Read This Before Starting a Brand Community
I interviewed with Natalie Browne Holmes, Director of Community and Social Impact at Topicals.
Read any 2024 social media predictions article and you’re bound to find something about private brand communities.
In my ins and outs of 2024 newsletter, I wrote “Private brand communities on platforms like TYB, Geneva, and Discord. The algorithm is too unpredictable to build genuinely deep connections with your audience. Moving your most loyal followers into a private community is smart.”
To validate my prediction, I wanted to reach out to a brand that’s been investing in community since they were founded in 2020: Topicals.
For the uninitiated, Topicals is a skincare brand specifically for flare-ups. They have viral under eye masks, entertaining social content, and a thriving private community of over 9,000 members on the platform TYB. Their private community is called the Spottie Sphere—where members are rewarded for participating in engagement challenges that give early access to product launches, discounts, exclusive access to events, and more. They’ve reached a level of deep consumer engagement that most brands dream of.
For today’s newsletter, I am talking with Natalie Browne Holmes, Director of Community and Social Impact at Topicals. We chat about where social platforms fall short, IRL events, and the power of community data. It’s required reading before your brand creates a community of their own. Let’s dive in.
Rachel Karten: First can you tell me about your current role and any previous roles you've had working in this space?
Natalie Browne Holmes: I am the Director of Community and Social Impact at Topicals, where I sit on our Brand Marketing and Growth teams. In this role, I oversee the various segments of our community programs, including our brand ambassadors, affiliates, rewards program, and social impact program, playing a key role in how we capture our customers in their journey to connecting more deeply with the brand.
In my role, I also work with the internal team to ensure that our community remains centered throughout our company’s strategy and that they play a major part of our product launches, campaigns, events, and content strategies.
Before Topicals I was a Community Manager at Google. I also worked in hyper-local community development at nonprofit organizations—opportunities that significantly contributed to my community-centered ethos.
RK: How would you describe the Topicals community? Who are they? Why do they love Topicals?
NBH: Our amazing Spottie Hottie Community is made up of many different segments and it's a huge part of my role to understand the nuances of what excites them and what matters to them.
Some are brand ambassadors and super fans, like our Insiders, many of whom are amazing content creators, some are skincare professionals, like our Experts, who we lean on to educate their audiences about our formulas and ingredients. And many are in our Spottie Sphere, our rewards program for those who want to stay connected to the brand and die hard for our product!
They are an incredibly diverse group of people who are not only super active and engaged but also incredibly knowledgeable about our brand. They love us for a variety of reasons—some identify as beauty outsiders finding representation at Topicals that they don't see in other companies. Others appreciate our creativity and aesthetic, from the talent we feature in our campaigns to the types of events we host. In all, I think they value our openness in discussing skin conditions and the impact on mental health. It's this unique blend of diversity and shared values that makes our community truly special.
RK: Talk to me about the evolution of community at Topicals. How has the role that community has played in the brand grown? I see you're hiring a Community Coordinator which is so exciting.
NBH: So excited to have a new member of the team! Community has evolved significantly over the past 1.5 years that I’ve been here, both internally and externally.
Internally, Community has really flourished within the company. When I first started, there was a need for internal education, as I felt my coworkers didn’t have a good sense of our team's value or how we fit into the cross-functional strategy. It's been so gratifying to see how Community has grown to play a pivotal role in all our marketing moments.
Externally we’ve grown quite a bit as well, with our Insiders program expanding from 1,000 people to 5,000 people, and with the recent relaunching of our loyalty program in the TYB Spottie Sphere. This evolution of the program that allowed for this growth happened right from the start—integrating my background in traditional community development to enhance the program infrastructure. We quickly shifted to Geneva from Slack, launched on TYB, and made access to CX much easier.
We also quickly advocated to our leadership for the need for more IRL community events, many with our Mental Health Fund partners, and launched Summer Camp, an outdoor event series that wove an amazing story on our socials between product launches last summer.
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RK: Let's talk about TYB. How does that platform help foster better relationships with your community? Can you give me a peek into what types of conversations or initiatives are happening in those spaces?
NBH: TYB has been transformative for us! It's opened up new pathways to connect and engage with our customers in ways that weren’t possible before. I think it's really elevated our brand by allowing us to listen better, capture valuable feedback, and truly understand the wants and needs of our community.
TYB also allows us to prompt actions from our community that directly contribute to our brand’s growth. We're able to reach out to a community that not only cares deeply but is eager to participate.
In the past month, we hosted an “ask anything” chat with our CEO when we launched our newest product, Slick Salve. We’ve also created fun social moments like our community facecards with reviews from our Spottie Hotties. A personal highlight was during mental health awareness month when, together with our Insiders, we co-created billboards that addressed the question, "_____ changed my perception of beauty." TYB has truly given us the means to collaborate and co-create memorable experiences with our community.
RK: How can a brand genuinely build community into their brand marketing strategy? I worry that lots of brands want community but don't know what it takes to foster and grow it in a meaningful way.
