Breathing Life Back Into Your Community

Ever been in the situation where, having started with a bang - tons of activity, enthusiasm and energy - you suddenly sense that things are feeling a bit flat? 

Reviving a community can feel like a Herculean task, but with the right strategies, you can inject new energy and vitality into your group and ensure it ✨sparkles✨ again, perhaps even more brightly than before.

Here are our, and other leading community professionals’, top tips for you:

Recognise Symptoms of a Stalled Community  

If you notice decreased event attendance, fewer chat comments and lower log-in rates, these are clear signs that your community is stalling.

Why Communities Plateau  

First, do your research. Talk to both longer-term and newer members and get a sense of what matters to them.  What do they want more or less of? Have their goals and ambitions changed? Perhaps the community in its current guise has already answered their initial needs, so they feel they don’t need to engage as much anymore.

Get laser-focused on value

From these discussions you should be clearer on what value looks like to your members. Focus on this and literally nothing else!

Introduce Fresh Content  

Do you need to cover new topics and themes? If you’ve always held panel discussions and webinars, consider changing the formats. Should you offer courses? And what about quizzes, AMAs or office hours? If video has featured a lot, get out and meet in person. If you’ve majored on large scale events, think about introducing more intimate offerings, or vice versa.

Has regularity moved into staleness?

We always recommend introducing routines, so members know what to expect and when but don’t let the benefits of reliability tip into boredom.  

Short bursts of activity

If things are stalling a little, many community managers find it effective to introduce a challenge. These are time-limited, require commitment from participants and usually offer speedy results. What challenge would be relevant to your members? This can be a great way to inject energy again. 

Involve your members

Make sure you are involving your members, so they have a real sense of belonging. If they haven’t hosted events before, could they? Have you thought about setting up chapters which members could lead on? People want to stay in a community if they feel valued and connected. 

Be transparent

Be honest with what’s happening. Being transparent builds trust which encourages people to want to help. If they value your offering, they won’t want you to stop. If stopping is a real risk, make sure they know it.

Consider your own levels of energy

Are you, or the person running your community, getting burnt out? Have you/ they lost enthusiasm for what you’re trying to do? If so, this lack of energy might be detected in the group. It’s a difficult one to confront or manage, but sometimes there’s a need for fresh blood or to find some way to revitalise the current team.

It might be ok as well

As you grow, it’s hard to hold onto the original magic of your early days. Think of it like a social gathering -  the vibe and connection of an intimate dinner party is very different to a large house party Embrace the change, adapt, find the positives as the variables change. As Brian Oblinger says, always look forward - “skate to where the puck is going”. 

This newsletter is brought to you by www.customer-ization.com. We work with B2C brands to activate and empower customer communities to deliver growth, retention and satisfaction. To find out more why not book a call to explore how we can help you harness your customers’ enthusiasm and achieve a step change in your business outcomes.

(with thanks to MaxPete, James Cattell, Brian Oblinger and Ewa Magiera for their thoughts on this topic).