Your Brand Needs Friends, Not Just Followers

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Ready to ditch the megaphone approach to marketing? The landscape has fundamentally changed, and brands clinging to one-way communication strategies are falling behind. Today's consumers don't want to be talked at—they crave conversation, connection, and community.

We're exploring why the traditional broadcast model that worked when choices were limited (remember three-channel TV?) is now crumbling under the weight of consumer expectations. The modern customer, bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily, simply tunes out one-way communication. But when you invite them into a conversation—answering comments, sharing their stories, letting them vote on new products, or celebrating their wins—you create something far more valuable than a transaction. You build belonging.

The results speak for themselves. Brands embracing community-driven approaches consistently outperform broadcast-only competitors in customer retention, repeat purchases, and referrals. Even major players like Lego and Starbucks have recognized this shift, implementing user design contests and customer voting systems. The good news? You don't need their massive budgets to make this transition. We share practical steps to move from blasting messages to building relationships, including how to open genuine conversation channels, ask engaging questions, spotlight community members, and use automation tools to manage it all without burning out.

Join us as we reveal why your brand doesn't just need a louder voice—it needs deeper connections. When you shift from marketing at people to including them, you'll build loyalty that lasts far beyond a single sale. Ready to transform your approach and create a community that champions your brand? This episode shows you exactly how to make that happen.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to Stacked, and today we're going
to talk about how to move frombroadcast to community and why
one-way marketing is really justbeating a dead horse.
So there was a time when youcould stand in a metaphorical
stage and shout your message tothe crowd and then be done, and
that's broadcast marketing.

(00:21):
It worked when people only hadthree TV channels.
It worked when you mailed apostcard and that was the only
thing in someone's mailbox.
It even worked in the earlydays of social media, where you
could just post and hope peoplepaid attention.
But those days are quicklygoing away.
People do not want to be talkedat anymore.
They want to be talked with,they want a seat at the table.

(00:41):
So in this episode we're goingto look at why the one-way
marketing model is crumbling,what community-driven marketing
really means and how you canbuild systems to support that
shift without burning out orbeing stuck online all day.
One-way marketing is exactlywhat it sounds like.
You send out your message,whether it's a TV ad, a radio
spot, a billboard or a staticsocial post, and people either

(01:04):
see it or they don't.
It's a megaphone.
It's push, push, push.
There's no conversation,there's no feedback, there's no
relationship, and the problemwith that is today's customers
expect a relationship.
People have way too manychoices now.
They're flooded with messagesall day long.
If you just push your offersout into the world without any
back and forth, it's super easyto get ignored.

(01:26):
On the other hand, if youinvite people in, ask questions,
tell stories, sharebehind-the-scenes moments and
let them interact with you,they'll remember you, they'll
trust you and they'll come back.
Community-driven brandsoutperform broadcast-only brands
because they build somethingdeeper than a sale.
They build belonging.
A community-driven approachmeans you treat your customers

(01:46):
like people, not like numbers,so you might answer their
comments instead of ignoringthem, or share their stories
from your audience, not justyour own.
Let them vote on a new product,run a Facebook group or a Slack
channel, host a Q&A or livestreams, celebrate customer wins
publicly.
You need to think about how youcan turn every announcement

(02:08):
into a conversation instead.
For example, instead of posting, we have a new product.
Buy now.
You could ask what featureswould make this product better
for you or what challenges areyou trying to solve with this?
It's a small change like thatthat can help build community
instead of just broadcasting.
And the numbers don't lie.
Community-driven brands seehigher customer retention, more

(02:30):
repeat purchases and strongerreferrals.
When people feel like theybelong to something, not that
they just bought from it, theytend to stick around.
Even big brands are seeing thistoo.
So look at Lego with their userdesign contests, or Starbucks
letting customers vote onseasonal drinks, or fitness
communities that let membersshare progress photos and

(02:52):
encourage each other.
You don't need to have amassive budget to do this.
You just need to care aboutpeople, listen and then build
systems to stay connected.
All right.
So how do you actually move fromone way to two-way marketing?
First, slow down on blastingmessages.
Stop with the spam texts andthe email newsletter that nobody
actually really reads, andinstead open up channels for

(03:15):
real conversation, so that mightbe your Instagram DMs or a
Facebook group or a gallery flowworkspace or community.
Next, ask good questions.
People want to be heard.
Give them opportunities toshare and then spotlight your
people.
Share their stories, theirresults, their wins not just
yours and also stay consistent.
Community is not built in a week.

(03:37):
You need to show up often, evenif it's simple A short video
check-in, a poll, a live Q&Athese keep people engaged.
Finally, use automation to help.
Inside Dallery Flow, forexample, you can set up welcome
sequence, reminders andconversation prompts so your
community feels seen without youliving on your phone 24-7.
And we do this ourselves hereat Dallery.

(03:59):
Our newsletter invites replies.
Our escapades tell people whatwe do, but also in a fun,
personal way that talks aboutthe mistakes that we've made
along the way.
Our podcast, like this, sharesour mistakes, not just our
highlights.
We celebrate client results onsocial.
We encourage people to sharefeedback and ideas and then we
actually use that feedback tomake things better and even

(04:20):
produce more options in oursoftware and inside Gallery Flow
.
We help businesses run groupchats, manage memberships and
keep conversations moving,because we believe that
community is the best businessmoat that you can build.
People don't want to feelmarketed to, they want to feel
included.
If you can move from blastingmessages to building real

(04:40):
community, you'll build loyaltythat lasts far beyond a single
sale.
Your brand doesn't just need abigger megaphone, it needs a
deeper connection.
This is Stacked where weautomate, elevate and repeat.