How do I create an engaging and connected community? How can members become more interactive and add value? We hear these questions often and we’re happy to support you in building a successful community. We collected insights from our experiences and want to share some ideas on how to stimulate engagement and collaborations in your community.
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‍Understanding your community

The first step of building an engaging community is to get to know your community members. Understanding their background, expertise and interests will help you choose the right content that triggers interactions and leads to valuable connections.

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The goal and added value of the community

What is the reason the community exists? What do you want members to achieve and learn? How do you want members to use the community, and how can they add value? Providing your community with this information will give them ideas about what they can share with others and how they can implement the community in their daily lives. Once members are aware of the purpose of the community, they will be more likely to ask questions and share knowledge and opportunities that are relevant. 

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Member introduction on the newsfeed

We recommend member introduction as a part of the onboarding process. Ask members to share their background, interests and expertise so members will learn more about each other. If you’ve already onboarded members to your community, it is not too late! You can also ask existing members to share their stories or introduce themselves to create more connections.

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Events

We believe events are an effective way to create a more connected community. During events, members will get the chance to socialise and share their interests. It is the perfect opportunity for you as well to find out what members have in common and what they like so you can keep that in mind while building your community. Events don't always need to be in a professional setting, you can also make it fun and creative. For example, with entertainment like games where members are put in teams and teamwork is required. We assure you that connections will be made!

You can use your community platform as a tool to promote events and allow members to sign up for it. Share an upcoming event with members through the newsfeed or send an invitation via email.

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Interactive content

The type of content influences the way your community engages with it. When sharing informative content only, there is a lower chance of interaction and engagement. In order to receive more responses, it may help to share content that asks members to do something or something that is visually appealing.

We recommend having a good balance between text and visual to make content more appealing. Creating visually attractive content can help stimulate interaction with members. You can include images, video links and emojis. Just try it out and see what works for your community!

Another way to encourage engagement is by expressing a clear call to action or a specific question. Members are more likely to engage if a response is expected. Also, asking for their opinions will make members feel like they matter. Start with simple questions that are easy and quick to answer, so it is more accessible for members. You can create questions that can be answered with yes/no or provide members with a few options.
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Connect and collaborate

One of the goals of a successful community is establishing valuable collaborations. The first step toward collaborations is connecting with the right people. With the Bisner community platform members can find others based on specific criteria. Additionally, you can organise 1-on-1 sessions to bring people together to meet and share knowledge.

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Member profiles

For a connected community, it’s important for members to know who is part of the community. Encouraging an extensive profile helps members get to know each other and provides them with the opportunity to present themselves. In your community platform, you can add extra custom fields to profiles (such as interests and achievements) and use tags and custom filters to make it easier for members to make the right connections.

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These tips are not exhaustive and there are more ways to build an engaging community. You can use these suggestions to get inspired and try out new things. If you have any nice experiences or ideas, we’d love to hear about it! Contact us on help@bisner.com if you have any questions as well.