Viber Communities for Business
The Definitive Guide
Do you want to learn how to use a Viber Community for your business? In this article we discuss everything you need to know about Viber Communities, their features and ways to grow your own Viber Community.
Table of Contents:
1. What are Viber Communities?
A very useful and totally free tool of Viber is Viber communities. Communities are just like Viber groups with the difference that they can include an unlimited number of participants, which join a community because they have a common interest or passion like the fans of an athletic club.
Communities are usually used by influencers and celebrities that want to reach their followers, also businesses leverage communities to engage their audience, find new prospects and share updates or exclusive offers.
In comparison to Viber groups, which can include up to 250 members, communities have more advanced features, offer enhanced privacy for their members’ personal info and overall are a great place for businesses to interact with their customers.
2. The most important features of Viber Communities
Unlimited Members
The most significant advantage of communities is that anyone can join and so they can have unlimited members.
Chat History
New members can access the full chat history and see all the previous messages.
Management
Superadmins decide whether the members can write on the main chat or if they will only see the admins’ posts.
Engagement
The members of a community can react to messages, reply to another member or even mention other members.
Privacy
The mobile phones of all members remain hidden. This way their privacy is fully protected.
Polls & Quizzes
Businesses can create polls or quizzes to increase members’ engagement or receive useful feedback.
Searchable
Viber users can find communities they wish to join by searching them in the main search bar of the app.
3. How can I create
a Viber Community for my business?
Anyone can create a Viber community by following these steps:
Step 1
Open the Viber App and press the button “New Chat” and then choose “New Group or Community”
Step 2
Select your first community members from your contact list and press “Next”. The first members that you add will be admins. You can change their status to members after completing the set up of your community.
Step 3
On the next screen you have to choose between a “Group chat” and a “Community”. Choose “community” and write its Name and a short description.
Step 4
Press the checkmark on the top right corner and your first Community is ready. The community will be pinned at the top of the main chat screen and all the contacts you invited will be notified.
4. How do I manage a Viber Community?
As we saw earlier, Viber communities can include an unlimited number of participants. This fact creates the need for proper administration and moderation of the discussion by businesses - owners of the community. For effective community management, Viber has set the following roles:
Superadmin
Is the owner/creator of the community and has full access and privileges
Admins
They are appointed by the superadmin and help moderate the discussion
Members
All Viber users who participate in a specific community
In more detail, a Superadmin can:
- Promote members to admins or superadmins
- Add or remove members
- Pin a message at the top of the chat
- Delete messages of a specific member
- Publish an invite link to invite new members
- Decide whether admins and members can write in the chat
Admins can help manage the community by:
- Adding or removing members
- Pinning messages
- Deleting messages
The members of a community can join the discussion and write in the main chat only if a superadmin has allowed them writing privileges.
5. How can I add new members to a Viber Community?
A significant advantage of Viber communities is that they enable businesses to invite new members by sharing an invitation link to their websites and to their official social media pages. They can also allow community members to invite their own Viber contacts.
6. 3 Benefits of Viber Communities for Business
⇒ Increased Awareness
The messages from a community are displayed along with the private chats on the main screen of the app, this way businesses acquire an additional point of frequent exposure that helps them stay in the top of consumers' minds.
⇒ Feedback Opportunities
Communities that allow their members to send messages receive valuable feedback through polls and quizzes and thus gaining a better understanding of the audience’s preferences.
⇒ Increased Engagement
By publishing frequently relevant and useful content in their communities businesses and brands can increase their customers’ engagement, boost the traffic to their official website and also improve sales.
7. Use Cases from various industries
Industry
Retail - Product Launches and Exclusive Offers
Retail businesses can create Viber Communities to announce new product launches, share exclusive offers, and provide personalized shopping assistance.
Example:
A fashion boutique creates a Viber Community for their loyal customers.
They offer an exclusive first look at new collections, time-limited discounts,
and style advice directly through Viber. Before the launch of a new summer collection,
the boutique shares sneak peeks and allows community members to pre-order.
They also host live Q&A sessions where stylists provide personalized recommendations based on customer queries.
Industry
Food & Beverage - Menu Updates and Feedback
Restaurants and cafes can leverage Viber Communities to send out daily or weekly menu updates, promote special events, and get feedback on new dishes.
Example:
A local café uses its Viber Community to post daily specials and seasonal drinks.
Members can check the catalog through the community. The cafe also uses the community to
gather feedback on menu items, creating polls to decide on new flavors or dishes to introduce.
Industry
Education - Online Courses
Schools and institutions can create Viber communities to share with the students extra course material, solve students’ questions and inform about changes in the curriculum.
Example:
An educational institution could organize weekly study sessions
for the community members where the students will discuss specific problems they face with the tutors.
Industry
Travel and Tourism - Travel Deals and Itinerary Planning
Travel agencies can use Viber Communities to offer exclusive travel deals, share travel tips, and help travelers plan itineraries.
Example:
A travel agency creates a Viber Community for travel enthusiasts.
They post last-minute deals, travel tips, and destination guides.
A member planning a trip to Greece can ask for recommendations
and get instant responses from both the community managers and fellow travelers.
Industry
Entertainment and Media - Show Announcements and Fan Engagement
Entertainment companies, including movie theaters, concert venues, and media houses, can build communities to announce upcoming shows and engage with fans.
Example:
A local theater group establishes a Viber Community for theater enthusiasts.
They announce upcoming plays, share behind-the-scenes content, and offer exclusive ticket discounts.
Members can vote on their preferred shows for the next season or suggest new themes.
Summary
Viber Communities are a proven tool for businesses that want to communicate directly and for free with their subscribers.
Their main challenges however are the addition of new members and the discussion management in cases where the community is very big. A major disadvantage is the fact that businesses cannot send personalized messages through a community.
If you want to discover even more features and capabilities that Viber offers to businesses visit our page on Viber for Business
