If you haven’t put “Build a Thriving Community” at the top of your business goals, then it’s time for a serious shake-up.

A strong community is like a super-power for your business. When done well, your community will help you move people all the way through your Customer Value Journey from awareness to promotion. 

Now Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly transforming the business landscape making information alone less valuable. It’s easy to think the machines have it all covered. But no matter how smart robots get, nothing can replace the human connection we are wired to crave.

Not convinced yet? Let me break the 5 undeniable benefits of a thriving community. If you don’t pay close attention to the fifth one, your business will struggle to survive. 

#1 Get More Customers

A thriving community is like a magnet for new customers. It has the power to attract right-fit leads, build trust quickly, and convert them to buyers. 

Ever heard of FOMO? It’s the “Fear of Missing Out,” and let me tell you, it’s a real thing. People see a buzzing community, and they just can’t help but want in.

Once they get in, they’re surrounded by the social proof of other community members that trust you and are enthusiastic advocates. It’s only natural for them to want to follow the crowd. This means existing members’ trust in you is easily passed on to new community members.

That fast-track to trust will ultimately lead to more conversions for your products, programs, and services. 

Example: 

Take Harley-Davidson for instance. They don’t just sell bikes; they sell a lifestyle. Harley owners don’t just feel like part of an exclusive club, they are. It’s called the H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group). It’s one of the world’s largest motorcycle owner communities. 

H.O.G. has local chapters that organize events, rides, and rallies that not only bring existing owners together but also attract future owners. When people witness and experience the sense of belonging and camaraderie that comes with being a Harley owner, they want to join the ‘Harley family’. 

#2 Keep Customers Longer

I recently worked with a client to survey their long-time members. When asked what they love the most about her online membership, the answer was overwhelmingly the community.

It’s long been known that keeping a customer is a whole lot cheaper than finding a new one. Getting more conversions is great, but the real money is made in retention because of its impact on customer lifetime value and profit margins. Retention is your ability to keep your recurring revenue customers longer or get your current buyers to become repeat buyers. 

A thriving community creates a deeper level of connection that is really hard to walk away from. Plus, it supports buyers in getting more results from your programs and products. 

More results lead to happier customers that want to buy more from you and ascend to your higher-level offers. 

Example: 

Let’s take a look at LEGO. By creating a community where fans share their custom creations, they turned customers into lifelong fans. Those brick-loving enthusiasts keep coming back for more because they’re part of a larger community that makes stacking those tiny bricks more than just a hobby. 

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There are clubs called LEGO User Groups (LUGs), where kids and grown-ups, known as AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO) can show off their builds. Young builders get to be part of a special squad with the LEGO Life app and magazine. Imagine a clubhouse, but in an app, where you can share your LEGO creations and even get into fun challenges. 

LEGO also hosts events like Brickworld, where you can gather in-person with other LEGO builders of all ages to see mind-blowing builds, trade bricks, and connect with other builders like you.

All of these community connections and events keep their customers – both young and old – engaged with the brand and continuing to buy and build new LEGO sets and designs. 

#3 Create Raving Fans

Thriving communities create raving fans that buy and promote everything you sell. They’ll wear your merch, give social media shoutouts, and drag their friends to your store. 

When you have a strong community, people who are part of it can’t help but spread the word. They feel like they have an invitation to something truly special that they feel privileged to share. They become customer evangelists.

That’s why active community members tend to be your best advocates that spread the word to friends, family, and their own circle of influence about your programs, products, and services. When they do, those they invite into your world are more likely to buy than someone that finds out about you elsewhere. 

The trust that you’ve built through your community is now transferred to someone new to your business. That leads to more conversions, and the cycle continues. This is why word-of-mouth is the most powerful marketing and it’s free! 

Example: 

Imagine walking into a gym and everyone’s cheering, not just for the super-fit ones, but for everybody. That’s the magic of CrossFit boxes, where gyms are like second homes and fellow CrossFitters are family. They sweat together, compete fiercely, and sometimes hang out after a tough workout.

Ever seen pics of folks lifting weights, captions flaunting #WOD (workout of the day), and inspiring stories of getting in shape? That’s the CrossFit family showing off and, guess what? It’s contagious! Friends start wondering if they too can be a part of this community.

And it’s not just about muscles; it’s a heart thing. CrossFitters share values like never giving up, having each other’s backs, and being the best version of themselves. 

By fostering a tight-knit community, promoting shared values, and creating exciting events and social experiences, CrossFit has built an army of brand advocates who live and breathe the CrossFit lifestyle. This passionate advocacy helps CrossFit to continue to grow and attract new members.

#4 Reduce Customer Support 

Your community can be like your very own customer support team—and they don’t even need to be on your payroll. When customers have questions or run into issues, often it’s other community members that jump in with solutions.

When a customer gets stuck or has a question, other community members jump in like superheroes to save the day. This is what we call peer-to-peer support, and it’s a big win for everyone.

Here’s why it’s awesome: First, it’s super fast. No one has to wait forever to get help because fellow customers know their stuff and can solve problems quickly. Second, they know all the cool tricks to get the most out of the products, kind of like having a friend who’s an expert.

Plus, it feels more personal, like getting help from a buddy who’s been in your shoes.

And guess what? Business owners save money because they don’t need a huge customer support team. The community’s got it covered! It’s like having a dream team that’s always ready to help out.