NBH: Authenticity and intentionality are key in any relationship and this holds true for your brand as well! The goal is to create a brand that customers not only want to shop from but that they feel a part of as well.
In terms of a brand marketing strategy, this means looking critically at your marketing calendar and making sure you’re investing in community events to get your people together IRL to foster an emotional connection to the brand. This also means envisioning how your community can actively participate in significant brand moments, whether by featuring them on socials, incorporating them into your email strategy, inviting them to major events, or showcasing them in your campaigns.
For example, during last month's product launch, we went the extra mile by flying in one of our most dedicated Insiders to NYC for the launch party. For the launch, we also organized a very on-brand community event, "Slick Moves," featuring a pole dancing class hosted by an incredible dancer, influencer, and brand friend. This event not only created social-first content in support of the launch but also some amazing UGC demonstrating our commitment to including the community in amplifying major brand moments.
How you show up in your virtual spaces is equally as important. For example, our Geneva often feels like a group chat with your besties. Our community manager, Grace Sofia Caro, plays a pivotal role, bringing her experience as a brand ambassador and amazing content creator to speak the language of our insiders, fostering a thriving online space.
Lastly, intentionality comes from within as well. From the beginning, our leadership ensured my presence on the brand marketing team, guaranteeing that Community would play a fundamental role in our overall brand marketing strategy, from product launches to campaigns and events. I think this says a ton about how serious their commitment is to our community.
RK: I think a lot of 2024 predictions show brands moving off social platforms to more ownable community spaces—whether it be a TYB or Discord. Why are we seeing this migration? What do you make of it?
NBH: I believe this shift is occurring because we're recognizing that relying solely on social media is inadequate and that meaningful engagement goes beyond broadcasting messages to a wide audience. While social platforms are an essential one-way communication channel to speak to your community, it falls short in the present landscape of meaningful dialogue with your community.
Our owned spaces allow us to create a more intimate and carefully curated environment that aligns with our brand values and allows for a deeper understanding of customer needs, preferences, and concerns, fostering a sense of belonging and loyalty.
Lastly, new and more concise ways to measure engagement play a significant role in the current trend toward owned community spaces. TYB allows us to have a much more comprehensive set of metrics beyond likes and comments that give us more informed insights on our community. Plus, it links engagement numbers directly to business goals, letting us be more strategic and results-focused.
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RK: If you were talking to a CMO reading this and advocating for why they should invest in a role like yours and building out a community space for their brand, what would be your elevator pitch?
NBH: I’ll give it a shot!
In today's dynamic marketing landscape, the convergence of brand marketing and performance marketing is more evident than ever. Unlocking a brand's full potential demands a holistic approach that seamlessly merges the two. As a CMO, it is imperative to invest in roles like mine to cultivate the transformative power of your most vital asset: your community.
Now, more than ever, your community is not just an extension of your marketing strategy, it's a living and breathing part of your brand's story. From the images and videos they share, the virality of their content, and the impact of their reviews, community members play a crucial role in amplifying your brand on social platforms. Community is not only a low-cost avenue for cultural connection, it's a powerhouse for brand amplification.
Tools that leverage the community for your major brand moments provide opportunities for high engagement while capturing valuable data to tailor strategies to meet business goals. The community space, therefore, becomes a dynamic platform for seamlessly merging brand narratives with performance-driven outcomes. It's not just about cultivating relationships, it's a strategic lever for retention.
Investing in community building enhances customer retention through meaningful interactions, turning customers into long-term brand advocates. This approach not only nurtures intimate connections but also provides valuable data-driven insights.
In essence, investing in a community role is not just about building a space; it's about cultivating a thriving ecosystem that propels your brand to unprecedented heights of success.
RK: What do you love about working in community?
NBH: I love helping others be seen and feel seen. I grew up going to an all-girls school for 13 years so for me there’s really something special about being able to work with a wonderfully diverse audience of primarily young women who look like me. It's really special to be able to have a career where my goal is to create safe spaces, combat loneliness, and build community.
RK: Any final thoughts?
NBH: I’m excited to see where the community role is going, it feels like we’re in the time of the social media manager circa 2014. Right now, when I read JDs for community roles there's so much inconsistency, but I think the brand/performance marketing positioning is where we’re headed next.
In case you missed it, in Tuesday’s Logged On post for paid subscribers, I talked about:
The influencer gifting strategy that incentivizes shares
The 2024 cultural calendar you need for all of your marketing planning
Weddings 🤝 brands
Three big things I am thinking about re: social strategy in 2024
All of the details on how this Lodge Cast Iron post happened (yes, it’s real!)
Should the brand you’re launching buy an account with existing followers or start from scratch?
This style of social storytelling will be big in 2024—what can your brand learn?
Finally, I know lots of people just got their 2024 educational stipends/budgets for work. So I am once again reminding you that this newsletter is a work resource! Here’s a template you can use when asking for your company to cover the cost.