Level Up Your Marketing Game With Discord: 5 Proven Strategies

Last updated on August 2nd, 2023

Modern businesses use social media to enhance their reach amongst target customers. Discord is a social platform businesses strategically explore to reach a broader market by hosting events, giveaways, and promotional activities. This helps in building a solid and loyal customer base. The platform creates new growth possibilities for a wide range of brands.

Discord is no longer just a platform for personal chats but has evolved into an effective marketing tool used to promote brands among a broad audience base.

What Is Discord?

Discord is a widely used VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and instant messaging platform. Launched in 2015, this American social platform was initially for instant messaging. Now, using Discord, you can engage in video calls, voice calls, text messaging, and file sharing while chatting. It also supports media use within communities, allowing users to share and interact with several forms of media content.

The Servers

The communities on Discord are known as ‘servers’. The servers are, therefore, a kind of chat room that members can access via invite links. It is a powerful medium for people who do not want to use Zoom, Facebook, or Google Hangouts to communicate with groups. But users can create their Discord account with their other accounts on other social media, such as Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, Reddit, Stream, and TikTok.

Here is what a Discord server looks like:

It was initially meant for gamers to connect with people to chat while playing a video game. But later, it became a social platform for the next generation for social engagement. Various communities and clubs now use Discord for communication purposes.

Why Is Discord Important For Marketers?

Discord is not just a chatting platform or an alternative to many other social platforms but a unique media that businesses increasingly explore to reach their target markets and customers. Its usefulness for businesses can be gauged from its rapid growth.

The reach of Discord is massive, with millions of people using it for chatting and promotional activities. By January 2023, Discord had over 563 million registered users. While in 2019, the number was 250 million, which reached the 300 million mark in 2020. It means the platform is growing by around 20 percent annually.

Marketers can explore Discord to take their brand to millions of customers. These customers are present on this platform as community members. So, marketers can create their brand’s servers and build communities to discuss and chat. That is where people notice your Discord logo on the server and pay attention to the brand.

Today, Discord has turned into a platform where marketers can identify followers who are interested in their brand and actively promote it among them.

With a strategy in place, marketers can encourage followers to build relationships using the server. So, users’ attention will surely drive to the space, which is the server, where they can connect well. Considering its importance, even podcasters use Discord. Their podcast logo becomes an impactful visual for the users.

Businesses can run marketing campaigns in a structured way at Discord. They can use voice, videos, and text to engage communities and promote their products or services.

Another feature that makes Discord useful for marketers is that all the information is available to the users. This means that any announcement from a brand is visible to the users. 

What Are The Challenges In Discord Marketing?

While Discord has a massive reach amongst people, marketers need to use this platform with a plan beforehand. The platform has its limitations, which are also challenging to tackle.

For example, Discord might limit your promotional campaigns since the platform has a closed and decentralized ecosystem. It is not an open social network like Instagram or TikTok, where anyone can view content and a brand’s digital logo.

Now, if yours is a small brand with a limited budget, you can create a logo using a free logo maker. It will create a logo per your design brief and requirements.

Also, content on Discord does not go viral, unlike other social platforms. The servers created by marketers can ask people to join only through invitation links. That implies that not everyone can access your brand despite your engaging campaigns.

Considering these limitations, you should develop a strategy that works for your brand on Discord.

5 Proven Strategies To Boost Marketing With Discord

Marketers need to use Discord with a plan that works for their brand on this platform. Exploring this massive social media without a strategy beforehand will not yield the desired results. So, here are some proven tips to follow for marketers while using Discord for brand promotion:

01. Create Your Server Considering A Theme.

The first step and strategy to market your brand through Discord is to have a dedicated server. A server in Discord is where the members get together and agree to follow regulations. Each server has its themes, dedicated channels, and media.

So, create a server considering a theme to build a community of like-minded people. With a theme-based server, you can nurture relationships with your potential customers. Do not take your server lightly, as it serves as the foundation for each marketing step you will take using Discord. Your server is about more than just inviting a group of people to join.

When creating a server, ensure that it leaves an impact on the members. Your server’s themes, channels, and visuals should align with your brand voice. Note that community members on Discord servers do not come together just for fun and entertainment. They are also present there due to a sense of belonging.

For example, Spotify— a music streaming service- has created its Discord community with its channel #listeningparty, as shown in the image below. While listening to the music, the users can share its link and voice chat to playlists.

So, create a server where people can connect with your brand. While creating a server, consider your target audience’s interests and different backgrounds. Keep the purpose of starting the server in mind. Then, align the target audience’s preferences with your marketing goals.  

02. Know Your Target Audience.

Ensure you have researched your target audience and know them inside out. Find out who is your ideal customer. Get details about the customer’s social, cultural, educational, and financial backgrounds. Such information will help quickly create a relevant message your customers can relate to.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to know your audience is to collect the information your server members provide. You can study their responses while they interact with others. Ultimately, you know what they think about your products, services, or content.

Alternatively, explore the Discord server data to get a more objective view. The data will reveal where your server members come from. You will also learn about their interaction with other members and engagement with the media. The data lets you know your audience’s content style or format preferences.

03. Cultivate Relationships To Promote Your Brand.

Your Discord platform should be a place to engage with people and build relationships. They should feel at home while interacting with the members. That is how to win their trust for a solid long relationship.

You should be adding select new members to your Discord community so that they access your new experiences. Therefore, whenever you conduct events on the platform or reward new members, invite them to the server.

Give people access to your Discord platform only through an invitation link. That will make them feel unique and exclusive. Also, make your server an ideal place for like-minded people who will share their knowledge. They can ask your members for advice or give their recommendations. Make your server engaging and interactive so members take themselves as part of an exclusive community.  

04. Collaborate With Influencers.

Influencers and celebrities have a massive fan following. Since they, too, have their servers, you can request them to mention your products or services. Think of building a brand partnership with the influencers to create hype for your offerings in the market.

Marketers can use influencers’ and celebrities’ large follower bases to promote their brands. Choose an influencer from your industry to make your products or services look more convincing to people.

You can approach popular gamers, athletes, movie stars, tech moguls, and other influencers. Think of building partnerships using Discord.

05. Host Giveaway Campaigns.

Marketing is all about taking your products or services to a more significant number of people. One of the time-tested ways to make people notice your business is to distribute gifts or discounts on your products or services.

So, think of hosting activities related to discount offers and giveaways on your server. Promote your offers as once-in-a-lifetime discounts or giveaways to compel them to share your server link. It is your potent way to attract new audiences.

Such promotional campaigns will help give a boost to your server visibility. This is also how to expand your online reach and grow your community.

So, these are the key strategies you need to make while using Discord to launch promotional campaigns. Pay attention to each tip and evaluate the performance to take corrective measures.

You will also put your brand’s Discord logo and other visuals on your Discord server. Your logo design must be unique and impressive for its positive user perception. Designhill, a leading creative marketplace, can help you access your unique logo. You can launch your logo design contest with your design brief and get dozens of new logo ideas from designers worldwide. Then, pick one winning idea and make it your brand identity on Discord and other platforms.

Wrapping Up

Discord is a popular social media platform where millions of users interact in different communities through chats, videos, and voice. Businesses explore this media to engage communities by creating servers and inviting people to join a conversation. This helps make a brand visible to millions of potential customers with a strategy in place.