Member Recognition Isn’t All About Swag

It’s no secret that online communities are hubs that enable great potential in community members. In fact, The State of Community Management 2019 report from The Community Roundtable revealed that 63% of communities empower members frequently or all of the time. More importantly, the research cites that empowerment “is the access point for individuals to feel like they matter, are accepted for who they are, and feel like what they have to offer is meaningful. That empowerment directly impacts whether and how often they share their expertise and is the foundation for innovation because it impacts motivation, engagement, productivity, and creativity.”This means that your community members have instilled in you a level of trust that is not easy to gain and very easy to lose if not carefully nurtured. This especially rings true when it comes to recognizing your members. Most of the people who report site issues, help keep an eye on things, provide engaging content, and keep discussions alive and vibrant are those are shaping the culture within the community.  And they aren’t looking for a reward, but that does not remove the accountability you have from recognizing them.Swag is fun. It’s a quick way to say “thanks” to community members who are carrying the torch, but it’s not the end all be all of member recognition. Here are three ways you can recognize members in more meaningful ways that will keep them engaged.Member SpotlightsIf you have active members in your community who are answering questions or who always seem to know where other community members can get the resources you need, it’s easy to assume that most of the community knows who they are. However, member spotlights give you an opportunity to, not only recognize the hard work they’ve put into helping to grow the community, but it gives you an opportunity to create greater connectivity between your community members by elevating their profile.This can be as simple as a Q&A style blog post, or a one-on-one webinar highlighting their expertise or career journey. Examples of communities that do an amazing job of this are CMX Pro (CMX’s paid member community) and TheCR Network (The Community Roundtable’s paid member community). Drawing upon the expertise and talents of their most active and engaged community members, regular calls are produced to allow members to share knowledge and be highlighted within the online community. This further deepens a community member’s commitment to continue to engage within the online community, and lets them know that you appreciate the time they put into engaging in the space.Ambassador ProgramsThere are super helpful members in your community, and then there are members that are so invested in your community’s cause that they would shout it from the rooftops. They might even have greater insight into what your community needs than you do because they spend so much time listening and responding. That’s where an ambassador program comes in.Ambassador programs are not only great ways to recognize those who are really into your community, but they’re great ways to highlight your subject matter experts who have become power users within your community. They know where to find certain resources, they know the people to connect others to in order to get answers, and they help keep the community healthy. The key is to make sure that you provide clear rules and roles around how your ambassadors interact within the community. All it takes is one ambassador to go rogue and the experience seems less rewarding for all involved. However, when done right, you can help members feel incredibly appreciated in a major way and the rest of the community wins because of it.More OpportunitiesSometimes a structured community recognition program doesn’t quite capture how you want to recognize a community member. They may be skilled at providing speedy answers to questions that are packed with information and help your community members right when they need it. But maybe they don’t really want public recognition. You want to highlight the value of their knowledge, but they’re not really into being on a webinar. If you work in an association, you know that there are an abundance of other ways you can show that appreciate their contributions.Is your certification team looking for someone who can review exam questions? Does your professional development team need someone to help with content review? Does your content team need someone with a particular set of skills to write a series of articles? Reach out to your community members who are a bit more incognito to see if they would be interested in these types of opportunities instead. While they may not be into it, they’ll appreciate that you thought enough about them and valued their contributions enough to ask.One More Thing…Just Say ‘Thanks’At the core of it all, your community members that go the extra mile may just want a simple ‘thank you.’ Never underestimate how far a handwritten note or a shout out on your social media channels can go to let community members know just how much you value the time they take to, not only be incredibly helpful, but shape the culture in your online community, which helps give others the confidence to be more active.It doesn’t have to be a large gesture. You don’t have to send a swag bag (although, I am one to enjoy those types of things). But it does have to be meaningful and from a place of sincerity. Let’s face it, your community couldn’t thrive without committed members taking the time to put in the effort to answer questions, provide resources, and create an environment for others to do the same. Don’t let that go unnoticed.How do you take the time to recognize your community members? Do you send swag, invite them to special events, or something else? We would love to hear your thoughts!