Vinsenta Sleitere

Meet our customer Pen Store—the powerhouse of creativity! They’re a stationery brand founded in Sweden back in 2010. Pen Store started as an ecommerce store but also wanted to offer their creative community a place where everyone could enjoy a unique mix of pencils and artist materials in person, so they opened a brick-and-mortar store in Stockholm.

Recently, Pen Store launched a competition that brought them many smiles, happy customers, and over 4500 new pieces of UGC. Let’s explore the story behind the Pen Store and learn more about their fruitful contest!

The team behind Pen Store is aesthetically driven, just like their customers. They always ensure all their products look neat and offer the highest precision, providing their customers with anything they need for creating, no matter the shape or form. 

After all, Pen Store’s slogan is “Tools for Creativity.” 

To this day, Pen Store is one of Scandinavia’s leading players in pencils and artist materials. Over the years, they’ve expanded beyond the Scandinavian market and offer deliveries throughout the EU. In fact, Pen Store was one of the first ecommerce players in the art supplies field in Scandinavia. The idea was just as good as it was simple; to offer a broad but selected mix of tools for creativity. Always at good prices, with a strong customer focus and fast deliveries. 

Without a doubt, this idea went down well with the crowd.

Engaging a community of creatives with a contest

This Spring, Pen Store launched a competition called Pen Store Talents 2023. 

Pen Store sent each participant a mix of 8 different pens and pencils. Each competitor’s task was to create an artwork using all and only the products in the entry kit. The surface material could be paper or anything else; it’s up to each creative to decide.

When participants are done creating, they upload their art on Pen Store’s website through a Cevoid upload form, and a dedicated jury assesses their work.

The winner received an amazing prize of art supplies worth €4500 for their creative endeavours, and 9 runners-up were awarded €95 to spend on goodies at Pen Store.

The competition was marketed through digital channels as well as by using billboards in the Stockholm subway.

In total, 10 000 kits were available, and to Pen Store’s surprise, they sold out in a few days. “We had to stop all digital marketing activities after only 3.5 days. We estimated to have them up and running for 30 days, but this was a happy miscalculation,” says Madeleine Stern, Head of Marketing at Pen Store.

Pen Store Talents promotions on Stockholm subway

In total, Pen Store received a stunning amount of over 4500 art submissions! And the competition was welcomed with open arms as the Pen Store’s Instagram page was flooded with positive feedback.

Moreover, 900+ creators (some of them have up to 40K followers!) shared their art pieces on Instagram with the hashtag #PenStoreTalent2023, increasing Pen Store’s reach and spreading the word about the competition.

According to Madeleine, the entire campaign was infused with a great deal of enthusiasm and positive energy. In social channels, participants celebrated each other’s work and showered their fellow competitors with wonderful compliments.

Picture a remarkable gathering of 4500 artists from every corner of the globe, each wielding the same humble pens. With boundless imagination, every artist brought forth their own ideas and conjured pure magic onto paper. It shows the transformative power of passionate souls armed with pens and an insatiable hunger to create.

Madeleine also adds that the Pen Store team is proud of their achievements and is glad the competition was a roaring success. The Pen Store Talents 2023 was so impactful that after the contest ended, a couple of teachers from Swedish schools contacted Pen Store asking if they could do a similar thing for their school.

To successfully launch the competition, Pen Store used a Cevoid upload form to collect content. The upload form was placed on their website, where all applicants could share their creative wonders.

One of the biggest challenges for Pen Store was finding a way to manage the massive amount of submissions. 

Head of Marketing at Pen Store

“Having a tool like Cevoid was crucial for making this competition possible!

We have eight local sites for our different markets, and we needed to find a way to manage these without being overwhelmed with administrative work. Cevoid allowed us to smoothly gather all submissions in one place with the possibility to adopt the language and copy for each market,” she adds. “We were able to quickly review all submissions during the winner selection process thanks to Cevoid’s ability to add labels to posts, which allowed an easy selection process for the committee."

Digital art galleries for showcasing submissions 

If you check out Pen Store’s digital art gallery, you’ll get all 4500+ contest submissions right at your fingertips. This amount of participation and dedication from Pen Store’s brand community is impressive, and the compilation of all art pieces creates a loving, engaging community feeling. 

