Case Study What are the most effective ways to collect feedback from your community?

[InMyOpinion]

Feedback from your community is crucial for your forum success and running a successful forum means constantly improving and adapting based on what your members want because the members as well as the staff make or break the community. What is the best way to gather feedback from your community?

These are some common methods I've thought of to gather feedback from your community:
-Polls & surveys are a quick and easy way to gauge opinions on specific topics.
-Threads that are dedicated for feedback are very helpful as well. Typically, a pinned thread where members can share ideas and concerns are very helpful to get honest feedback.
-Encouraging and sending private messages and anonymous forms will encourage honest feedback from users who may not want to speak publicly.
-Engaging in discussions and observing how members interact and identifying recurring issues can be very helpful as well.
-Lastly, user testing & analytics will help you track behaviour and engagement to see what is working and what isn't.

Which methods have worked best for your forum? Do you find your members are more willing to provide feedback in certain formats? And how do you balance listening to your community while maintaining control over your forums vision?

 

[fdk]

I always have an open feedback/suggestions section on any forum I run where I welcome user feedback &/or suggestions.

I always try to personally reply to any feedback, whether positive or negative, and I'll always review (although not always reply) to any suggestions and seriously consider whether they fit into my existing long-term plans for the site, or if there's a real passion for the idea from a significant portion of the community.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I usually just have a section for members to post their feedback. I think a good approach would be to take surveys but have them linked to your suggestions area, and I might start doing this on my communities.

 

[JennyorAlice]

You can have a place for members to post their suggestions or ask questions. Kind of a place for a suggestion box, if you will. It will allow people to vote on different things too.

 

[1stop]

Hosting AMAs (Ask Me Anything) sessions with staff and community members can also be a way to add quality to the forum. I also add a suggestion area where people can message me privately.

 

[Cpvr]

Hosting AMAs (Ask Me Anything) sessions with staff and community members can also be a way to add quality to the forum. I also add a suggestion area where people can message me privately.

An ask me anything section is more so an area for users to get to know each and bond. It’s not designed for a feedback area. It really doesn’t add quality to a forum as it’s generally falls under “low quality” content and its quite similar to a forum games section. They’re good for boasting activity, but that’s all.

If a forum is seeking new suggestion and opinions, a dedicated suggestions/feedback forum would work the best.