Creating Online Communities for Members

Your organization exists to serve and connect your members. Building a community is an important part of maintaining that connection. Members need a place to share ideas, values, and tips that help them succeed in the industry. Nowadays, it is imperative to make sure there is an online destination for the community to exist.  

In this post, we will go over some tips on how to build an online community to help keep your members connected.  

1. Make sure it fits with your members’ needs: You need to find a way to attract members to your online community. It has to include things that make them want to go through the effort of creating an account. Higher Logic says that they found most people join online communities because they want to learn and gain a sense of belonging, so you might consider offering resources on your platform that further education. 

1. Set some ground rules: Peer Board emphasizes the importance of making sure your online platform is used for its intended purpose. To do this, you may need to set some rules that prohibit profanity or self-promotion. While you want to encourage open discussion, sometimes adding guidelines can ensure a thriving conversation. 

1. Think about getting a community advocate: Harvard Business Review discusses the case of author Ryan Levesque, whose community gained over 2,000 participants. He hired one advocate for every 400 members in order to help moderate conversation, keep the momentum going, and provide assistance. Having someone who can consistently help keep the community alive can grow your community. 

1. Set goals to measure the community’s success: When embarking on a new project, it is important to set guidelines for how you will measure the success of that project. For an online community, this may be the number of users or certain level of engagement on the platform. Setting these goals will help you continue to grow your online platform. Higher Logic suggests that the goals should be attainable but challenging. 

1. Be involved: Harvard Business Review reminds readers not to underestimate the time it takes to grow a successful online community. Your organization is the central being in the community, so make sure your presence is known. Do this by initiating conversation and offering yourself as a resource. 

We are all seeking connection. Building a successful online community will not just help your members, but it will also help your organization gain interaction and attention.