A digital art gallery is a beautiful and inclusive way to showcase UGC, so every participant can see their contributions to the art contest. Once you scroll through the digital art gallery, you’ll notice that every consecutive gallery auto-loads, providing a smooth browsing experience. 

Plus, when you click on any art piece, you can see the talented artist’s name and give the artwork appreciation through an applause button.

ps talents.mp4

Alongside gathering content for competitions, Pen Store also uses Cevoid to collect and showcase their customers’ beautiful creations. From beautiful digital galleries to product pages, they’ve got multiple aspects of their website covered with UGC, ready to inspire customers and curious visitors.

Displaying a mix of UGC and in-house content can work wonders for product pages, and Pen Store knows it. They efficiently showcase content collected from their artsy community along with their own product videos. Let’s explore what it looks like and how Pen Store makes these two content types work in their favor! 

One of the most popular UGC showcasing approaches is through product pages. By creating a dedicated gallery featuring their goodies, Pen Store provides interactive social proof while creating a sense of community around their products.

pen store pdp.mp4

Displaying in-house videos through Cevoid cards on product pages

Pen Store adds a touch of excitement to their product pages with product overview videos they’ve made themselves. By using the Cards tool, Pen Store was able to provide a unique take on their products. 

Plus, this approach adds an extra layer of reliability since customers can see the product from different angles, its size, and how it fits into a hand.

pen store card.mp4

What you can learn from Pen Store Talents

One of the best ways to bring a community together is by giving them something to do and something to look forward to. By simply offering kits of 8 art tools to their community, Pen Store was able to generate over 4500 UGC pieces that they’ll be able to use as social proof, to boost their engagement, or use in their future marketing campaigns. 

The community engagement and feedback from participants were heart-warming, as customers wrote an abundance of lovely comments on Pen Store’s Instagram, supporting participating artists. 

Co-founder at Cevoid

“It’s truly amazing to see Pen Store’s community come together to support each other and see them share their art creations with the rest of the world. Pen Store has done a magnificent job of creating engagement among its community members and continues to impress us with new innovative approaches!”

Grow and engage your brand community with Cevoid

We're always happy to see our beloved customers grow their businesses and attract like-minded individuals into their brand communities. If you're looking for an easy-to-use adaptive solution for collecting and showcasing UGC and other visual content, give Cevoid a go.

In our hands, you'll also be able to effectively manage and engage with your brand community as it grows; plus, you’ll get access to a round-the-clock team at Cevoid that's always ready to help you no matter what. 💜

Discover how Pen Store's creative challenge engaged their community

Find out how Pen Store turned their competition into an empowering community experience that helped them generate a stunning amount of over 4500 user-generated content posts! Learn the tactics they used to create real results.

How Pen Store Generated 4500+ UGC Posts from Their Community | Cevoid

How Pen Store Generated 4500+ UGC Posts from Their Community

UGC is a hot trend that’s not going anywhere anytime soon. With online shoppers increasingly seeking reliability and authenticity, UGC has become a must-have for ecommerce brands of all sizes.

Professional studio photos and other in-house content cost a pretty penny, and they’re not as effective as UGC. Plus, during times of change and economic downturns, every ecommerce business is looking for a way to cut down on costs. Luckily, UGC is a cost-effective marketing strategy, and there are plenty of ways to obtain high-quality content without exhausting your marketing budget.

What’s UGC, and how can it help ecommerce businesses?

UGC, short for user-generated content, refers to any visual content created and shared by your customers. UGC holds immense value for businesses of all sizes as it provides a genuine and authentic perspective. 

Plus, UGC can help brands get ahead faster and smoother. That’s because UGC provides strong social proof and boosts word-of-mouth marketing. Unlike traditional marketing, UGC builds trust and credibility that resonates with potential customers. When using UGC in your marketing efforts, your brand feels more like it’s part of the crowd, which is more appealing than just a company trying to sell their product to the masses.

Did you know that 9 out of 10 consumers say UGC influences their purchase decisions? And as many as 72% of online shoppers state that photos and videos from real customers are the content they most want to see on ecommerce sites when making buying decisions. Without a doubt, UGC is highly engaging and provides social proof like no other, so instead of prioritizing expensive branded content, consider investing in UGC.

