Who Belongs Here: A Guide to Defining Community Membership

Getting it right

The right members are to a community what an adept product manager is to a thriving product. They are what spur you to do what you do and they’re what keeps the community alive. The more of them you have, the better you’re able to act on your mission and make the desired difference.

Tech companies have long valued the insights that their communities can provide this is why almost all companies, startups even, have communities. A handful of these companies have even turned them into a revenue source by charging membership fees.

But ensuring the success of communities can be a challenge. You have to attract the right members through whom you see that extra drive to achieve the community’s goals as well as create a dynamic community, high-quality user experience that keeps them engaged.

From experience, I believe community means two things to different techies or tech enthusiasts. For some, it is an option. For the others, it is a lifeline. Any community manager would want the latter to form the bulk of his community’s membership. While it is almost impossible to tell who belongs on either side of the divide, an ideal membership base should project the community’s focus on accomplishing the same goal, supporting one another, sharing and benefitting from valuable expertise and learning resources. The good news, however, is that you can turn the former into the latter.

Similarly, an ideal membership base can be an effective marketing strategy. To make up for the shortfall of the organic reach of followers, CMs can turn to building engaged communities to enrich the relationship between the company and its followers.

Defining your community’s membership also begs the questions - why should members join? What are they getting in return? This is concerned with the pre-existing?goals members are looking to achieve. Remember you have two categories of would-be members. The aforementioned questions, if rightly answered, can go a long way in shaping your members’ mindset right from the outset -?to that which perceives a community as a lifeline and not an option.

Member Benefits

Ever heard of membership benefits? Of course, it’s not a strange term. This is where it comes to the fore. In this context, these are perks, services, and access that members get as a result of their membership, that is, what they get in exchange for joining the community. This will help the community attract new members, keep existing ones and reduce churn rate.

So if you are looking to attract and retain quality membership as well as maximise benefit to them, your community’s goals should spell out the following:

• Networking Opportunities

Above all, members must get the promise that they’ll feel a sense of belonging, meet new people, and find opportunities to grow personally and professionally in the community. Organising small networking events (in-person, virtual, or hybrid) is one of the easiest ways to provide opportunities to network, engage with each other, and share meaningful conversations.

• Career Advice & Support

Set your members up for success by providing them with resources and support. This may include curating a catalogue of valuable resources, courses, and publications. You can also set up a channel for members to ask career-related questions from other members who are more experienced in the field. Services like resume & cover letter editing and mock-interviews will also come-in handy.

• Local & Community Partnerships

Partnering with local businesses and organisations to offer more opportunities to your members also works a great deal. For instance, facilitate free passes to a local industry event through the relationships you’ve built. In the same vein, you can find another community whose mission aligns with yours and co-execute programs for the benefit of members.

• Mentorship Programs

You can also start a mentorship program and set up a structured way for mentors and mentees to meet on a regular basis but be sure you are not doing so much at a time that you lose sight of the primary goals of the community. The mentoring sessions can be used to exchange ideas and share relevant information or resources, set career goals and create actionable plans and Identify roadblocks and ways to scale through them.

• Job Prospects

Once upon a time, I wrote weekly newsletters for a community of Software Developers. The readership was quite good at the time. While about 70% of the subscribers read the newsletters, I discovered that more than half of that also click the job links therein. I can confidently assure you that posting openings, new job opportunities, as well as helping members stay on top of the industry’s latest opportunities (even if they aren’t necessarily looking at the moment) can help retain members and attract prospective ones.

• Contests & Challenges

Invite members to participate in contests and challenges and reward them. For instance,?if it’s in a community of designers, you may come up with a reward for anyone who puts forth the winning idea for your new logo. A lot of individuals are actually motivated by the idea of getting something at the end of completing a task. You can tap into this to keep them engaged and learning at the same time.

• Member of the Month

Everyone loves to be celebrated. When members get this feeling, it spurs them to do more to be recognised. Funnily, there are also other community members who are vicariously happy for others’ achievements. Featuring members monthly is a way to appreciate active and committed members. You can also spotlight any member with big news, milestones?or accomplishments worth celebrating.

Building an engaged community tends to be an extremely cost-effective strategy (at least from an investment standpoint) for company growth. When your community has the right kind of membership that feels valued and empowered, they may become brand evangelists who tell other people about the community. But this may not happen overnight as it takes a daily commitment. There’s a constant need to create new and engaging content that initiates discussion and fuels a positive connection between members and your community. In my experience, the benefits far outweigh the effort, so start building your community today.