How to Build a Cult-Like Community on Social Media
Creating a “cult-like community” has been the latest keyword to run through the marketing world, as businesses try to keep up with influencers and creators who have built—yup, you guessed it—cult-like communities.
Why? Because these communities are an engagement magnet and revenue-generator.
Your favourite creators have hundreds of comments, thousands of likes, and hundreds of thousands of followers that support them, promote them, and trust them. They’re the go-to for the best beauty products, or Amazon finds, or activewear—because of that, you see them as a trusted authority. And we’re so enamoured by these influencers that whatever they promote, they’re more likely to buy.
That’s why these influencers always bag brand deals, because businesses see the potential! And businesses that have clued in to the importance of cult-like communities are following the lead of these popular influencers, creating communities that rival theirs. Think TALA, Topicals, Hanifa—brands that make every post, product launch, and campaign a MOMENT.
It’s not about amassing followers, it’s about bringing the “it takes a village” sentiment to the online space, and building one of your own! One that’s loyal to you and shows it with engagement and conversions.
Brands and people who don’t approach their online community with this in mind end up hearing crickets on every post instead of the screaming roar of their superfans.
So what can you do to create your own cult-like community?
1: Set The Foundation
Define Your Shared Belief System
Every strong community rallies around a common enemy or mission, so think about what your community stands for and against. For example, Dove is all about real beauty, and Apple about thinking different. For a creative, they might post about hobbies that support your creativity, while an educator might talk about how to be less on our devices and more disgustingly educated and well read.
Create an “Us vs. Them” Mentality (The Right Way)
You don’t want to exclude people, but you do want to rally people who share your values. So at some point, you should define who your community is for and NOT for. That could be with a line in your bio—like “The unaesthetic side of becoming an influencer”—or by making a dedicated post pinned to the top of your profile!
While doing this, you can also establish some non-negotiables:
- What core values or beliefs should your community share? (i.e., “If you’re a fellow 9-5 warrior who wants to make their 5-9 more fun, this page is for you”)
- What kind of behaviour will you not stand for? (i.e., “Please keep the comments clean and free of hate, bullying, and rude attitude”)
At the end of the day, people who are polarizing are remembered more than those who are palatable.
Create The Seeds of Engagement
Cult-like communities engage with the people and brands they follow—but if you struggle to get people to reply, comment or even like your posts, then you may be wondering HOW to get people to engage.
Asking them a question is one great way to get people to respond—whether that’s at the end of your TikTok video, at the top of your Instagram caption, or at the final slide of your carousel.
Creating highly shareable, saveable content—like carousels, videos with multiple hooks, and aesthetic static posts—will also spark engagement.
2: Build the Rituals and Language
Create Unique Vocabulary
Every creator has a way of saying things that their followers appreciate—that’s why they come back for every post! So whether that’s the name of your recurring series, hashtags, or what you call something, try and come up with unique terminology that only insiders understand.
This will make your followers feel like they belong, like they’re part of something real.
Establish Recurring Rituals
Having a “signature series” gives people a reason to keep coming back to your page. That could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, even annually. The point is to create anticipation for a routine that you set!
PRO TIP: Only have 1-2 series at a time, and be consistent so your audience can expect it—like a weekly episodic TV show!
Share Your Story & Praise Regular Participators
Sharing your story, all the good and the bad—whether that’s returning to 9-5 corporate life or creating a digital product—brings people behind the curtain, and will make them feel closer to you.
As you share your journey, you’ll share the major milestones and celebrate with your community publicly. And your followers who increasingly engage with you? You can create a private community to celebrate with them—that could be as simple as adding them to your Close Friends group, or creating a private Instagram Membership where you spotlight specific followers or share more exclusive news just with them.
3: Show Up Differently Than Everyone Else
Be Radically Transparent
It bears repeating, but sharing the behind-the-scenes of anything you’re doing, including the messy reality and admitting your mistakes publicly, will allow people to see the human behind your brand.
It can be scary to be transparent and have a strong opinion that could upset people—but at the end of the day, fence-sitting attracts no one. You’ll hear a lot of business gurus say that when you try to attract and sell to everyone, you end up attracting and selling to NO ONE—and the same can be said for your online community.
Taking a stand attracts your people and repels the rest, but you can be opinionated without offending people! Respect other people’s perspectives and lifestyles, but boldly sharing yours will help you to build a cult-like community that feels authentic rather than forced. And this brings me to my next point ⬇️
Prioritize Depth Over Reach
It’s better to have 500 devoted followers than 50k indifferent ones (which feels like the perfect moment to say that if you’re thinking about buying followers, I highly recommend NOT doing that). You want to nurture the community you have, to set a strong foundation as it grows!
- Respond to comments as soon as you can, and do it meaningfully, not with emojis
- Measure metrics that actually matter, like comments, DMs and shares, rather than vanity metrics like followers
4: Make Participation Feel Exclusive (Even When It’s Not)
Create Scarcity and Urgency
I mentioned this briefly, but creating a space where you can share insider information, offer early access and limited spots for some kind of offer, will create FOMO without being sceevy.
