Tell me, have you ever heard of Discord? You might have done if you’re an avid gamer, or you’re down with the kids. You might spend half your life on it, or you might only vaguely be aware of the concept. Either way, we bet you haven’t thought about its social media marketing capabilities.
It’s not a concept that comes to mind right away when the idea of Discord is mentioned. It is more community focussed, with no clear means for social media marketers to infiltrate. You discuss, not post. There’s a lot more back and forth. Think of it like a conversation, rather than the podium and bullhorn nature of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Discord is a marketplace for servers, which you join to find your own community, like Reddit. These servers can be public or private, meaning that you can set up a community server where everyone can enter or a small private server for your friends. This is where Discord got its fame from: gamers love it. Big gaming streamers can create a community and private gamers just looking to relax can play with their friends. And it’s worth noting that it’s very popular with the younger audiences.
However, the difference in Discord is that it doesn’t sell ads. Discord makes money with a tiered subscriber system for users’ accounts and servers.
So, with that in mind, how do you make an impact on social media with Discord, either as a brand or as an affiliate?
Create a community
Twitter and Instagram might be more bullhorn and podium than discussion table, and yet you manage to make a community from it. People find ways to keep in touch, commonly through comments and direct messages. And users do like being in a community. Who they follow reflects them as a person, even if they’re following brands. Think about someone who would follow the Skittles Twitter account: they’re going to be very different from your idea of a user following a hustle influencer.
So, community is important, and it makes even a slight imprint on identity, whether to enforce what’s already there or add something new. Discord allows for you to expand on that. To really build a world of followers who are all there to talk about you. That can be very useful to an influencer, who is expected more than brands to communicate with their followers regularly.
For a brand, you will get all these benefits too, as long as you have someone you trust to handle all the chatting with your community without saying anything that could send people running from the chat.
Host Discord events
You can also invite all your followers from other platforms over to Discord to enjoy a fun night. Discord events like quiz nights, classes, contests, and live podcasts are all well-received on Discord. They give your audience something fun to look forward to, and as an influencer, a chance for some more time alone with their favourite creator.
Use Discord as a reward system
As any influencer will tell you, their fans love to link up. The key word here is “community”, which in this case means bonding over a shared passion: this influencer. It’s like any other hobby. Well, Discord knows how to reward that. Discord has created the means for access to branded Discord servers to be used as a reward in a Patreon tier. It’s especially useful because it’s more than a one-off, like most rewards in Patron tiers, and will therefore encourage repeat subscriptions.
Moderate your server
However, whether you’re an influencer or a brand, you’ll want to make sure that you have a mod in the server keeping things civil. Mods, well, moderate, or otherwise referee the conversation, ready to blow the whistle on any scammers or harassing going on in the server. Your community can always be infiltrated by someone you don’t approve of.
If you’re interested in gathering some more affiliate and social media marketing insights, take a look at our blog, or for a more personalised approach, book a free call with a member of our team.
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