How B2B Companies Build Strong Communities for Growth

In an increasingly digitized B2B landscape, it’s important to remember how to earn, retain, convert, connect, and transfer attention. Building authentic connections based on the KLT (Knowing, Liking, and Trusting) Principle is also paramount for true differentiation and success. How can B2B companies leverage the power of communities to build authentic relationships? How can they add value to community members and keep them engaged?

That’s why we’re talking to leading podcast and community expert Elzie Flenard III (Founder & CEO, Podcast Town) about how B2B companies can build strong communities for growth. During our conversation, Elzie advised against quick, superficial, and transactional efforts and emphasized the need for intentionality, understanding the audience, and building trust. He also discussed the key pitfalls to avoid and provided examples of how communities can help B2B companies become authorities in their niche.

https://youtu.be/MTha8_W-ddE

Topics discussed in episode

[1:47] Why authentic connections are the foundation of success

[4:55] The importance of time and intentionality in community building

[8:04] The role of leadership and member engagement in community success

[9:57] Some key pitfalls to avoid

[13:51] Defining and measuring value in communities

[15:46] How communities can help B2B companies become authorities in their industry and strengthen relationships

[20:11] How B2B marketers can play a role in keeping the community engaged and active

[23:36] Elzie’s actionable tips:

Understand the business you’re in and be intentional in building communities
Leverage podcasts to build a community and engage members
Avoid using a “one size fits all” approach for communities

[25:34] Success metrics for building a community

Companies and links mentioned

Transcript

SPEAKERS

Christian Klepp, Elzie Flenard

Christian Klepp 00:01

Welcome to this episode of B2B marketers on the mission, and I’m your host. Christian Klepp, today I’ll be talking to Elzie Flenard the third. He’s the founder and CEO of Podcast Town, and helps B2B brands uncover their unique voice to broadcast through the world. His expertise lies in turning content into a powerful tool for growth, whether it’s through launching a podcast, building a robust content strategy or monetizing efforts to drive real results. Tune in to find out more about what this B2B marketer’s mission is. All right, I’m gonna say Elzie Flenard the third. Welcome to the show.

Elzie Flenard 00:40

Thank you so much for having me. I’m super excited about this conversation.

Christian Klepp 00:44

Likewise, likewise. And, you know, based on the conversation we had before hit record, I love, I love your name, because it really does sound like a monarch, right? Like, and now that you’ve got us, now that you also have a son, he’s, he’s the fourth, right?

Elzie Flenard 00:58

He’s the fourth. And I’ve already, I’ve already prepped them. Said, Okay, you know, when you have a son, what, what we’re going to name them, right? So be any, any, any kickback.

Christian Klepp 01:09

Yeah, exactly, exactly. So there is a successor, so to speak. But Elzie, I really appreciate you coming on the show. I’m really looking forward of this conversation, because it is not just highly relevant to B2B marketers. I think it’s really highly relevant to B2B companies as a whole. So the topic for today’s discussion is how B2B companies can build strong communities for better growth. And I think you do have a bit of experience in that regard. So why don’t we kick off the conversation with this question, why do you feel that authentic connections are the foundation of success?

Elzie Flenard 01:47

Well, the biggest reason is twofold, really, but the first reason is because connection is the differentiator, right? If I am looking at three different companies, and they all do very, very similar things. I’m going to choose the company that I feel the most connected to. It’s an age old business principle right now, people are going to do business with people with that they know, like and trust. I call it the KLT (Knowing you, liking you, and trusting you). It’s like a sandwich, the know the like and the trust and I like the like in the middle, because people can trust you and they can know you, but if they don’t like you, that you still are going to lose that sale, right? So you have to have all three. And I think that that is the thing that as we move forward with technology and AI, speed to market is changing. It’s faster than ever. So competition is higher than ever. You’re gonna… that KLT factor is gonna be the differentiator, and you don’t get connection without that KLT.

Christian Klepp 02:52

Absolutely, absolutely. And that’s even more so in a case I had a guest on yesterday, and we were talking about this very same topic, about the you know, building credibility, building trust, and what have you. And even in B2B, that can get tricky at times, especially if you’re involved in the situation, because I’m in the marketing and branding industry, and sometimes we don’t have direct access to the client, right, like we get vetted by an agency that’s responsible for looking right, looking for those so called vendors, and you know, they we have to go through this vetting process and then we get introduced to the client, right? So there’s no existing relationship there. But regardless, to your point, if you don’t build up that trust, then how are you ever going to get in the door? Right?

Elzie Flenard 03:41

Yeah, exactly. And I think too people try to take shortcuts. Trust is not a shortcut thing. You have to put in the work like there’s no way around it. It takes time. It takes time to listen, it takes time to act, and then to iterate it, you just have to do the work. There’s no shortcuts, which is cool, because that means like people, like you, are going to win because you’re willing to put in the work to do the research and to make those adjustments. So but, but Trust is everything. And you know, the biggest thing though, is really hard to get, really easy to lose, and once it’s lost, it’s gone forever. So it’s a delicate thing that you have to manage.

Christian Klepp 04:29

Are you talking about business relationships or marriage or both?

Elzie Flenard 04:34

They’re quite similar. If you think about it, they’re pretty close to the same thing, right?

Christian Klepp 04:40

Absolutely, absolutely I’m going to move us on to the next question before we start venturing into dangerous territory here. But like, what do you wish more B2B marketers knew about building communities in their industry?

Elzie Flenard 04:55

I wish more B2B marketers understood that it takes time. This is not a microwave solution. My kids tease me all the time because I 9 out of 10 times if I need to warm up my food, I’m not going to do it in a microwave, because the way that it, you know, it works, is it sucks all of the juice out of the food, and by the time you eat it, it’s just not the same, and so I’ll put it in the oven, I’ll set the temperature to 350 and I set a timer that I keep right beside the stove to 15 minutes, and that’s how I warm up my food. It takes longer. I have to be more intentional. Takes a couple of few more steps, but the end result is much, much better than using the microwave. And so that’s the analogy that I always like to use. Is like, don’t put it in the microwave, put it in the oven.

Christian Klepp 05:49

I love this.

Elzie Flenard 05:49

Take, take your time, and the end result is going to be that much better.

Christian Klepp 05:53

Aboslutely. One other thing about heating up food and microwave is that it ends up either getting harder or dry, right?

Christian Klepp 06:02

I love that you brought that up because I just thought of another follow up question. You know, you’ve, you’ve seen, and we’ve all seen them, especially during the pandemic, right? There were online communities like just sprouted up everywhere, and many of them don’t exist anymore. Why do you think that is?

Elzie Flenard 06:02

Yep.

Elzie Flenard 06:21

Well, because it wasn’t intentional or genuine in the first place, and that’s the nature of relationship...

Ep. 159: How B2B Companies Build Strong Communities for Growth