Plus, one of the best things about UGC is that it’s cost-effective—you don’t need significant financial investment to get quality content. By encouraging your customers to share their experiences and incorporating UGC into your marketing strategy, you can improve your reach and sales without straining your finances. So if you want to make your CFO happy, invest in UGC to get more content on a lower budget and increase conversions at the same time.

In this blog, we’ll explore three practical UGC strategies to help ecommerce brands leverage UGC effectively and get quality content without breaking the bank.

3 budget-friendly strategies for getting quality UGC

First things first — define your UGC goals and needs. Understanding your objectives and desired outcomes will shape your UGC strategy. 

Ask yourself the following questions to guide your UGC self-awareness journey:

What type of UGC do you wish to collect? Is it photos, videos, or both? Determine the specific content formats and how they align with your brand.

How does UGC align with your brand identity? Reflect on how user-generated content can enhance your brand image and storytelling. Consider the values, aesthetics, and messaging your ideal UGC should convey.

What platforms and channels are most suitable for collecting and showcasing UGC? Identify the website sections and social media platforms where your target audience is most active and likely to engage with your brand.

With these questions in mind, let’s explore three budget-friendly strategies to help you obtain quality UGC.

Collecting UGC via your brand’s website is an excellent way to encourage customers to share their experiences. You can add an upload form inviting your customers to share their UGC, or even design a dedicated UGC gallery with an included upload form where customers can submit their content.

P.S. To save your precious time and energy, consider using UGC platforms like Cevoid to simplify the process. It’s free to start!

On-site uploads are a fantastic way to bring customers back to your website and inspire them with the wide range of products your brand has to offer. Additionally, when potential customers casually browse your website, they will come across a beautiful UGC gallery showcasing other shoppers’ experiences. 

This not only provides them with inspiration on how to use your products but also gives them a glimpse into what it's like to be part of your vibrant brand community.

When creating a UGC gallery, keep in mind that it should pop. No matter if you’re creating it yourself or through Cevoid’s UGC widgets, style it in a way that draws attention to this section on your website. The prettier it looks, the more customers browsing your website will be inclined to contribute to your UGC gallery and put their creations in the spotlight. 

Need some inspiration? Check out how other ecommerce brands have styled their UGC galleries to create an engaging and visually stunning experience for their customers.

This interior design brand has included a UGC gallery with an enabled CTA button that invites customers to upload their content straight to their page. The gallery is neatly styled, clean and includes their Instagram username and hashtag for sharing content.

This kitchen utensil store has included a CTA button, but that’s not all. The brand has added the product names, prices, and some discounts! This approach works well for promoting products on different sections of your website and turning them into a mini product catalog.

This Scandinavian home decor brand has included a simple and clean set of UGC on their main page. Just like in the previous examples, you can see the CTA button, plus there’s a Load more button that expands the gallery and gives customers the option to get more inspiration.

To generate more content for your UGC gallery, use social media. Promote your UGC initiative through Instagram stories, TikTok videos, or other social media channels, encouraging customers to visit your website and share their latest purchases and experiences with your brand. Engage with their posts, reshare the content, and tell them you appreciate their contributions.

Integrating a UGC collection solution directly on your website and promoting it on your social media channels allows you to create a thriving UGC community for your ecommerce brand, all while keeping your budget intact.

2. Thoroughly explore your social media 

While this may seem like an obvious UGC strategy, few brands use it. And those who do, don’t always do it efficiently.

Social media is a goldmine for UGC, particularly if you can clearly identify content featuring your brand. For example, you can search Instagram for certain hashtags (#yourbrandname) or see where your brand has been tagged or mentioned. 


Does it take a lot of manual work? Yes, it does.

Is there a way to automate this process? You bet there is! 


Time is money, especially for fast-growing ecommerce brands, so with Cevoid, you won’t have to spend countless hours looking for Instagram UGC. We’ll automatically retrieve all single posts, carousels, videos, and Reels featuring your brand, so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Now you know how to find UGC on Instagram. But how do you get more content featuring your brand? By encouraging customers to mention or tag you and use specific hashtags when sharing their experiences. For example, put out a call to action on your Instagram bio to encourage customers who view your profile to post their UGC in a way that’s convenient for you.

Nordic Nest inviting their customers to share UGC through tags and hashtags

Contests, competitions, and different online challenges are a fun and relatively easy option for getting UGC. The best part is you don’t have to invest in fancy competition tools to launch them, especially when you’re going budget-friendly.

