Start as you mean to carry on. Onboarding is about more than just profiling your community members, its about making sure they know what to expect from their experience, outlining what’s in for them and highlighting the value of their participation.
Activity breeds activity. If your community feels static, or empty, or if the first things members see when they log in are old conversations or out-of-date news, they will not be motivated to contribute as much or as deeply as you need. Make sure you are directing members to fresh and active parts of the community. Think about non-research related tasks that tie into fun and topical events.
While Insight communities are platforms built for research, they are also built for their members. Keep engagement high through polls & surveys with public results that encourage discussion, fun video tasks that build belonging and any activity in which members can get to know each other better. Within the boundaries of what’s acceptable, allow your community members to talk freely and add topics outside the scope of your research. This will help members to become more comfortable in the environment, reinforce that this is a space to voice their opinion and has the added benefit that you may discover issues and topics that matter to members without needing to prompt them.
One of the most important aspects of running an Insight Community is ensuring that its members feel appreciated. You need to regularly feedback through newsletters, member spotlights, behind-the-scenes content and of course by highlighting the impact of the research. Many people choose to join Insight Communities as they wish to positively impact brands they love, and so regular feedback is crucial to this. As well as regularly feeding back and thanking members, it is also key that you get their feedback. Ask members about their experience to ensure expectations are being met and they are happy to continue.
While your ultimate goal is to have community members that are highly engaged, it will always be true that some will be much more engaged than others. They say ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ but the potential issue with more vocal community members is that they may put others off with their strong opinions. These type of members can potentially sway research negatively if they are not effectively managed. Try giving them added responsibility within the community, perhaps as an ambassador or even an unofficial moderator. Use their passion to your advantage, and have them working to encourage others and not just influence them.
Insight Communities are often run by researchers/insight professionals who are always taught to be distant and objective with their findings. Sometimes this can spill over to how they run the community, which risks them becoming a faceless entity to your members. Your admins should try sharing personal experiences, adding to the discussion forums and bringing out a more human element if they want to engage members and win their trust.
