Come On In! Three Ways to Drive Traffic to Your New Online Community
You’ve done it! Your online community is launched and off to the races. You’ve got members participating, content is flowing, and your metrics are looking good. What else could you possibly need to do at this point?As a community builder, that may seem like a silly question, but you would be surprised at how often that gets overlooked. The high of launching your community feels like enough to keep you going for weeks, but if you’ve built your online community without thinking about bringing new members in then you’ve missed the mark. Communities are not meant to be launched and then left. But how do you go about the business of bringing new people in? If you’re aligned with the strategy of the business, this is easier than you think.
Hey marketing! Do you have a minute?
Whether you think so or not, your online community is a channel for your association. It’s a way for your association to reach an audience it may not have in the past (provided your community is not just open to members). From a community management standpoint, it’s a way for you to bring people in and connect them to the information and resources that your association offers. That said, this is a great opportunity for you to connect into your association’s marketing team and work together to create awareness for the online community and for information and communications that may not have as far of a reach as normal marketing activities would have. The caveat here is to do this strategically. What you want to avoid is having the community become a marketing machine which diminishes the value for your community members and, quite frankly, for your association. There’s a delicate balance here, so make sure you stay close to your strategy when engaging this way.
Taking your online community offline
You’ve heard me say this before and I’ll say it again – allowing your online community a way to come together offline is a huge win. Yes, people like to get together online and exchange ideas, but there’s a lot to be said for face-to-face interaction. It gives your community members a chance to gather in-person, creating a stronger connection and sense of community, as well as helping drive awareness for those who aren’t participating in the online space. The question then becomes how do you go about doing this effectively? To that I say bring your online community to your association’s live event when there’s an opportunity. Your events team starts having talks about conference activities well in advance of the event, so make sure you get on their radar. Grab some space in the exhibit hall or offer to host a breakfast or dinner during the conference to generate buzz. This provides you an opportunity to get in front of people who may not typically gravitate toward online spaces for knowledge and networking and show them one more valuable resource that your association offers that will help them be more successful.
Hold a virtual open house
I know firsthand how impactful this one can be. This is especially useful when you initially launch your online community. It helps people understand why you exist and gets them connected quickly to what your community has to offer. In 2015 when the association I work for launched our new online community program, we tried to figure out how to generate excitement and get people involved (this community launch was replacing an old community model and simultaneously deconstructing a volunteer model around that community). A colleague of mine at the time thought of the idea of holding a virtual open house. We included communication about it in chapter e-mails, member newsletters, and in news that appeared on the association website. The day of the open house, we had a ton of traffic and offered a bunch of ways for people to engage. From webinars and ongoing discussion threads to a downloadable eBook, there was something for everyone who visited the online community that day. And it helped remove any mystery around how people could interact or why the online community existed. The key here is to not let that excitement die one the open house is over. Continue to offer similar experiences (no matter how big or small) to get people coming back and engaging.Ongoing engagement doesn’t have to be difficult. The great thing about online communities is that you can meet members where they are and help them discover what’s valuable for them. It doesn’t have to be grand or flashy, it just has to foster a sense of community that they may not be getting from anywhere else.
What are some ways you’ve welcomed people into your online community? What have you seen great success with and what would you consider a miss? Tell us in the comments below!