As the Internet-based native, Generation Z, the main consumption force, is highly sensitive to fresh information and hot spots on the one hand and has high requirements for product uniqueness and life quality on the other. Therefore, how to make product information directly reach the circle of Generation Z has become an important goal of retail industry and all retail FMCG (fast moving consumption goods) brands. With the differentiation of products known by more consumers, they can benefit more from the traffic dividend. Retailers disseminate information through online channels and enrich the shopping experience through offline channels, so as to fully empower businesses and attract consumers. Community platforms are an important corridor to improve the effectiveness of information dissemination and consumers' stickiness. This article summarizes the preliminary research results by Retail Industry Research Team on the community marketing in China.

The communication chain of community operation can be divided into three stages by the time sequence: attraction, construction, and operation. The efficiency of each can be improved through community marketing to achieve a better marketing result.

In recent years, social media platforms, as the primary way of information dissemination and social interactions and entertainment, are especially favored by Generation Z.

Brands are cooperating with KOLs to recommend products to followers through pictures and videos. The more matured online livestreaming sales brings about a new enthusiasm for online shopping. Community marketing is conducive to moving from portraying user profiles to targeting customer segments, connecting marketing activities closely with consumers' social networks, thus breaking through private social circles.

Community marketing activities could be divided into three categories in terms of front-, middle- and back-end:

(1) Ecological marketing of social media platforms

Front-end attraction: ecological marketing of social media platforms

Definition: attract potential consumers through common social media platforms and increase interaction through ecological marketing.

Large capital mobilized by BESTORE on social media channels. Users are accessed through offline stores, and the popularity of the community is maintained by offline local activities by area; in terms of the online business, an independent social media business department is set up for community operation.

(2) Building a free community

Middle-end: building a proprietary community with fission of membership benefits

Definition: attract potential consumers through common social media platforms and increase interaction through ecological marketing.

Fission of benefits means to expand the number of members through membership promotion activities.

Sephora launched a WeChat mini-program in 2019 with daily activities such as members to share for free samples, shake for discount coupons, in order to incentivize consumers to share with their friends.

Meituan and PDD strengthen the frequency of shopping sharing and the connection to social media on platforms such as WeChat through group purchase.

(3) Operating the membership circle

Back-end operation: operating the membership circle

Definition: operate the membership circle through online and offline activities to build user stickiness and add value to the brand

Operating the membership circle means anchoring the target consumer group on the basis of consumption intentions or consumption records, and improving the repurchase rate, so as to reinforce the effectiveness of product marketing information.

Nike invests in the NikePlus membership program to operate the member groups in a more effective manner, providing unique products and exclusive services for members; with the consumption data, it could further analyze consumers and provide better services based on the membership circle.

A lot of cultural and creative products have iterated constantly, coupled with community operations added besides content marketing. What’s behind the cultural and creative themes is often the groups with specific hobbies, and the publicity and promotion of follow-up products can benefit from gathering consumers through communities.

Community marketing is a type of precision marketing in fact. Communities connect a group of people with the same traits, and the goal of precision marketing is to target people with specific traits.

Nowadays, with the consumption scenarios going from offline to online, communities have made innovation in different stages of product marketing through ecological marketing in the circle of friends, fission of benefits, and the operation of membership circles, meanwhile their influence on the decision-making of consumer groups has also undergone a process from quantitative to qualitative transformation.

Communities make the win-win result possible for both the supply and demand sides. For consumers, it’s easier for them to get the desired products in communities within less time. For merchants, more accurate information delivery is definitely more cost-effective.

Xiao Geyan, Researcher of the Industry Research Institute(IIR), Shanghai Jiao Tong University