Example:

Imagine having a bunch of brainy friends who can help you out whenever you’re stuck with Microsoft products. That’s what Microsoft’s community is like.

In the Microsoft Answers Community, regular users and super-smart MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) swap tips and answers. 

For the tech wizards, there are special hangout spots called TechNet and MSDN forums. That’s where the computer pros go to solve tricky tech stuff together so they can better serve the larger community.

This team effort means faster help for everyone and takes a huge load off Microsoft’s shoulders. They don’t need a giant team to answer questions because the community’s got it covered. 

Often, issues are solved without an official support ticket ever being raised. It’s like having a go-to group of tech wizards ready to help out anytime, making things smoother for everyone involved. Microsoft just sits back and watches its community stars take the stage, saving big on customer support.

#5 Develop Better Products 

This one’s a game-changer and in my opinion, the future of product creation. Your community is a gold mine of insights. Who better to tell you what your next product or service should be or how to improve existing ones than the people who use them?

Imagine having an arsenal of creative minds who are actively using your products and services. These are individuals who have seen firsthand the challenges and opportunities present in your offerings.

By having an environment where community members can share their ideas and feedback openly, you are essentially crowdsourcing innovation. This organic exchange of ideas can lead to enhancements in your existing products and services, and even the creation of new ones. 

Chances are when you’re intentionally getting customer feedback early and often, the products and services you create are more aligned with your customers’ needs. And if they aren’t in love, you’ll be able to pivot fast before the impact hits your bottom line.  

When members contribute their insights, they become more invested in your business’s success. They feel a part of the process, and this sense of ownership further cements their relationship with your brand.

Example: 

Cassey Ho, the fitness guru behind Blogilates, is a prime example of harnessing the power of a thriving community to create better products. She launched Popflex Active, a community-driven line of fitness apparel, with her community’s insight at the forefront. How? By keeping her ear to the ground. 

Cassey chatted with her followers to learn what they really wanted in workout gear. She got the scoop on the perfect fit, cool designs, and must-have features.

Next, she got her fans in on the action during the design phase. They were her sounding board, giving thumbs up or down to prototypes. And voila! Popflex Active was born—a collection that’s spot-on with what women in her community want. 

Cassey continues to listen to her community’s desires and challenges, create products that solve them, and share with her community each step of the process.

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Cassey’s playbook shows that when your community’s got your back, you can hit a home run in product creation. It’s crowdsourced creativity at its finest! 

Unlock Success with a Thriving Community

For businesses seeking sustainable growth and a solid foundation in today’s competitive market, investing in building and nurturing a thriving online community is a surefire strategy. 

It’s your secret weapon for pulling in customers, keeping them happily by your side, and turning them into raving fans. But that’s not all – they’re your guiding compass, helping you navigate product development, and they’re your unofficial customer support rock.

So, if building a thriving community isn’t at the top of your to-do list, it’s time to grab a pen and make that amendment. Your bottom line will thank you. 

The post The Unbeatable Power of a Thriving Community for Your Business appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Crap, it’s happened again. You’ve arrived at a party where you don’t know anyone, and the host is nowhere to be found. The anxious tango begins. Are you supposed to just walk in? Who do you approach? Is everything in the kitchen? Why is it so loud (yet impossible to understand a word anyone says)? Is that Ashley from college or a doppelganger you have never met who will look at you in confusion when you ask where the punch is?

Then it hits you… OH NO. WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?

Matt catches your eye right before the panic wave crashes over you. Finally, the host, in all his glory and knowledge — he’s here to save the day and your bladder! He greets you warmly and shows you around the place. You note exactly where the bathroom is before he brings you to a group of familiar faces. It’s Matt’s friends you played volleyball with that one time! You’re instantly at ease, chatting with people who share your interests and Matt, the host with the most.

Walking into a party without your host can feel confusing, alienating, and frustrating. And for your customers, joining a new community without onboarding is just as bad.

You want to make sure your new members…

• Don’t feel lost or overwhelmed
• Have the information, resources, and tools they need at their fingertips
• Discover new facets of the program or community they weren’t aware of before
• Connect with the Community Manager, so they feel supported
• Have the right expectations and understand what the journey holds for them

Here are 5 easy ways to engage your new community members from the beginning and ensure their long-term success.

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Welcome Emails

Never underestimate the power of a good welcome email series. In most cases, it’s their first impression, and we all know you don’t get two of those.

In the first email, you should welcome and congratulate them, re-introduce yourself, and inform your new member about what to expect. Sure, they know who you are, but give them a bit more insight so they can truly start to feel that connection build. Be the reason they’re excited to dive in, in fact — be their hype-human! Make sure they know you’re excited to meet them and make it as simple as possible for them to access what they’ve signed up for — and in some cases, paid for.

In the following emails, you should aim to empower them and set expectations. They’re in a new world, and with the help of your emails, they will become self-sufficient and be more willing to establish connections with members on their own, rather than having you establish those connections for them. There’s nothing like seeing someone dive in headfirst!

Use these emails as an opportunity to share resources, invite them to events, challenge them to perform an action like introducing themselves to the community, and implement exercises to help them stick to their goals. Do this throughout a couple of weeks, don’t try to fit this all into one email unless you want them to ignore 75% of what you say.

By the end of your series, they should know exactly where to start, the next steps, where to go, who to talk to, and exactly where all of the amazing value in your community comes from!

