demographics alone. Age, gender and location can tell you who someone is, but not necessarily what they care about.
Instead, look for shared interests, behaviours, passions and cultural conversations.
Ask: What does our audience care about beyond our product? Where are they already gathering? Who do they trust? What conversations are they having? What problems are they trying to solve?
For example, a furniture brand may not simply be targeting “Australians aged 25–44”. Its relevant communities could include renters furnishing their first home, design enthusiasts, new homeowners, parents looking for practical interiors or people interested in small-space living. This creates a much more useful foundation for community marketing.
For a PR agency in Sydney, the same principle applies to media strategy: identify the journalists, creators, experts and platforms that already have credibility with the people you want to reach.
What role do influencers, creators and media play in community marketing?
Influencers, creators and media can act as bridges between a consumer brand and the communities it wants to reach. But the most effective partnerships are built around credibility and relevance, rather than simply paying someone to promote a product.
A creator who already has a genuine relationship with a particular community can introduce a brand in a way that feels natural rather than interruptive.
The same applies to media. A journalist, publication or specialist platform can help a brand reach an established audience that already trusts its editorial voice.
For consumer PR, this means thinking about media and influencers as part of a broader ecosystem rather than treating coverage as the end goal.
For example, when we launched the insulated drinkware brand Kodiak earlier this year, we created an entire activation, the Great Aussie Kodiak Drop Bear, that extended beyond just traditional media coverage. We understood the community we wanted to tap into: younger, adventurous Australians who love spending the summer months outdoors and at the beach. So, we showed up at Coogee Beach on one of the hottest days of the year to deliver ice-cold drinks by drone.
It was an example of community engagement that exists offline. The brand knew the audience they wanted to be positioned within and showed up at a popular place they gather to solve a real problem.
The goal here wasn’t simply to generate reach. It was to create relevance and visibility within a community.
How can PR support community marketing?
PR and community marketing are natural partners because both are ultimately about relationships, reputation and relevance. For a consumer brand, PR can help identify the communities that matter, develop stories that will resonate with them and create opportunities for genuine engagement.
This could include:
- Identifying relevant communities and cultural conversations
- Building relationships with community leaders and creators
- Developing thought leadership and expert commentary
- Creating events and experiences
- Generating earned media coverage
- Seeding products to relevant advocates
- Developing partnerships with complementary brands
- Turning community insights into media stories
The key is to avoid treating community marketing as a campaign tactic that starts and ends with a launch. In our opinion, the strongest communities are built over time.
That’s where a PR agency Sydney can add value by connecting community engagement with a broader consumer PR strategy — ensuring the brand’s messaging, media activity, influencer relationships and experiences all tell a consistent story.
How do you measure community marketing?
This is where community marketing differs from standard campaign reporting. Traditional PR reports often focus on metrics such as reach, impressions, media coverage, engagement and website traffic. These metrics still have value. But they don’t necessarily tell you whether you are building a community. Community marketing requires looking at the quality of the relationship, not just the size of the audience.
Depending on the strategy, brands might measure:
- Engagement: Are people actively participating and contributing?
- Advocacy: Are people recommending the brand?
- Retention: Are community members continuing to engage over time?
- User-generated content: Are customers voluntarily creating content?
- Sentiment: How are people talking about the brand?
- Referral: Are community members bringing in new customers?
- Repeat behaviour: Are engaged members continuing to purchase or interact?
With the Kodiak Drop Bear activation, participants had to sign up to the Kodiak email database in order to receive a cold drink, helping the brand build its own community in real time. By the end of the 2-hour activation, Kodiak had over 200 new subscribers to their database. That’s something far more meaningful than the vanity metrics typically associated with a more generic PR campaign.
The takeaway
Community marketing isn’t about creating a community around a brand for the sake of it.
It’s about finding the communities that already exist, understanding what matters to them and finding an authentic way for a consumer brand to contribute.
The formula is simple: Find the right community + create genuine value + build consistent relationships = long-term brand connection.
For brands across consumer, retail, beauty, fashion, homewares, wellness and food & beverage, community marketing provides an opportunity to move beyond one-way communication and create something much more valuable: a group of people who actively choose to engage with, talk about and advocate for the brand.
At Agent99, we help consumer brands turn insight, storytelling and relationships into consumer PR strategies that create relevance and real impact, not just reach.
- Agent Meriha
