My transformation from serving prospects to nurturing a group did not occur in a single day. It began with a disaster. Gymshark’s notorious Black Friday 2015 disaster occurred throughout my first week: Our web site crashed on one of many busiest procuring days of the 12 months.
Orders failed. Buyer help lit up. Social media exploded. We had been trending — however not for the explanations anybody hoped. I braced for digital struggle. To prime it off, the BBC confirmed up shiny and early the subsequent morning to doc the chaos. Cameras, questions, and crew — all whereas the group was nonetheless recovering from a sleepless night time.
And but, one thing wild occurred: Our prospects didn’t depart. They leaned in. Gymshark viewers remained sturdy, exhibiting their loyalty to the model and even feeling compassion towards us throughout the state of affairs. Why? They felt like they had been a part of a group.
Gymshark provided prospects a way of belonging. The visitor and the enterprise had been happening a health journey collectively. Beneath, I’ll focus on how group can rework your online business trajectory. Then, I’ll share tips about constructing group from my time at Gymshark.
What’s group, and why does it matter?
A group is not only a group that occurs to make use of the identical services or products — it’s a residing ecosystem the place folks really feel a real sense of belonging. It is the place transactions rework into relationships, and informal patrons turn out to be passionate advocates.
In as we speak’s hyper-competitive enterprise panorama, group issues greater than any advertising and marketing tactic or gross sales technique as a result of it creates the one factor cash can’t purchase: real emotional connection. Group is a aggressive benefit that may’t be copied.
How I Found the Energy of Group
The significance of group stretched past my first week at Gymshark. The second problem arose later once I tried to shine up the model. I needed to emulate larger firms like Nike, Adidas, and Puma. The try backfired.
The viewers step by step turned much less engaged. Aspirational was cool, however they needed to remain linked to the model. This did not simply impression engagement. Gross sales had been step by step tailing off too.
I began listening extra to our viewers, analyzing suggestions from our remark part, finding out competitor influencers, and monitoring what resonated of their posts. The sample confirmed what our model was constructed on from the start: Our viewers wasn’t searching for flashy advertisements or poetic language — they needed to really feel like true individuals in our model.
Pissed off by our messaging strategy, I reached out to early prospects and easily requested, “What’s lacking?”
Their suggestions strengthened our founding imaginative and prescient. The product itself was good, however our communication didn’t spotlight the group side sufficient. They had been searching for greater than only a transaction. They craved that sense of belonging we would at all times meant to create. They needed to share experiences with others utilizing our merchandise — precisely what the model was meant to foster from day one.
This revelation didn‘t change our model’s goal however reasonably reminded us to return to our roots. We wanted to raised talk what we would at all times been about: constructing a group, not simply promoting a product.
The insights I gained from listening to our group helped me develop Gymshark’s social presence from 1.5 million followers to twenty million between 2015 and 2022. That journey contributed to the model reaching a staggering £1.4 billion valuation ($1.8 billion U.S.).
Suggestions for Operating Group — Insights From My Time at Gymshark
Standing for One thing: Giving Folks a Flag to Rally Round
The Gymshark mission targeted on taking a stand in opposition to poisonous health tradition whereas exhibiting the ability of consistency. Whether or not you are a footballer, basketball participant, or boxer, the core ideas of dedication, correct vitamin, and restoration stay the identical, whereas the sport-specific expertise and actions make up that differential 20%.
This angle helped unite our group throughout completely different health disciplines. Quite than separating athletes by their sport, we highlighted the common parts that join all coaching journeys.
This strategy made our messaging extra inclusive and relatable, permitting folks from numerous athletic backgrounds to really feel a part of the identical group. Individuals who believed in health turned our group.
Tactical Strategy
At Gymshark, we weren’t simply promoting health attire. We had been championing a sure perception system about health, group, and self-improvement. We targeted relentlessly on what the model stood for past merchandise.
Nice communities aren’t nearly what you promote. They’re about what you and your prospects consider in collectively. Lululemon is not simply promoting yoga leggings — they’re championing aware residing. Liquid Demise is not simply promoting water; they’re celebrating a sure rebellious angle.
These firms aren’t simply promoting issues. They’re providing folks a solution to present the world who they’re.
Motion you possibly can take as we speak: Outline your “3%,” or the core perception that may alienate 97% of individuals however will deeply resonate along with your true group. What is the factor you stand for that others won’t? Write it down in a single sentence.
Speaking With, Not At: Turning Consumers into Collaborators
As an alternative of simply delivering completed merchandise, we began involving our group within the creation course of. We launched Gymshark Insiders, the place prospects may share concepts, challenges, and suggestions. We additionally engaged straight by remark sections, Instagram story polls, and in-person occasions.
At first, I apprehensive no one would take part. However quickly, it turned probably the most worthwhile useful resource for our product growth. Folks weren’t simply shopping for from us; they had been co-creating with us.
That is primarily based on the easy perception that listening to your prospects and delivering communications in methods they like is extremely highly effective. It ensures you by no means stray from what really issues to your viewers.
Tactical Strategy
Conventional firms speak AT you. Group-first firms speak WITH you. At the moment‘s most profitable companies don’t simply have prospects. They’ve collaborators. They reply to feedback, showcase buyer creations, and search opinions earlier than making choices.
Contemplate Glossier’s strategy to product growth: They requested their group, “What do you want existed?” Then, they created it. Glossier reworked make-up promoting right into a dialog about what magnificence merchandise needs to be.
When creating our subsequent function at Gymshark, we did not guess what folks wanted — we requested. By means of polls, roundtable discussions, and prototype sharing, we created not only a higher product however a group with real possession in our shared creation.
Nothing beats a “YOU ASKED, WE LISTENED” announcement. Belief me.