Video Calls

By now, Zoom has infiltrated every other part of our lives, so why not onboarding too?

If you have the bandwidth, a weekly onboarding call can be a fantastic way to welcome new members. With a video call, it’s easier to connect with your members because you’re practically face to face, and they can get questions answered by a real, live human. Or aliens, I won’t judge anyone from Mars trying to get in on the onboarding game.

For a simple structure, try…

• Introduce yourself, how they can expect to interact with you, and the help you provide.
• Set expectations for the call, including time, etiquette, and participation.
• Create a portion specifically to have them introduce themselves, let them brag about how great they are, and share why they joined. It’s a wonderful way for them to meet other new members and for you to understand their “why.”
• Walk them through the best way to get started. This could be a set of videos they can watch, community resources they should check out, exercises to complete, or even something as simple as a challenge to participate in 5 discussions their first week.
• Discuss Community Guidelines and what the culture looks like.
• Bonus points if you can have them leave with a small win like earning a badge, a highlight in a future post, or even just a shout-out!
• Set aside time for questions at the end, great for feedback!

After the call, your new member should feel well informed and have a task or three to complete for a nice sense of direction. Introducing them to other members and giving them the rundown you’re setting them up for success helps prevent churn and instills a feeling of belonging.

Self-Guided Video

This strategy is a new one to me but an easy favorite. You can use a video service to allow your member all of the benefits of a live onboarding call without commitment.

Using Tolstoy you can provide your newbie with a smiling face, easy-to-understand instructions, interactive conversation, and an easy way to get started on their own schedule and comfort level. It’s a Choose Your Own Adventure without turning to page 374 for the big payoff at the end.

Use the video adventure to empower your members with knowledge, introduce yourself and other moderators, show them where to go for their needs and what to expect moving forward, show off some of your favorite areas or conversations, and leave them with a plan to start engaging. By the end of the video, they will clearly know what’s next and how to be your new best friend.

Self Introduction

Encouraging your members to introduce themselves in a comfortable environment without a big commitment through an introduction thread is a simple and common way to accomplish your goal. Personally, if onboarding means I don’t have to be on video, then it’s even better, and I’m more likely to jump in headfirst.

You can create a discussion channel dedicated to introductions or a ritual post that welcomes new members and encourages interaction. It’s great for a small win; every win makes churn less likely.

Going back to the imaginary party from earlier, this thread is the host’s first stop when someone walks through the door. You want to let your guests know where to find the refreshments and essential facilities and help them find people they’ll vibe with.

An easy way to do this is to tell them exactly what they need to know and what you want to know.

• Introduce yourself
• Direct them to any goodies that are helpful for newbies
• Encourage them to introduce themselves and provide some points you would like them to hit.

I am a big fan of simplicity, so I have a nifty welcome video with a CTA in our main Group, DM Engage for Lab Members. I tag in all new members to chime in and just give them an idea of what they’re about to get into. 

For some additional inspiration, check out what Orbit asks when you join their Discord Server.

This is a wonderful way to dip your toes in the community water and build rapport.

Additionally, the Orbit team practices something I consider to be non-negotiable…

They respond, and not only with a “welcome,” but with a thoughtful response to what you’ve written! It showcases they’re listening and if I had written something they could have helped with, I guarantee a resource would have been sent my way.

If you encourage your members to share but then don’t acknowledge and engage yourself, you’re leaving them hanging, and the coolest kids at the party know you never leave a bud hanging.

Peer Welcome Wagon

A wonderfully effective way to onboard new members and make sure they’re fully immersed is by setting them up with others. Your secret weapons even…

Collect a crew of Super Users, Volunteers, Moderators, Evangelists, and other words for people who are invested in the community and raised their hands because they want to help others have the same warm fuzzies.

Have these volunteers be an extension of you by being your eyes and ears when you’re doing something important, like making your sixth cup of coffee.

They should…

• Participate in every welcome post
• Introduce themselves to new members once they raise their hands
• Respond to “lonely posts” that don’t get the love other posts do

Walking into a room where you’re the stranger is difficult, but then imagine doing that and getting up the courage to introduce yourself to everyone you see. Very scary. If all your brave newbie hears is crickets, it’s a terrible experience and makes them less likely to interact or post again. With a welcome wagon, that scenario is a thing of the past!

Mix n’ Match

For a truly powerful experience, do more than one of these. In fact, customize this until you have your own beautiful Franken-Onboarding.

Everyone interacts differently. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and there shouldn’t be! Test, measure, and experiment until you have something totally unique that works for you and all of your new best friends.

What Happens After Onboarding?

The next step after onboarding entirely depends on your community’s needs and your mission for your community, but here are some tips that can help inform the best path to take.

• Collect feedback and act upon it, or explain the why behind your choice not to make a change. Feedback is only helpful if you use it to make informed decisions and it fits your goals/mission.
• If you have a perfect member, someone you would clone if you could, collect their feedback specifically. What did their member journey look like? What made them stay? Where do they get value? What would they change? Etc…
• Continue to empower your members with knowledge. Remind them about the extras in your community like events, tools, and resources.
• Create a 30/60/90 day plan of what they should accomplish or complete based on your research, and include how you can help.
• Never stop onboarding. That’s right, continue to engage them, check in, interact, and make sure they feel heard. Onboarding happens all the time, you just have to keep an eye out.