To motivate UGC creation, invite customers to submit photos and videos related to your brand for a chance to win something cool. It doesn’t have to break the bank—for ecommerce businesses on a limited budget, non-monetary prizes can work well. 

For example, you can offer exclusive discounts, early access to new products, or even highlight the opportunity to be featured on your social media channels.

There are two ways to collect content from a competition without using any UGC management tools:

1. If you prefer to hand-pick content through Instagram, you’ll have to spend a good amount of time going through each content piece and either screenshot or download them. Or, ideally, you’d reach out to the original creator and ask for their blessing to use their UGC and send over the photo or video.

2. If you wish to have an easy-to-overview folder with all submissions, you’ll need some sort of upload form. You can create it yourself with whatever’s accessible to you at this time; for example, make a simple Google Drive folder and share it with your customers, letting everyone freely upload their content. While this approach can be hectic and not easy to oversee, it’s free.

Psst! With Cevoid, you can automatically collect Instagram content or do it through direct upload forms. It’s easy peasy and gives you more time to focus on other tasks to keep growing your business into a flourishing, state-of-the-art brand.

It’s possible to embrace the potential of UGC, even on a tight marketing budget. UGC is a cost-effective marketing strategy, and the approaches mentioned in this blog show that being budget-conscious doesn’t mean sacrificing the potential of getting UGC. 

If you’re willing to put in some manual work, social media exploration, or creative challenges, you can get tons of quality UGC without breaking the bank.

And remember, there is a workaround for the manual work part, and it’s called Cevoid. :) 

Cevoid offers a free solution for collecting content, which is an accessible option to kickstart your UGC journey. We believe every brand deserves to enjoy the benefits of UGC marketing, regardless of budget constraints and circumstances.

So embrace the unique authenticity and social proof that UGC brings, take the leap, and start incorporating UGC into your marketing strategy today! 

Your audience is waiting to become an active part of your brand story, and together, you can—and will—create something extraordinary.

Discover cost-effective strategies for getting authentic, high-quality UGC

Discover cost-effective strategies for getting high-quality UGC on a limited budget and stay ahead of the competition.

UGC Strategies for Getting Authentic and Quality Content on a Limited Budget - Cevoid

UGC Strategies for Getting Quality Content on a Limited Budget

Navigating the ever-changing ecommerce landscape can be a whirlwind, especially when customers are drowning in a sea of marketing messages all day. That’s why we want to share an exciting yet currently underrated marketing strategy that has great potential to revolutionize how ecommerce brands connect with their audience.

It’s called community-led marketing (or simply community marketing), and in this blog, you’ll learn what it is, why it matters, and how to do it right.

What is community marketing in ecommerce?

Community marketing is a strategy that focuses on building meaningful connections and fostering a sense of belonging among customers. It goes beyond traditional marketing, aiming to create an engaged and loyal customer base where each participant feels valued, heard, and can freely interact with the brand and other ecommerce community members. 

However, a brand community goes beyond customers. Each individual who supports and contributes to the brand’s growth is considered a community member. For example, a community member is also a brand ambassador, a long-term influencer, an employee, and any other participant that cares about the brand’s future. 

Essentially, a brand community is an exclusive tribe of individuals united by the love of a certain brand and its products.

What is the right way to do community marketing?

Everyone wants to work with a community-led marketing strategy. Every ecommerce business wishes to have an army of loyal followers promoting their brand. But few know how community marketing works and how to do it effectively. 

Spoiler alert: successful community marketing doesn’t stop at creating a Facebook group for your customers. It’s so much more than the ABCs of community building.

Marketing has evolved from emphasizing what the product is and what features and benefits it has to what a customer’s life would look like if they were using a certain product. 

Features and benefits are still important, particularly for product differentiation. But aligning with customers’ personal identities has become more important than ever. And in a way, aligning with the consumer identities is one of the most straightforward ways to do marketing because customers tell you precisely what they want to feel; but you have to be willing to listen.

According to marketing expert Marty Neumeier, the old brand model, where a company creates a brand with the goal of attracting customers that will sustain the company, is no longer viable. These days, brands are becoming more fluid and adaptable. They’re trying to fit their customers’ needs, not make the customers tailor their lifestyles based on what the brand can offer. 

And this is where the new brand model comes into play.

