Our immediate families are usually the first form of community we encounter in life, and we all know what family means: warmth, comfort and support. As we mature, our sense of community is extended in various degrees to schools, places of worship, sports teams, neighborhoods and places of work.

We’ve all experienced that sense of familiarity and belonging somewhere at some time. In fact, it’s so instinctual to form communities that it’s easy to take them for granted and overlook some of the key factors that make them so valuable.

Support

One of the most practical reasons to pursue participation in a community is the support you get from others. Communities are formed by groups of people with similar interests, goals, experiences and/or knowledge, and two heads are always better than one. Communities help individuals solve problems, stay motivated and overcome obstacles. Often, one person who is incapable of performing a task alone can suddenly become capable with a minimum amount of effort from another community member.

Belonging

The more human experience of community is one that alleviates loneliness and gives you that safe feeling of belonging. Humans are naturally social animals. Communities are included in our DNA as a survival mechanism; just as your stomach growls when you get hungry, feeling lonely is your body’s way of telling you to find a community.

Purpose

Equal in importance to having a sense of belonging in life is having a guiding purpose. As part of a community, your purpose is reinforced and supported by others who believe in you and share your values.

As we can see, communities are critical to our wellbeing, but they are also important tools for our success, growth and development. The same is true for online communities centered around cryptocurrencies, blockchains or the goals of a new ICO. Even if your goal is just to understand the developing crypto world, the users’ forums and Telegram groups are where others share their knowledge. If you’re looking to collect on the latest airdrops or participate in bounty programs, being active in the relevant community is the way to go.

But crypto communities should go deeper, giving their members a shared sense of purpose and ideals beyond earning a few tokens. ICOs build such communities by giving users a product they can believe in. Such communities already exist and we can learn from them.

Take NEO for example. Similar to Ethereum in many ways, NEO has set itself apart with an engaged community that believes in their platform as one that is trying to anticipate future demands rather than responding to them as they come. This was accomplished thanks in part to the mindset of the people behind NEO, and in part to a successful marketing strategy that inspired an entire community to believe and invest in NEO as the platform of the future.

Marketing firms like Emissary Guild specialize in helping build loyal communities with shared beliefs, values and purpose. We know that humans are strongest together and in a world of unparalleled interconnectivity, there’s no reason for any venture not to have a supportive community.