And rewarding early adopters and loyal members makes them feel special while also validating the intimate space you’ve made. That could be with a shoutout, exclusive deal, or giveaway!
Create Offline or Off-Platform Community Spaces
Instagram Memberships are one way to do that, but I want you to think about how you can build off-platform spaces. To name a few:
- Private Facebook groups
- Discord servers
- Slack channels
- Email newsletters
- In-person meetups
- Webinars
- Masterminds
Even though this post is about creating a cult-like community on social media, most people don’t want to spend their whole lives on social media. Finding a way to maintain a deep connection OFF social media will strengthen your cult-like community.
But to manage ONE social media page, let alone multiple, and then ANOTHER off-platform space on top of that?! I know, it can be a lot.
So, here are some tips on managing multiple community spaces:
- Set schedules for posting social media content, sharing to your story, responding to comments, and interacting with other accounts to keep time creep to a minimum
- Use your social media as a way to promote your off-platform space (i.e., sharing the BTS of hosting an IRL event for aspiring content creators in your area)
- Repurpose your content for multiple platforms and various levels of information access. For example, your long-form blog post could be repurposed into an email newsletter you share with subscribers, that gives more information than an Instagram carousel, which gives a little more information than a TikTok video. It’s all from the same source, but your community—some new, some veterans—get more or less, depending on how active they’ve been!
5: Give Them Something to Rally Around
Create a Clear Mission Beyond Your Products
What change are you trying to make in the world? Even if it’s something selfish like getting your dream body while working a 9-5, you can find a way to make community members participate in that mission!
Brands like TOMS have done this in business, where they’d donate a TOMS shoe for every one purchased, and Patagonia’s environmental activism is something to be admired. But how does that look on social media?
Well, you can create challenges, movements, or campaigns members can join. Like the 75-hard challenge, 25 days of Vlogmas, or even asking them to help you customize your product as you make it.
And for every win—whether it’s beating your personal record, creating an affordable dupe for an expensive home decor item on your vision board, or launching your new drink flavour that your community members voted on—you can celebrate WITH your community, because they joined you on this journey!
Position Members as Heroes, Not You
Even though we’re talking about building a cult-like community on your social media accounts, I want you to think of yourself more as a guide while your followers are the protagonist.
Even when sharing your stories and news in your life and/or business, you want to make your social media community about them, not you.
Making your content selfless and you-focused instead of selfish and me-focused will make anything seem more of a value-add to their life, and they’ll thank you in the comments for your content!
Even a day-in-the-life video that starts with “Let’s become the new aesthetic for the corporate life” instead of “Come with me on a day in the life as a 9-5 marketer” will signal to your viewer that the post is going to be a good use of their time.
6: Nurturing Your Cult-Like Community
Stay Consistent (Even When It’s Hard)
Someone asked me this the other day, so I knew I had to address it in this post—but you want to show up regularly, even when growth is slow. Disappearing and ghosting your community will only kill any progress you’ve made.
That’s why, for my Launch Log series, even though I thought I had nothing to share because I decided to push my launch date, I realized I did: an update!
It was a change from what people were expecting BUT it created an opportunity to consistently interact with my community, and that builds trust that they can rely on me.
Evolve With Your Community
Listen to what they need as they grow so you don’t stay stuck in “how I’ve always done it”. For example, I noticed how many of my followers on my business page were asking more questions about creating social media content and getting people to engage with their posts. So, I started to pivot my focus on content and less on copywriting.
If you notice your community asking questions about a topic, add that to your content focus! Show them their feedback matters.
Protect Your Community Fiercely
The more you grow, the more negativity you’ll attract, it’s inevitable. So when you see trolls in the comments and community members who see life glass-half-empty, have a template in place to respectively fight them back. If there are people who are creating a toxic environment, you can remove them from the community completely—hopefully it’ll be a learning lesson for them.
This will all set the stage for everyone in your community to understand that you’re trying to create a nurturing, safe space for people.
Conclusion: Community Is a Long Game
Building a cult-like community is about showing up consistently, standing for something that matters, and making people feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves.
The communities that last aren’t built in a month. They’re built through hundreds of small, intentional actions: responding to that comment thoughtfully, sharing the messy behind-the-scenes moment, celebrating a member’s win like it’s your own, staying true to your values even when it costs you followers.
Your community won’t look like anyone else’s, and that’s exactly the point. The rituals, language, and culture you build should be as unique as your vision. Some people will join and leave. Others will show up every single day. The ones who stay? They’re your people. They’ll buy from you, defend you, and spread your message further than any algorithm ever could.
Remember: you’re not trying to be everything to everyone. You’re trying to be everything to someone. Start small, stay consistent, and trust that the right people will find you—and when they do, they’ll wonder how they ever did without you.
Now go build something people can’t stop talking about!
Ready to Turn Your Followers Into a Cult-Like Community?
I work with female founders and BIPOC small businesses who are ready to stop blending in and start building brands people genuinely care about. If you’re tired of shouting into the void and ready for a community that actually shows up for you, let’s talk!
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