Communities constantly evolve, so review your onboarding process every now and again to ensure it’s still accomplishing what you want it to. Take the feedback seriously but also with a grain of salt; not all feedback aligns with your mission, and that’s fine.

Remember that not every community is for everyone, you will experience churn, and it’s all a part of the learning process. As long as you take care of your members and give them what they need, you’ll have a party that no one stops talking about and can’t wait to attend again.

The post The 5 Secrets to Community Onboarding: How to Reduce Churn and Create Super Fans appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

A little birdy told me you want to know what this “Community” stuff is you keep hearing about. I promise it’s not scary, at least not as frightening as Data Tracking and Analytics. 

Ahh, Numbers!

No need to worry, you’re safe here, and the data can’t get you. At least, not in this particular post. 

Community is a tale as old as time and is simply evolving along with humanity; perhaps it’s time you join the party! 

I like curiosity so allow me to be your guide through the magical and underrated world of Community Building. By the time you finish reading, you’ll know what a Community is, why you should want one, and what a Community Builder can do for you.

What is Community, and why is it important?

If you ask the peeps at Merriam-Webster, the TL;DR version is that a community is people with common interests living in a particular area, or a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society. That’s not a bad definition if you ask me, but I think we can do better in this case.

Community is not a place—not even that arcade you and your friends used to frequent—and despite the common misconception, it’s not an exchange of information over the internet. Community is about a feeling and relationships built among people. As DigitalMarketer says, it’s “a segment of people who form relationships due to shared goals, experiences, and interests”. 

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Community members will have built a sense of trust, belonging, and caring for each other. 

That warm, fuzzy feeling of community comes from shared experiences and shared history… uncommon commonalities, you could say. 

Like I said, a tale as old as time. We’ve all been a member of communities in one way or another, even if it wasn’t in a platform or forum.

How can this benefit your business?

When done right, the community can most commonly decrease costs and increase revenue through higher retention, brand awareness, brand loyalty, ticket deflection, content development, and member advocacy. 

When a sense of belonging is created, a relationship is built between your members and each other. Even better, one between you and your members. We’re all partying together!

A Community can be the most potent customer feedback loop you’ve ever seen! In our largest Community, DM Engage (for our DM Lab members), I know I can always count on honest and constructive feedback from our members, and they’re not shy about asking for what they want. 

The power of user-generated content? Unmatched. Imagine seeing this testimonial on a landing page.

I don’t mean to toot our horn, but you can bet that after an experience like this, Michael “Buzz” Buzinski will be a lifetime DigitalMarketer member. With the right environment, you can grab tons of screenshots like this and, even better, videos! 

As a bonus, Buzz and I will be buddies for life!

What is a Community Builder?

This one is a doozy, not because it’s difficult to define, but because there can be so many definitions! 

For me, it’s someone who nurtures connections and relationships on a small or large scale. It can be one to one or one to many. They’re strategic, semi-organized, unafraid to be the bad guy, and empathetic. They create a “home” for people to gather.

If you ask one of my favorite Twitter people to follow, it’s…

“A community builder can be someone who works to create a structure that will hopefully enable a community to thrive. The platform, the processes, and the important, sometimes difficult choices.” Patrick O’Keefe, Community Lead at CNN

A Community Builder is an architect of experiences and relationships, as cheesy as that may sound. Without one, you’re probably not achieving what you set out to do. 

A Gatekeeper, a People Manager, a Content Moderator, a Ring Master in your circus…whatever you call them, are the ones building the house your members will live in and that your members will help decorate to their needs and tastes. 

What does a Community Builder do?

A better question is ‘What don’t they do’?

Your ironing, probably. Their own ironing, maybe. (I am both of these people.)

They plan, write, structure, promote, burn out, create momentum, are really in their feelings, and don’t do anything without a reason. 

No matter how silly or unnecessary something might seem, there is a reason behind the madness.

Note: Don’t talk to your Community person when they’ve got that look on their face, they’re plotting, they’re in the zone, and something amazing or horrific is about to happen. You’ll love it. 

The big thing here is that everything in Community is about intention. It’s in how your members choose to show up and interact, and how your Community Builder architects the conversations, events, and overall experience. They’re like mad scientists, only they’re not angry, just lots of heart and not enough caffeine yet.

In Community, some things happen by chance… or do they? If you intended to start a conversation that ended up being a meaningful moment of connection between your members… is it really just luck? This is what I call vibing together.

This is where the magic happens; your Community person sets the stage for the right conversations. How? Well, with a sprinkle of inviting copy, a dash of one-on-one chats, a pinch of puppy posts (because puppy posts always get the job done), and a whole bunch of strategic content that guides your members to complete the actions you intend them to… 

…Just call me Community Witch because that’s a potion that will provide.

What skills or traits does a Community Builder need?

If you’d like to replicate yourself a Michelle, it’s about: 40% irreverence, 40% hard work, 10% wanting to show the haters they’re wrong, and another 10% of hard work (just not on Friday afternoons). 

What you’re looking for is a people person who enjoys the freedom of creativity, has a curious streak, and knows how to get shi*t done. Imagine a customer service professional with project management and content skills. Sounds cool, right? That’s because it is. 

Let’s talk about skills.

This may sound like an oxymoron, but it takes strong soft skills to make a great Community Professional. Let’s start with some of the more obvious ones. 