The new brand model (aka community-led marketing approach) teaches that customers are the ones that essentially build the brand. The brand keeps the company going forward and helps attract new customers, which in return, also contributes to the brand building.

Inspired by Marty Neumeier’s “Brand Flip”

Community-led marketing is about truly listening to your customers. It goes beyond quarterly satisfaction surveys, loyalty discounts, and “we miss you” emails. While many ecommerce businesses pride themselves on being innovators or game-changers, community-led marketing is the ultimate test for checking if these statements hold true.

To build a successful brand community and make the best out of community-led marketing strategies, it’s crucial to put brand ego aside. Brand community members and their voices should be the north star for further brand development. Businesses that are able to build their brand based on their customers’ communicated needs and daily feedback are the ones that do community marketing right.

So how can you build a successful community marketing strategy for ecommerce? 

While we cannot create a strategy tailored specifically to your brand, we can help you ask yourself and your team the right questions to get you there. Plus, one of the first steps to an effective community-led marketing strategy is to understand what community marketing consists of.

The seven essential building blocks of community marketing

What has layers and can sometimes make people cry? Onions, Shrek, and the attempt to understand how community marketing works. But luckily for you, we’re here to explain the basics of community marketing.

We’ve distinguished three levels of community marketing that consist of seven building blocks. It’s our job to give you a complete guide to the building blocks of community marketing. However, depending on your brand’s strategy, some blocks, such as purchase rewards, might be less relevant for your community.

Think of community marketing as a majestic mountain where the foundation plays a crucial role. At this initial level, two fundamental elements come into play: communication and interactions.

To be clear, in this context, we’re talking about one-way communication. Communication begins with you, as the brand, sharing significant updates and engaging content with your valued customers.

One-way communication typically consists of:

This communication is typically delivered in the form of newsletters and social media, allowing you to reach a wider audience and maintain regular contact with your community members.

One-way communication helps keep customers informed so they don’t forget about your brand. Without actively sharing content and updates, there would be no foundation for progressing to the subsequent levels of community building.

What’s the purpose of this building block?

The main goal of this building block is to establish recognition, enhance brand awareness, and enable targeted communication. Before diving into more advanced aspects of community building, effective communication is essential as it sets the stage for meaningful interactions.

Interactions with your community form the second essential building block of community marketing. To establish a solid foundation for healthy relationships, focus on two key elements: effective communication (as we discussed above) and meaningful interactions.

One of the most popular ways to engage with your brand community on social media is by addressing customer concerns. By tailoring responses to specific queries or feedback, brands can initiate a personal connection.

Here’s an example of a soda brand Olipop having a friendly encounter with a customer on Twitter:

Customers who receive replies from brands get excited as they become part of the conversation. Interactions create an open dialogue where customers can freely express themselves, ask questions, and share their experiences. It’s like having a virtual hangout where everyone gets to share their thoughts and ideas. 

By regularly interacting with customers, brands can turn passive customers into active participants, building a kickass community where each voice matters.

Welcome to the next level of community marketing! Once you’ve established communication and healthy interactions with your brand community, it’s time to kick things up a notch and build some serious momentum.

There are four powerful strategies to note at this level: putting the spotlight on inspiring community content, offering authentic social proof, enticing purchase rewards, and supercharging engagement levels.

Let’s dive in and discover the magic behind these game-changing tactics.

Highlighting and recognizing your community members is important for building an engaged brand community. And one way to do that is by showcasing their visual contributions to your brand. By featuring your community members in your marketing efforts, you attract new customers and inspire and intrigue curious by-passers that could become your customers someday.

Why showcasing community content is important?

Showcasing community content brings numerous benefits, such as:

Authentic social proof. When potential customers see real people enjoying and endorsing your products, they’re more inclined to relate to these experiences over brand-made content. Community content acts as authentic social proof, showing that your brand is genuine, reliable, and worthy of consideration. 


Better brand awareness. When you feature your community members, their unique stories and experiences become a testament to the authenticity and value of your brand. This not only inspires your existing audience but also attracts new customers who resonate with the real-life narratives shared by your community.


Engaging experience for customers. When customers see their content showcased, it creates a sense of pride and validation. Seeing their creations on your marketing channels makes a deeper connection with your brand as they become active participants in your brand story.


