1.Welcome
When someone first joins your community, it’s important they feel like you haven’t just dropped them into the middle of the ocean without a lifeboat. The first thing new users should encounter is information on how to navigate the platform, and what the community guidelines are.
Pin the important onboarding information to the top of their discussion board where new users are most likely to see it.
Another important aspect of the onboarding experience is bridging the gap between new and experienced users. Establishing connections early will help new members form the community ties that will keep them coming back.
2.News
A core use for the discussion feature within an online community is to share relevant news with users. This is especially useful when using a community platform for employee engagement, as you can easily share company-wide messages by leveraging this channel.
Keeping community members informed on the latest happenings in their space ultimately benefits community managers and the community itself, since individuals will be in a better position to provide valuable contributions. Additionally, delivering on this value will encourage members to continue to engage and move along that engagement ladder to become contributing members of the community.
3.Events
Another great use for discussions is to draw attention to upcoming events, either hosted by you or others within your community or industry. This is something we frequently do within our own customer community, Influitive VIP, to get a pulse on who we might expect to see at upcoming conferences and meetups.
You can also highlight smaller events such as upcoming webinars. In using discussions to point to events of potential interest to your community, you’re likely to nab a few more attendees while also contributing to community members’ networking and professional development.
4.Product Updates
- Some product updates won’t necessarily be relevant to all of your customers, but those who will be affected tend to use those features day in and day out. That’s what makes dedicating a section of your discussions to these updates the best way to get the word out, you’re not inundating all your customers with the information they might not need, while also providing those who are affected by the updates with a sufficient explanation of what’s happening.
5.Fun
- Being a great community manager also means making time for fun. This is where you can go a little wild, use gifs, emojis, share images and videos. Getting people talking about topics that aren’t directly related to work helps reinforce social connections, makes it easier for “lurkers” to participate, and gets members emotionally invested in the community.
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