• Organized. Community can be messy. You’re in twenty different tabs, three different platforms, with multiple conversations running, and Slack pinging all at once. You’ve got to be organized enough to know what is going on at any moment. Sure it can be exhausting, but boy, oh boy, is it fun!
• Communication. How can you build relationships with someone if you can’t communicate? I’m sure it’s possible, but imagine the difficulty! Excellent written and verbal communication is essential when you’re the mouthpiece for the brand. Let’s not accidentally promise 3k worth of bonuses when it was actually 1k. 
• Empathetic. It’s similar to Customer Service; you’re not always hearing from people on their best day. You must be able to take in what the other person is saying, listen, and understand their point of view. That way, you can provide them with honest response to their issue. Often in Community, the bond and relationship become so strong you deal with things you wouldn’t expect. You’re an advocate for members and an advocate for the brand. It’s a balancing act; the base is your ability to empathize and communicate. 
• Leadership. As a Community Professional, you’re building paths for your members to take, and you’re leading by example. Members look to you to calm the chaos, enforce the Guidelines, and to learn how to interact in the beginning. 
• Boundary Setting. Because Community roles are so heavy on emotion, we also need to be fully aware and able to set boundaries with not just members but also our coworkers and ourselves. It’s okay to be the bad guy once in a while if you’re protecting what has been built. While the community is for the members, it’s your house, and they’re just living in it. Your Community Professional should know when to advocate for the community and when to advocate for the brand. 
• Creativity. You’ve got all this feedback, so now what? Time to get creative and put that feedback to work! There is no one-size-fits-all solution to Community, and they should be able to whip up some short-form copy and think up new opportunities when needed.
• Curiosity. One of our old core values here at DigitalMarketer was to “know the why,” and I think that applies to Community. Adaptability is the game’s name, so when you see something wonky with the Community, your KPIs, or member interaction, you have to figure it out ASAP. Not only that, but the world of Community is developing at a break-neck pace. You have to be able to keep up with the progress and roll with it. 
• Storytelling. You may not be able to tell from this post, but I can spin up a mean story here and there. You want someone who can paint a picture, set the stage, and control the narrative. You want all the things that require wordsmithing so they can tell a story that brings forth action. The other important part of storytelling is how your Community person will bring stories from the community that leadership and stakeholders care about. Testimonials, feedback, content ideas, etc..… You know, all the good stuff. 

Where can I find one?

While this one might have found her forever home, many Community Professionals are available to be adopted hired!

• Remote Digital Jobs
  If you’re remote-friendly, I highly recommend this one. It’s not Community specific, but the Group is, as they say, fire. Quality candidates, quality group, and a world of opportunity!
• CMX
  The company responsible for my Community spark has a few options. There is a job board, a Slack group, and a Facebook Group; all are free job postings!
• Community Club
  Another company offering the trifecta, job board, Slack group, and a Community!
• The Community Roundtable
  A staple in the Community world, and they have their job board!
• We Support NYC
  Let me just preface this with; I am obsessed with their newsletter. Sign up for that while you’re emailing them your job listing. 

While I’m sure there are more, these are some of my favorites! Now go out there and find yourself a perfect match for your brand and your members.

The post Community Building for Retention, Awareness, Loyalty, Content, & Member Advocacy appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

A community manager is the person you hire to talk to your leads or customers—and chances are they’ll spend MORE time talking to them than you do.

Which means… this is an important hire. You’ll need someone with a proven track record of being an awesome community manager, so you know that your leads and customers are in safe hands.

This can sound scary at first, but once you find the perfect community manager for your business—you’ll be so grateful that you outsourced community management to someone passionate about making your community the best place it can be.

But who is that person?

6 Things to Look for When Hiring a Community Manager:

#1: Someone Who Knows the Importance of Filtering from the Very Beginning

Your community manager is in charge of making your community a fun place to be. Online communities can either be awesome places to hang out… or a black hole of self-promotion and spam that turns your community into one of the least enjoyable places online.

Obviously, we’re aiming for the former. That means you need a community manager who knows the importance of filtering your community from the very start. They’ll understand that 100,000 members doesn’t mean anything if half of those people are just trying to promote their own offers without adding any value to the group.

Ask your community manager candidates: How do you vet new requests to make sure they are aligned with our group and will be a valuable part of our community?

#2: Someone Who Has Experience Creating Community Policies & Guidelines

On the topic of creating a high-quality group, your community manager is going to put together your community’s policies and guidelines. You’ll want someone who has experienced creating policies that ensure your group is a positive and safe place for your members and has clear rules as to what is and isn’t allowed by members.

Here’s an example of what our guidelines look like for the DigitalMarketer Engage Group:

Ask your community manager candidates: Do you have examples of policies and guidelines you’ve created for communities you previously managed?

#3: Someone Who Has Experience with YOUR Top Channels that You’re Using

Community channels are not created equal—a community manager who has nailed managing a community on Reddit might not be able to do the same on Facebook. While this isn’t always the case, you do want to be aware of the specific channel experience your community manager has.

Here are a few different channels you may see on a candidate’s resume:

• Reddit
• Facebook
• Slack
• Community on a website

Ask your community manager candidates: What channels do you have the most experience with?

#4: Someone that Understands Your Brand Voice

This is a CRUCIAL part of your hiring decision for your new community manager—you need someone who is going to create a consistent brand experience with your members. If you have a very specific brand voice, your leads and customers are going to feel less trustworthy of your brand if they’re reading an entirely different brand voice in your community.

