Welcome back to the NxtGen blog and our series about building an online community. Last week we started things off by explaining the importance of choosing the right social media platform in order to build your community. Now that you have done your due diligence, and decided what platform you are going to use to broadcast your message, we are going to look at the next step of the process: Growing Your Community. Below are some key areas to focus on when starting to build your community.
Act Like a Host
Picture this. You get this amazing invitation to attend “the party of the year”. It promises to be filled with a ton of people, and all kinds of fun and entertaining events. You decide to go to the party, even though you don’t know anyone else going. When you arrive, nobody greets you, or introduces you to any of the other partygoers. You walk around for a while awkwardly introducing yourself to a few people trying to figure out if you have anything in common. A half hour into the party, you are so bored, you end up sneaking out while nobody is looking. Sounds pretty awful right? Well how is that any different than joining a group online, where they promise you all kinds of great stuff in order to get you to join, and then once you do, nothing! No interaction. No engagement. No perks. Nothing! When trying to build an online community, you have to act like a (good) host. Be courteous to members. Thank them for being a part of your community. Introduce them to other members that they have common interests with. Offer them unique and exclusive content or specials. Make sure they know you are there for them and that you are happy to have them!
Be Consistently Present
Part of being a good host is actually being at the party! When dealing with social media, one of the biggest mistakes people make is not being present and involved. With all the great tools that are available to help make our social media lives more efficient, people tend to think they can automate the whole process. BIG MISTAKE! While you can certainly use these tools to automate portions of your social media programs, you still need to be available to respond to people when they reach out to you. There is nothing more frustrating in the social media world than reaching out to someone and never getting a response. Think of it this way. You go to a networking event and meet someone you are interested in possibly doing business with. The next day you email them and get no response. Then you call them, leave a voice mail, and they never call you back. Doesn’t sound like someone you want to do business with anymore, right? The same goes for social media. If you are advertising that you are actively participating in social media, you need to follow though on it. Remember, while it is important to be consistent in getting your message out there, it is even more important in being consistently present for your community.
Don’t focus on the numbers
In today’s world of social media, it is easy to get caught up in the numbers game. People are always talking about the number of followers they have, or how many people “Like” them. It is very important, especially in the beginning stages of building your community, not to get caught up in all of this. It is not the number of followers, or fans, or subscribers you have that counts. What counts is how many people you are actively engaging. I would rather have 40 followers that participate in discussions, provide feedback and engage with me on a consistent basis, than 10,000 followers who came to my page once, hit “like” and never have anything to do with me again. The value that I can derive from those 40 engaged followers far outweighs the value that the 10,000 indifferent followers will provide me. And I promise, if you are a good host to your members, and are consistently there for them, others will notice, and the numbers will come.
Next week, we will take a look at the third and final step: Nurturing you community. Until then, let us know what you think. What are some of your tactics to growing a strong online community?