Note: This content appears in a slightly different form in our ebook: CMGT 101: 17 CommunityLeaders Share Their Secrets for Success.CMGT 101 is packed with engagement ideas, governance tips, career advice, and more from community leaders working at innovative organizations like CA Technologies, Aetna, Electronic Arts, SAP, Pearson, Akamai, and Atlassian.
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Marjorie Anderson is a Community Engagement Specialist at Project Management Institute. She has worked in community management for almost five years and her community has one million registered users! She measures her success by the level of trust instilled in her to help make decisions that will, not only move the community forward but the organization forward.
DO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP
Welcome people into your community. Once they come, don’t let that be the last time they interact with you. This isn’t a transaction. It’s the process of beginning to build a trusting relationship which leads to members sticking around.
DO SPEAK TO YOUR MEMBERS’ NEEDS
If you see a specific topic gaining traction in your community, build content around it using subject matter experts from the community. This could be anything from an AMA to a webinar.
DON’T BRUSH OFF MEMBER FEEDBACK
It’s not always easy to hear that your brilliant idea to make the community better wasn’t all that brilliant, but your members provide feedback because they care. Brushing them off will turn them away.
PRO TIP
If you’re struggling with member retention, talk to your members and do a really honest evaluation of the value your community is adding to those who join. Sometimes we do all the things that our training and books tell us to do, but we can’t seem to gain any ground. Figure out what YOUR members need and how to deliver it to them in a way that works for them – and then keep evaluating that on a regular basis.