To make sure your community manager is nailing your brand voice, give them access to your branding guidelines so they know exactly what they’re aiming for.

Here’s an example of our Community Manager Michelle Dalton absolutely nailing the DigitalMarketer brand voice:

Ask your community manager candidates: Do you have examples of posts you’ve written from a similar brand voice to ours or are you willing to give us 1–2 examples of posts you’d write in our community based on our brand voice?

#5: Someone Who Can Show on Brand, Mature Responses to Difficult Posts from Unhappy Community Members

One of the hardest parts of being a community manager is dealing with unhappy community members. Unhappy people are hard to talk to and your community manager has to be willing to have difficult conversations to keep your community safe and a positive experience for your members.

You’ll want to make sure your community manager has experience with these difficult conversations and is able to maintain your brand voice while talking with them. This isn’t to stay that if your brand voice is fun and playful that they have to stick entirely to that script—but if they turn full corporate your other members are going to feel like they might not know you as well as they thought…

Ask your community manager candidates: Do you have examples of difficult conversations you’ve had with unhappy community members?

#6: Someone Who Has Ideas About Growth

Since your community manager is going to be talking with your leads and customers every day—you want to hire somebody who’s going to be opportunistic with these conversations. Ideally, your community manager is coming to you with new ideas for content or offers based on the conversations that happened in your community over the week.

Extra bonus points if they’ve run a community growth campaign before—but that’s just a cherry on top.

Ask your community manager candidates: Are you able to give us new content and offer ideas based on the conversations you’re having in the group?

Your community manager is such an important hire—they’re going to represent your business on a daily basis to a group of your leads or customers. Finding the right community manager can seem scary, but it’s not once you know what questions to ask them that showcase their expertise and ability to absolutely smash their role.

Ask your community manager candidate’s these 6 questions to make sure you’re hiring the perfect manager for your community.

The post What to Look for When Hiring a Community Manager appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

We’re assuming by the point that you’re reading this article, you’ve heard about a community creating traffic, conversions, and customer advocates for a product or business and you’re wondering—how do I do that?!

And we’re with you. We have our own Facebook group because we realized several years ago that creating a community was a huge value-add to our Lab members and our business.

Regardless of what type of community you’re trying to build, there is a 100% chance that you’ll be able to find the platform to host it. You can create communities on Facebook, Instagram, Patreon, your own membership platform, etc.

Our Facebook community has been able to foster incredible relationships between community members that have helped them nail their marketing strategies and business endeavors. We’ve also created an open line of communication between our members and us so we can always see what we could be doing to help them out more.

Using this experience, we’ve figured out there are 6 questions that every business owner needs to ask themselves before they invest time and resources into their online community.

Ask yourself these 6 questions to see if an online community is right for your business.

#1: Is a Community a Good Value-Add to Your Offer?

For some products and services, having a community is a huge value add to your current offer. For example, a one-time purchase YouTube coaching program can come with access to a Facebook group.

Sunny Lenarduzzi, creator of the Authority Accelerator program that helps her clients get sales on YouTube has a value-add of access to the Facebook group with purchase of the program.

Using her community, she can showcase that her clients aren’t just getting a course that they have to figure out on their own—they’ll get access to Sunny and other Authority Accelerator members who can help with challenges or cheer them on when they need some motivation.

#2: Would Your Customers Benefit from Talking to Each Other?

For some products, bringing the community together creates even more success for customers. DigitalMarketer is the walking and talking example of this. Part of being a Lab member at DM means that you get access to our Facebook group, DigitalMarketer Engage.

This is where our members can get advice from each other, collaborate, and have their mastermind of savvy marketers, agency owners, and entrepreneurs who can offer help that’s backed by experience. By giving our members access to each other, we can foster those valuable relationships.

#3: Could You Use Your Community to Answer the Same Questions at Scale?

Using a community, you could help out a lot of people with only one message. For example, let’s say an online fitness trainer has their community on Instagram. They can answer the same question at scale, by publishing the answer to their community.

For example, Kayla Itsines uses Instagram as the main hub of the lead generation side of her community. Once someone buys her fitness app, Sweat, they’ll have a community inside of the Sweat platform. For now, we’ll focus on the Instagram community.

If Kayla keeps seeing that community members are interested to see what she eats for breakfast, instead of answering each person she can create a post that everyone will see.

This helps her answer the same question at scale. If you’re finding that you’re constantly answering the same question but for different people, a community can create a space where you can answer those questions and then point people to the answer as the question keeps being asked.

#4: Is Your Community a Good Place to Host Events?

Using your community as your digital headquarters, you can host events inside of your community. These events can range from one day to one week, or longer depending on your incentive.

For example, if you’re about to come out with a book, you can start to host events around the topic of your book a few months before it’s published. Using the events, you can create excitement around your book launch and all of the juicy content inside. Another option is to go live and have conversations with your community members.

Rachel Hollis is a great example of this; she and her husband went live every weekday morning to foster a deeper relationship with their audience and to promote their products. They used Rachel’s Facebook page to go live, which meant that everyone watching could interact in the comments during the Start Today with Rach & Dave Morning Show.

Rachel talked about how this was a huge part of her businesses success during her interview at the 2019 Traffic & Conversion Summit.