Cost-effective marketing. Showcasing community content is a low-cost way to leverage free content for your brand. By featuring user-generated content, you tap into a goldmine of valuable visuals that can be shared across your marketing channels. This helps diversify your content strategy and save on production costs.

Remember, showcasing community content is not just about displaying visuals; it’s about celebrating the people who created them. Give your community a platform to shine, and you’ll create an ecosystem of shared success, connections, and creativity.

The possibilities are endless when showcasing captivating content with Cevoid. Choose from a wide range of UGC widgets designed to help you display your community’s vibe across multiple marketing channels. 

Here are some exciting ways you can use Cevoid to make a difference for your brand.

Website galleries. Create numerous galleries for any page or section on your website. Include social proof on your product pages, launch a community wall, showcase influencer content, or make smooth lookbooks and shop-the-look pages.

Shoppable cards. Highlight a specific product or showcase a whole look with multiple products and give your customers the ultimate shopping spree! Cards can be placed anywhere on your website or blog, and they’re fully customizable, too.

Email widgets. Give your newsletters a makeover with static UGC, or add dynamic widgets to transactional emails. With email widgets, you get to inspire your audience with stunning content every single day and make sure to always include hyper-relevant content in your flows.

Repost on social media. Take your collected UGC and post it straight to Instagram. You’ll even get your own UGC content calendar, and once you’ve scheduled your posts from Cevoid, we’ll publish them at your desired time and date without any additional involvement from your team.

Reviews are important in establishing social proof and building trust on your website. They can make or break the impression for first-time visitors who seek reassurance through the experiences of others.

The more personable and relatable a review is, the better. Reviews that merely state ‘good’ or ‘okay’ may convey legitimacy but lack the wow factor. After all, if a product is ‘just okay,’ there's no sense of urgency to make a purchase.

How can brands attain reviews from their customers?

One popular approach that ecommerce brands use is sending post-purchase emails to request reviews. Typically, these emails include options to rate the experience with stars, provide written feedback, upload images, or a combination of these practices.

However, a common challenge with this approach is that customers might need more motivation to leave a review. Even if they genuinely enjoy the product and wish to share their experience, brands sometimes need to provide an extra incentive.

To build a thriving online community, it's crucial to go beyond simply attracting visitors and focus on keeping the party going. Regular engagement is necessary for excitement and actively involving community members in various activities. Creating an environment that fosters interaction, collaboration, and participation will help you build a more healthy and lasting brand community.

How can ecommerce brands engage their communities?

Create exciting tasks and missions that encourage community participation. Think contests, raffles, competitions, and other fun activities that make your community members feel part of something special.

Here’s an example of a social media giveaway hosted by the skincare brand Coco and Eve.

Notice that the giveaway is held in partnership with a digital creator. This is a particularly good way to boost engagement since the content is posted both on the brand’s and the creator’s page. This increases the reach and gets more participants to engage!

While beneficial, you don’t always have to do your online activities with influencers or brand ambassadors. Interactive campaigns help create a community feeling among your existing followers and customers. By actively involving them in contests and giveaways, you encourage engagement, strengthen relationships, and create a pleasant, supportive feeling around your brand.

And here’s a bonus tip: incorporating a voting system adds an extra layer of engagement and agency. This way, active participants and those who prefer to only contribute with their votes can feel included and empowered.

What prizes can you offer for contests and similar activities?

The most popular winnings brands usually provide are discount codes and free products. You can create a more memorable and personalized customer experience by offering prizes beyond discounts. 

Non-discount rewards have a special way of making people feel appreciated and valued. They add a personal touch to the interaction and leave a lasting impression on your community.

With many brands relying on discount codes or goodie giveaways, thinking outside the box can make your activities stand out. Consider prizes that align with your brand values or reflect your customers’ interests. For example, it could be an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience, a limited-edition item, a customized package, or even a meet-and-greet opportunity with someone influential in your industry.

Another fun thing to try is gamification. You can give your community digital badges, special titles, and digital products when they interact with your brand.

How can ecommerce brands effectively engage their community?

Launching events, competitions, and other captivating activities from scratch takes substantial time and energy. That’s why we’re eager to create a way to help you double down on these efforts. 

Cevoid is currently working on a solution to make it easy for ecommerce brands to engage their brand community. We’ll make sure to provide a smooth system for you to reward your customers with various rewards that fit your brand. Your brand community deserves a genuinely engaging experience, and we’ll help you make it happen.

