Discord is a social media loved by generation Z. More and more companies decide to use it to communicate with the youngest and grow the business: here’s how. Social media has become an integral part of most people’s daily life. They are used as a source of entertainment, to stay updated on the news worldwide, train, and get informed. The platforms on the web are numerous and meet the needs of every type of user. Younger people, always looking for new ways to communicate with their peers, show a particular appreciation for video content, audio, and live broadcasts.
Generation Z especially loves video, audio, and live content. In Discord, he found the ideal platform to use these elements to interact with other users and talk about their hobbies and skills, share information about their possessions, and participate in remote lessons. Not only gamers, the giant slice of the public on Discord, but also cooking enthusiasts, modeling, students, and teachers have understood how to exploit the potential of this social media and produce content. Users are constantly growing, and companies have begun focusing on the platform.
Discord: What It Is
Discord is a VoIP platform that makes it possible to make conversations using the power of the Internet without incurring additional costs. It is an application born in the United States of America and designed primarily for video game enthusiasts. On Discord, you can make voice calls and video calls, use chats, send text messages, images, videos, GIFs, and files, and start live streams. In a short time, Discord has rapidly spread, so much so that it has attracted the attention of many investors. Microsoft, in 2021, started negotiations to acquire the platform offering up to 10 billion dollars. However, Citron appears determined to retain control and keep its company independent.
It is software that can be used for free. It can be accessed from the desktop, on the official website of the platform, download a program on a personal computer or download the application specifically designed for mobile devices. All basic features are free, but to access the additional ones, you must sign up for Discord Nitro or Discord Nitro Classic, depending on your needs and availability. By subscribing to subscriptions, you can get server upgrades, conversations and audio and video sharing improvements, stickers to use, emojis, tags, and personalized animated avatars.
Discord: All Features
Discord is a lightweight program that avoids slowing down the devices it uses. It is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, and Linux. It works on PC, Mac, and Xbox starting from 2022, thanks to an agreement with Sony on PlayStation. It is based on servers, that is, groups in which people come together to be able to talk about topics and themes that they find interesting or to exchange information on the passions they have in common. They are virtual places of comparison, which can be open to everyone, or private, which can only be accessed by invitation.
Text channels within the servers allow users to chat and exchange messages at any time. Depending on the topics you want to deal with, there may be more than one. This allows you to trace and find, at any time, all the conversations carried out over time. In addition to text channels, there are voice channels in which you communicate with the community through audio and video. Anyone who accesses can publish content without needing a counterpart to listen simultaneously.
In voice channels, screen sharing and live streaming are allowed. They are among the most appreciated features not only by gamers, which can visually show their gaming sessions and the use of tricks or solutions but also by those who use Discord for educational purposes or remote lessons. The conversations that take place within the voice and text channels are public: anyone who has accessed them can view what has been written or said. Alternatively, you can use private chats that allow individual users to exchange confidential messages.
Discord, Why Use It In Your Marketing Strategy: The Advantages
Discord’s tools available to users to communicate are numerous, and even companies understand their potential. More and more organizations are deciding to use social media as a communication channel to approach a very young audience. The benefits of using Discord are several. The program allows you to access numerous features and cover various topics for free. Different and always coherent messages can be transmitted by better organizing the voice and text channels and creating more than one according to the topic.
Through the assignment of roles, many people and experts can take care of the individual channels created. Discord, in addition to facilitating external conversations with potential customers and stakeholders, can simplify those within the company. By creating special servers, it is possible to send messages to employees to inform them in real-time of what is happening in the workplace and the objectives to be achieved. The collaboration between the various staff members, in this way, will be favored. Discord can be used on mobile devices and personal computers: collaborators can receive messages and notifications and view mentions and reactions within the platform anytime.
The software can be used to create exclusive sales channels and establish a special relationship with all customers or those who have shown themselves to be loyal and loyal to the brand. Special offers, discount vouchers, and coupons can be conveyed, encouraging consumers to make new purchases. Practical customer advice and support channels can be created, which can be used after purchasing products and services to receive quick help in case of technical problems. Discord can be an excellent ally to stay by the customer’s side even after the sale, allowing a positive experience and building loyalty.