#5: Would Your Customers Want to Learn About New Products & Services in the Community?

Having a community gives your customers a place to learn more about your future products, new services, and epic offers. It’s like having the ultimate Facebook audience—but you don’t have to pay to run ads to them.

Using your community, you can tell them about new things that are coming their way. You can also create funnels that help excite them about the purchase (ahem, like the book example from above).

Another example is the email newsletter Trends, which has a value-add of a Facebook group community for all subscribers. When the founder, Sam Parr decided that he was going to launch a new product: The Ideation Bootcamp for $599, where was the first place he posted about it? Inside of the Trends.co Facebook community (he also created an email funnel for it).

If your customers love the current product or service they have from you, they’re going to be beyonddddd excited to have first dibs on the next projects that you’re rolling out.

If this could be of use to your business, you can consider creating a community that you can bring into the Excite stage of the Customer Value Journey, again and again.

#6: Does a Community Foster a Relationship Between You & Your Customers?

This is the ultimate question to ask yourself before starting a community. In the best-case scenario, could this community build a tighter relationship between yourself and your customers? If the answer is yes, you can pretty much green light your community now.

For example, members of our DigitalMarketer Engage get access to Ryan Deiss. When he can, Ryan can help them out with their questions (see below).

People want to buy things from other people they know. That’s why a huge part of marketing is getting over the Know, Like, and Trust factor. People don’t necessarily want to buy from complete strangers.

They want to feel like they know you through reading your content, following you on social media, having a friend refer them, and getting to talk to you directly in the community. The deeper you can create that relationship, the easier it will be in the future for you to get the traffic and conversions that you’re looking for.

Become a Certified Community Specialist

Learn how to develop meaningful relationships with your customers and automate the customer acquisition process.

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This also works two-fold. Your community will get to know you, and YOU will get to know your community. This means that the products and services you create for them are perfectly tailored for what THEY need and marketed exactly how they would need it to be.

Count that as Double Jeopardy.

Online communities are the place to connect your customers, scale your conversations, create a stronger relationship with your customers (or leads), and more. If you’re wondering if an online community is still for you—you can use Facebook groups to create a free community and test it out.

Just remember the golden rule of marketing: if there’s no value in it for your customers, they’re not going to be interested.

So make your community useful, value-driven, and exciting.

The post 6 Questions To Ask Yourself If an Online Community Is Right For Your Business appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Do you know how to create content that builds community?

If you are already approaching community content with an incredible degree of strategy around relationship-building, stop reading now.

This post isn’t for you.

But if you’re like most people, getting your community members to have meaningful conversations with each other is a difficult puzzle to solve.

Not anymore!

I’m about to reveal the top 5 pieces of community-building content that I used in DigitalMarketer’s Facebook Group, DigitalMarketer Engage. I’ll outline exactly why these pieces worked and hopefully inspire you to create your own engaging content.

(RELATED: 8 Essential Strategies to Build a Thriving Customer Community)

But first, we need to lay a strong foundation by defining exactly what we mean when we say “community-building content.”

Community-Building Content Builds Relationships

In order for a group of people to be a true community—that is, members are forming emotional relationships with each other—it’s important that your content helps those connections happen.

To do that, it’s helpful to understand how emotional relationships start in the first place.

Enter Levinger’s Relationship Model:

Developed by George Levinger, a prominent scientist in interpersonal relationships, this model outlines the exact steps that people take in order to form a strong emotional relationship.

Let’s do a quick breakdown:

Stage 1: Acquaintance

The first step of any relationship—professional, personal, or romantic—is all about identifying a mutual interest.

This means that you have enough in common with someone else to start a conversation. It usually isn’t a strong common interest, and the conversation at this stage is mostly small talk (think questions like, “Nice weather today, isn’t it?”).

These surface-level common interests can be anything from sharing a mutual attraction to just being at the same location at the same time.

Let’s say you’re sitting at a local bar enjoying a beverage, and a complete stranger sits down next to you. Congrats! You are both now in the Acquaintance stage—you already have enough in common to start a conversation (we humans are passionately social creatures, after all).

Imagine what kinds of things you’d bring up to start the conversation…

• Would it be a comment about the weather?
• Ask them how they are liking their drink?
• Comment on a recent sports game or world event?

That’s Acquaintance-level conversation.

In this stage, you basically feel comfortable drumming up a conversation, but on safe, non-personal topics.

Similarly, every new member of your online community is entering in the Acquaintance stage.

What general information do new members have about others in the community? Hopefully, the topic of your community is enough to get people acquainted—in the DigitalMarketer Engage Facebook Group, for instance, newbies already understand that most people in the group are interested in digital marketing.

This common bond is enough to start a conversation, but most members need a little nudge to start connecting.

Stage 2: Build-Up

If a relationship progresses from Acquaintance, it moves on to the Build-Up stage.

Build-Up means that you are determining compatibility with your new friend—through your discussions, you’re discovering that you have even more in common than what first brought you together.

For instance, let’s say through the course of conversation, that stranger at the bar mentions that they have a dog. You happen to love dogs.

Now you might switch from talking about the weather to more meaningful conversations:

“Was your dog adopted from a shelter? How long have you had him?”

“I actually just moved into the area. Is there a good place to walk my dog?”

“My dog is chewing up everything I own. Do you have any suggestions?”

Your emotional bond is strengthened, and you feel safer discussing topics you care about.

