Growth Individual member loyalty targeting

[Shawn Gossman]

Individual member loyalty targeting...

It's a term I just created off the top of my head, LOL.

But the practice is something that is realistic.

In the paid community space, onboarding is important. It helps to keep a newly paid member stay as a paid member the next time they have to pay.

We target members on an individual basis to see what kind of member they'll be. If we determine that they just joined to see what was going on and aren't really going to do a lot, we segment them into an inactive user bucket and assume they won't renew. But if they have some enthusiasm about them, they get segmented into a more active user bucket and we focus on onboarding them the best we can and keeping them active.

The same concept can be used on forums that don't charge.

It does take work, though. You have to give members attention individually and develop a relationship with them. It also looks better when the owner of the forum is doing it, too, as many members want to have closer relationships with forum owners I have noticed.

So, my question to you all, is would you do this or are you doing it? Do you think this is a good way to build a high-valued and loyal community?

 

[Nomad]

I think giving importance to a member can actually encourage him to remain active on the forum. Normally, I post only on forums where I am a staff, a paid poster, or have certain kind of interest. However, I also post on forums where the staff and the admin gives me importance and appreciates for the work I do

 

[fdk]

This is a great concept and one I would definitely advocate.

When my biggest community got to the stage where we had premium memberships, I always PM'ed new subscribers within a day or two of their subscription to thank them and ask them if there was anything they'd like (custom user title, change of username, etc). As we didn't generally allow these on the forum, and our overall subscription rate was quite low so these features/additions were quite rare, they were really appreciated and I think really helped our retention rates. In the two years or so we were taking paid subscribers I can't remember more than about 20 out of 500+ that cancelled their three-monthly paid membership.

The time it takes to do this, especially as your community grows, should not be underestimated. But if you are intent on monetizing your community, or being able to make money to reinvest in the site and/or it's features or even your future projects, this is definitely something to strongly consider.

 

[Chris C]

The same concept can be used on forums that don't charge.

It does take work, though. You have to give members attention individually and develop a relationship with them. It also looks better when the owner of the forum is doing it, too, as many members want to have closer relationships with forum owners I have noticed.

So, my question to you all, is would you do this or are you doing it? Do you think this is a good way to build a high-valued and loyal community?

Thanks for this. I was thinking about it in various ways the other day. The few times I've reached out to others I normally wouldn't in an official capacity, it's been well received, They respond appreciatively, which was somewhat unexpected. But it's been a long time since I was just a member, and I've forgotten what it feels like being welcomed by staff.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Thanks for this. I was thinking about it in various ways the other day. The few times I've reached out to others I normally wouldn't in an official capacity, it's been well received, They respond appreciatively, which was somewhat unexpected. But it's been a long time since I was just a member, and I've forgotten what it feels like being welcomed by staff.

I think it's a good way to build true loyalty in the community.

It's something more of us should practice.

I mean, consider this:

Most of us (admins of our forums) are logging in and replying to all or at least most posts to help engage them, right?

What's going to hurt keeping a discussion going with members in PM, as well? It's the same work as it takes to respond to a post at the end of the day.

 

[eyes2c]

I think it's a good way to build true loyalty in the community.

It's something more of us should practice.

I mean, consider this:

Most of us (admins of our forums) are logging in and replying to all or at least most posts to help engage them, right?

What's going to hurt keeping a discussion going with members in PM, as well? It's the same work as it takes to respond to a post at the end of the day.

We also have a moderators/admin discussion (hidden from the public) forum where we can share if we are needing a break or if we are finding other issues that we want to discuss.
I created a separate team (still staff but without mod powers) who are first responders, welcoming new members, and who respond positively across the board. They are basically an encouragement team. They will also give us a heads up when forum rules are being breached somewhere. As a thank you, I have provided them with their own private forum so that they can chat with each other (or me) and discuss anything they want without having to use the PM feature, and they seem to like that.

This also frees the moderators up and gives us an opportunity to find out which in this group will make good potential moderators down the road.