Keep an eye on our LinkedIn and Twitter in the upcoming months to be the first to find out.

Purchase rewards are benefits that customers receive for making repeat purchases. If they fit your brand and are well-perceived by your community, purchase rewards can motivate customers to buy more.

What can purchase rewards do for your brand?

Purchase rewards are designed to drive repeat purchases. When customers are given the opportunity to receive something desirable in the future (such as a discount code), they see it as a valuable chance to enjoy additional benefits.

Are there any cons to doing purchase rewards?

While some ecommerce brands opt for this strategy, you should be aware of some downsides. There are running costs associated with implementing and maintaining purchase reward systems. Plus, this approach may not work for every product or industry.

Purchase rewards work wonders for brands and products that are everyday staples, like groceries. This is why most grocery retailers have a loyalty program anyone can enroll in. But when you’re offering products that enhance your customers’ lives but aren’t considered essential, leveraging purchase rewards to your advantage becomes more challenging.

However, don’t be discouraged—with the right attitude and creative ideas, anything can work. So if you’re ready to give your customers some love and encourage a little extra consumption, purchase rewards can be an excellent tool for building a brand community.

💜 Level 3: Building a Thriving Community

Congratulations on mastering the foundational levels of community building! Now, as we dive into level 3, we will explore the last essential building block—community interactions—that will take your community marketing efforts to new heights.

The final building block in our community marketing pyramid is community interaction. This level of engagement fosters a sense of belonging and loyalty that transcends traditional customer relationships. At this stage, it’s crucial to create a thriving digital space where your community members can come together, connect, and engage with your brand.

What does a thriving digital community space look like?

Consider creating a community within digital spaces that provide opportunities for meaningful discussions. For ecommerce brands, it could be platforms such as Facebook groups, Discord groups, Slack channel, or even a dedicated community space on your website. 

Or, you can take your community gatherings a step further and organize in-person meet-ups for a more authentic experience.

Check out how the Swedish fashion brand Djerf Avenue has incorporated a community space on its website. Community members can create style boards similar to Pinterest and share their outfit combinations with the rest of the community.

What is the benefit of engaged brand communities?

​​Engaging your community brings significant benefits to any ecommerce brand. It enhances customer engagement and fosters loyalty, which directly impacts your brand’s success. Moreover, nurturing an engaged brand community lets you establish authentic connections with your customers and build trust.

By prioritizing community engagement, you create a supportive environment that amplifies your brand’s presence and drives sustainable growth.

Community-led growth is the key to success for ecommerce brands. Once you let your customers dictate the rules, you’ll cultivate an engaged and thriving brand community in no time.

The best advice we can give you is to embrace the shift from one-way communication to an engaged community where everyone has a voice and the opportunity to contribute. This approach not only benefits individual community members but also empowers your brand as a whole.

To build a successful brand community—it cannot be emphasized enough—it’s essential to set aside brand ego. The customers, or brand communities themselves, should be the guiding force for your next steps. By listening to their voices and incorporating their feedback, you can create a community that truly resonates with its members.

Mastering each of the seven building blocks is essential throughout the journey of community building. As you progress through the levels, nurturing your community, you will see it transform and flourish. 

We at Cevoid firmly believe that any brand willing to invest time, effort, and genuine care into their community can create a unique and authentic community experience. We’re dedicated to supporting you in this endeavor through our UGC and community management tools. Give Cevoid a try—it’s free to start—and elevate your community-building efforts today!

Build a thriving community around your brand the right way

Learn how to use community-led marketing in ecommere to build a thriving brand community.

The Three Levels of Community Marketing for Ecommerce - Cevoid

The 7 Building Blocks of Community Marketing for Ecommerce Brands

Influencer marketing has become an increasingly popular strategy among ecommerce brands. Data suggests that in 2023 marketers plan on spending over 40% of their marketing budget on influencer marketing. And it’s easy to see why: influencer-generated content typically receives an average of 8 times more engagement than branded-made content. In fact, the influencer marketing industry has grown from $5 billion in 2018 to nearly $14 billion in 2021.

And it is predicted that the influencer marketing market size will reach $22.2 billion in 2025.

Discover how ecommerce brands can make the most out of influencer marketing efforts while utilizing UGC.

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