Motion you possibly can take as we speak: Ask your viewers what they need. Create a easy ballot, host an AMA (Ask Me Something) session, or invite user-generated content material. Discover at the very least a technique this week to make your folks really feel heard and concerned in your course of.
Partnering Up: Discovering the Proper Creators
As soon as we knew we needed to construct group, my group stopped chasing superstar health fashions and began working with on a regular basis athletes. Which means we discovered individuals who hadn’t “made it” but however who already had deep engagement, and extra importantly, deep connection. We seemed for creators with long-form consideration — YouTubers who held their group’s time and belief.
Greater than metrics, we checked out that means. Might this particular person shift perspective? Might they transfer hearts — not simply merchandise?
Tactical Strategy
As soon as we discovered them, we invested. We requested for his or her opinions on merchandise and allow them to meet one another. We created a connection behind the model as a result of we weren’t thinking about transactional relationships. We needed partnerships.
I’ll always remember the primary time a creator advised me, “It appears like I’m a part of the corporate.” That was the aim. If you make your collaborators really feel like insiders, they turn out to be your loudest advocates.
Motion you possibly can take as we speak: Make an inventory of influencers with genuinely engaged audiences that align along with your area of interest. From there, you possibly can design customized methods to work with them.
Making Folks Really feel Particular: Creating the Velvet Rope Impact
Some of the highly effective shifts got here when Gymshark created tiered entry to completely different components of our group. Everybody obtained worth, however our most engaged members received particular perks – early entry to new merchandise, direct entry to our group, and invites to occasions and our HQ.
This wasn’t about synthetic shortage. Our aim was to reward dedication and create areas the place deeper connections may type. The FOMO was actual, and plenty of onlookers yearned to get the identical therapy, which created a dedication flywheel that drove engagement and mentions of the model.
Tactical Strategy
All of us need to really feel like we’re a part of one thing unique. It’s why VIP areas exist and why “restricted version” objects fly off the cabinets.
Nike’s SNKRS app turns new shoe releases into occasions folks get enthusiastic about. Sephora’s Magnificence Insider program makes you are feeling such as you’ve received backstage entry. Even small manufacturers are creating personal teams, early entry, and member-only experiences that make folks really feel they’re in on a secret.
Motion you possibly can take as we speak: Construct one component of exclusivity into your model. Whether or not it is early entry to content material, particular perks in your most engaged followers, or a non-public group area, create one thing that makes folks really feel like they’re a part of an inside circle.
Disrupting IRL with URL and Vice Versa
The pandemic had compelled every thing on-line, however as restrictions lifted, Gymshark took a danger and arranged a small in-person retreat for our most lively group members. Regardless of having constructed relationships fully by screens, the chemistry when folks met face-to-face was electrical.
That single weekend generated extra concepts, collaborations, and word-of-mouth development than months of on-line interplay. It strengthened what I would suspected: Digital communities are highly effective, however they’re even stronger when complemented with real-world experiences.
When referencing Gymshark, it is essential to speak about how we used IRL to disrupt URL (what I’ll name the digital area) and vice versa. The strongest, most influential communities will not be simply on-line. They exist in a blended actuality world the place you leverage the strengths of 1 sector to amplify the opposite.
For those who create an in-person expertise that may solely be felt by the folks bodily current, you’ve got missed a chance. Equally, when you solely depend on digital interplay, you may obtain attain, but it surely stays passive. You don’t really understand how dedicated your viewers is or how deep the connection really runs.
Tactical Strategy
Actual connections do not simply occur by screens. The strongest communities discover methods to combine on-line interplay with real-world experiences.
Take into consideration Peloton. You could be biking alone in your bed room, however the leaderboards, dwell instructors, and pleasant competitions make you are feeling such as you’re a part of one thing larger.
Gymshark went even additional by internet hosting exercise occasions the place their on-line followers may meet face-to-face and switch digital friendships into actual ones. These occasions had been instrumental of their development from 1.5 million to twenty million followers.
What I found is that even small in-person gatherings create what I name “temperature verify moments” — defining experiences that strengthen bonds in methods purely digital connections can not.
Placing Prospects within the Highlight
Maybe probably the most transformative change was shifting the highlight away from our firm and towards the superb issues our group members had been engaging in.
As an alternative of case research that highlighted our product, we created tales that celebrated the journeys of our members. Our content material technique flipped from “have a look at us” to “have a look at them.” The extra we made our group the heroes of our story, the extra they championed our model to others.
Tactical Strategy
Corporations like Airbnb, Notion, and Figma do not simply exhibit their options — they showcase what superb issues their customers have created. The extra an organization celebrates its customers, the extra these customers turn out to be passionate supporters.
Once I applied this technique with shoppers, I discovered that user-generated content material persistently outperformed company-created content material by three to 5 occasions when it comes to engagement. Folks belief peer tales excess of model claims.
The outcomes spoke for themselves: Our buyer acquisition prices plummeted as a result of word-of-mouth turned our main development channel. Our retention charges soared. Folks weren‘t simply shopping for merchandise. They had been a part of one thing they didn’t need to depart.
Motion you possibly can take as we speak: Shift the highlight. Characteristic at the very least one buyer story this week, rejoice a person achievement, or spotlight one thing superb your group has created. Make your folks — not your merchandise — the heroes of your narrative.
Be a Group Builder
By the point I left Gymshark, 95% of our content material was community-led. However the largest development you couldn’t measure in metrics. It was within the message that stated, “This model made me consider in myself once more.” It was within the tattoos. The fitness center murals. The proposals in branded hoodies.
We didn’t simply construct an viewers. We constructed id. And whenever you construct that proper, you don’t simply scale a model. You shift tradition.
You don’t must chase relevance. You turn out to be it.