The concept of a person revealing their inner thoughts and feelings to another person—like when your new friend mentioned they have a dog or when you admitted your four-legged friend has a chewing problem—is called self-disclosure.

Self-Disclosure: The process by which a person reveals their inner thoughts and emotions to another person.

Self-disclosure it VITAL to building communities—because no one moves through the Relationship Model if they aren’t having meaningful conversations with each other.

It has to move beyond the small talk.

Stage 3: Continuation

Continuation is all about making a show of commitment to the relationship.

This can be something huge, like getting married. But there are endless ways people can make commitments to their relationships that don’t involve a license from the government.

Let’s say your new friend from the bar suggests that you meet next weekend at the dog park.

That’s a sign of commitment! That stranger—perhaps now someone you would call a friend—is signaling that you have enough in common to move things to the next level—hanging out again and bringing your dogs! For this specific relationship, that is a huge sign of commitment.

The more conversations you have with your new friend, hopefully, the more you’ll discover you have in common—and the stronger your emotional connection will be.

Stage 4: Deterioration

…But sometimes the connection doesn’t last.

Deterioration can be caused by something dramatic—like a breakdown in trust—where you don’t feel safe having self-disclosure conversations.

Conversation often shifts back to small talk at this stage—you can be civil and even cordial… but you’re just not as comfortable sharing as you used to. As Pokémon GO experienced…

But relationships that move into Deterioration don’t have to be triggered by a big catastrophic event. Sometimes it’s just that interests have changed, and you don’t share the common bond that you used to.

For example, let’s say you showed up at the dog park only to discover that your new friend admits they changed their mind—they are actually a cat person and decided to get rid of their dog.

That might be a problem for you!

Stage 5: Termination

Of course, if things don’t work out… the relationship ends. Communication stops, and you spend your time elsewhere.

It’s only natural!

So now that we’ve set the stage for how relationships form, let’s talk about ways you can use content to move people along the first 3 stages of the Relationship Model using DigitalMarketer’s DM Engage Facebook Group as an example.

Community-Building Content That Moves Members from Acquaintance to Build-Up

The goal of content at this stage is to get people to start self-disclosing so that they can find all the compelling things they have in common with their fellow community members.

The welcome post is a wonderful opportunity to connect with new members, get them introducing themselves and plugged into the community at large.

You can see from this example that I asked our members 3 specific questions (a great idea swiped from the CMX Hub community)…

1. What industry do you work in?
2. What do you love about it?
3. What’s your biggest digital marketing challenge?

These questions encourage that CRITICAL element of relationship-building: self-disclosure.

Members can’t move along the Relationship Model unless they are self-disclosing meaningful, relevant information. Otherwise, your members just stay in the “small talk” zone forever!

Take a look at your welcome process and make sure it encourages new members to start talking about themselves—their likes and dislikes, favorites, feelings, aspirations, goals, successes, or fears.

Community-Building Content That Moves Members from Build-up to Continuation

Community content at this stage aims to encourage regular participation through initiating and sustaining community discussions. Your goal here is to help your members discover more compatibilities with their fellow community members.

One way to do this is through ritual content—community-building content that is posted daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly that your members learn to expect.

Ritual content gives your members a reason to come back and participate in the group, even if they don’t visit that often.

One example of this was our weekly #CelebrateTheWin post:

You can see how this post is framed to encourage members to reveal their successes—and the responses are chock full of those all-too-valuable self-disclosure statements…

The more you can encourage meaningful self-disclosure through ritual content, you’ll start to see members learning more about each other and initiating conversations themselves.

Community-Building Content at the Continuation Stage

The goal of community content is to provide opportunities for members to show commitment to the community.

But commitments look different for each community, so this step can be tricky.

Douglas Atkin, the Global Head of Community at Airbnb, looks at commitments through a curve that starts with easy, “low-barrier” actions a community member can take. As members move up the curve, the actions incrementally increase in difficulty and time commitment.

It looks like this:

In our DigitalMarketer Engage Facebook Group, our commitments look MUCH different—a low-barrier commitment would be asking a digital marketing question to the group periodically and discussing the responses.

Further up the curve, our members may start to provide answers to other people’s questions or encourage another member.

We also provide opportunities for commitment through community-building content.

Take a look at our quarterly #EngageItForward post:

Our community is full of digital marketers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, agency owners, and CEOs—everyone’s got something to offer.

Fulfilling these offers takes more time and energy than simply asking questions or replying to posts, so this type of content encourages members to enter (and stay) in the Continuation stage of the Relationship Model.

Remember: Meaningful Discussions are Key to Community-Building

As you’re creating your own community-building content, remember that the end goal is to get your members talking with each other.

That means content that you might use in other areas of your marketing strategy like…

• Blog Posts
• Podcasts
• Lead Magnets or
• Press Releases

…isn’t designed to move people along the Relationship Model. If these content pieces are the majority of your community content, you most likely have a traditional marketing audience rather than a true community.

If you do want to include these pieces in your community strategy, try pairing them with a discussion question that encourages self-disclosure.

As you’re planning your community content, always consider the exact role your posts will play in moving members further down their path to creating emotional relationships—relationships that are stronger (and last longer) than transactional customer relationships.

The post 5 Types of Community-Building Content DigitalMarketer Used to Engage an 11K+ Member Facebook Group appeared first on DigitalMarketer.