How To Create A Discord Marketing Strategy
Discord can become an excellent communication channel for companies and a tool for obtaining benefits and achieving business objectives. It is not enough to access and interact with other users but, just like with other social networks, it is necessary to develop targeted strategies and carry them out professionally and consistently. Discord is not just a VoIP and messaging application but a real social media in which interactions between users and the community must be managed by experts and encouraged to be profitable.
The first step in structuring an effective strategy is to precisely establish the objectives you want to achieve. These must be SMART, that is, specific, measurable, relevant to the organization, realistic and expectable. All the methods, techniques, and times to achieve them must be established. It is advisable to set the budget made available by the company to be able to bear all the costs of implementing the strategy, the servers, the subscription of any necessary subscriptions, and the payment of the salaries of the experts who will have to manage the channels carry on conversations with users, moderate communities, create bots and produce valuable content to share with the audience.
Once the objectives to be achieved have been defined, it is necessary to identify the target audience and who might find the products and services offered by the company exciting or valuable. They study the ways of communicating and the needs they want to solve. All the characteristics considered valuable are identified, such as average age, level of education, geographic location, interests, and other elements. The idea is to build buyer personas, detailed representations of typical buyers, based on which to build all the contents disseminated through the communication channels.
The study of the target allows us to identify what type of content to share, the tone of voice to use, and the best way to convey messages to the public so that they are clear, understandable, and not misunderstood. To structure an effective strategy, it is good to do an accurate analysis of the competitors present on Discord. By studying their business and their way of communicating, you will be able to understand better how to address your target and how to differentiate yourself. After defining the objectives and the target audience, it is necessary to identify and select all the stakeholders immediately.
These members will be authorized to enter the platform, the roles each user will assume, the possible involvement of external organizations, and the tools to use. To create quality content, it may be necessary to involve experts and professionals in the reference sector, graphic designers, and video makers. Once the whole strategy is structured, it’s time to take action. The first step is to create a server and request the badge that certifies the company’s authenticity if you have all the requirements.
Generally, all the most prominent companies manage to have it, obtaining greater authority on the platform. Depending on the server’s purpose and objectives to be achieved, different text and voice channels must be created. For example, those intended for resolving technical problems encountered by customers after purchasing a product or service, those dedicated to discounts and offers, or offering advice on use can be created.
After having created the server, created all the conversation channels, produced some content to show customers, and established the roles of all key users, it is necessary to try to broaden the audience and share the server with employees, suppliers, stakeholders, and customers who they may be interested in receiving information from. People can be invited to join through other external platforms, such as Telegram, WhatsApp, social networks (such as YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok), or by email.
An excellent way to allow servers to grow is to interact with other users and creators on Discord and create partnerships that allow them to advertise and make themselves known to a broader audience. To get people to access Discord, you must create valuable content and incentivize it. It is always advisable to include welcome messages, guidelines for using the server, rules to follow, and users to contact in case of problems. They are the same members of the community who, if well solicited, produce new material and exchange information and news.
By inserting them in the server gallery, the company can make content for users to use or access whenever it deems necessary. You can use custom emojis made by users who have permission. Discord can be an excellent tool to differentiate your communication strategy from competitors and reach Generation Z, which is very present on the platform. The messages, the tone of voice, and the style used on this social network must always be coordinated with that present on the other channels used.
The company’s image must always be consistent and recognizable in every context. It is good to develop a strategy with synergistic management of all the company’s communication channels. On each platform used and manned, the customer must be able to find the information he needs, have fun and interact. The management of servers on Discord, huge ones that require firm control and moderation work, can be simplified by providing for the use of bots that automate part of the activities. Different types of bots can be accessed.
The most popular ones help the servers’ creators enforce the rules, control the messages sent by the users who are part of the community, identify the messages sent, welcome every new member, and silence or ban those who engage in inappropriate behavior and send automatic replies. You can use or buy bots already existing on the web, easily identifiable through search engines, or rely on a programmer to create a tailor-made one that meets the company’s needs. It is not yet possible to launch advertising campaigns on Discord, as the platform does not have the tools for creating ads as is the case, for example, on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok.
You must create quality content and engage in exciting conversations to grab consumers’ attention. By subscribing to Discord Nitro, you can access Server Boosting, enhancements that allow you to obtain benefits, such as better quality of images, audio and video transmitted, and the ability to customize invitations to be part of the community. It’s an excellent way to differentiate yourself from what other creators and companies are doing and grab the attention of your target.
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