Virtual Community-Building 101
5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Launching Your Community
Virtual communities have been launching at the speed of lightning since COVID-19 started — and with good reason. Many businesses who may have relied on in-person gatherings to connect with their audience, needed a way to take their communication with their followers a step further than Instagram and e-mail. Not only do these communities provide a different way to connect with your clients and consumers but are a great way to reach new audiences and develop brand loyalty.
Whether you already have a multi-thousand following on Instagram or are still in the idea phase, there are many things to consider to ensure the sustainable growth of your community.
Here are some questions to get you started:
#1: Who is your target audience?
Identifying your niche is an important part of developing any marketing strategy, and community-building is no different. Assessing who your ideal clients/customers/users are as well as assessing who your current clients/customers/users are will help you figure out the next few questions as well.
#2: What value will you be providing to your community?
With the launch of so many virtual memberships, Slack networks, etc., it’s important to know what you will be providing for your community, aside from a virtual space to meet like-minded individuals. Some things to consider: hosting virtual events, providing exclusive content, and partnerships with other like-minded brands. This value is what will keep your members coming back and see your community as a resource.
#3: What platform will you use?
Depending on how you answered Question #1 and #2, there are a few different routes you can go here. The most simple, which I think is necessary regardless of if you have an additional platform, is a combination of developing engaging content and putting it out through social media and email newsletters. Alternatively, there’s Facebook Groups, Slack, Mighty Networks, and a variety of other membership/community type platforms. popping up. Join some on each platform and do some research on what would be not only easiest for your community but what features you’ll need to best engage with them as well. There are pros and cons to each.
#4: How will you get your first group of members?
Do you already have a newsletter? Social media following? If not, the first step would be to tap into some other networks to find your ideal members and invite them to become part of your beta test group. If you’re launching a paid platform, you can offer a free trial for a certain amount of time or a reduced price Founding Membership that can include additional perks and privileges down the line.
#5: How will you keep them engaged once they’ve joined?
For those of you who might already have some kind of following, the previous questions may have been easy for you. Here’s where you’ll have to do most of the work, especially if you’ll be running this without hiring a Community Manager. You’ll need someone to make sure every new member feels welcomed and at least in the beginning, for someone to facilitate conversations & execute whatever programming (aka the value) you’ll be providing. Brand ambassador & VIP programs are really great ways to make your members feel empowered, develop loyalty, and extra promotion.
In Conclusion
As a community-building consultant, I help small businesses and startups figure out how to launch, grow, and engage their communities. While having a strategy and goals can make the process easier, this is not the kind thing you can just launch and it will run itself from Day 1 — it takes some work, but work you will see ROI on.
Do you have questions about how to grow or engage your community? I’m happy to answer them. If not, I hope this article was enough to get you started on your community-building journey.
Best of luck!
Remember: “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” — Albert Einstein
