At the core of every business, success is human. It has always been important to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the most efficient way to interact with the customers. And, online communities have the potential to do it. The heart of an online community is all about building relationships and connections. Therefore, you should build your community on your customer insight. Below we have listed down some key factors which we think are necessary for a successful online community.
Loyal brand advocates
Effective online communities motivate, recognize and highlight their loyal members. When you encourage the most dedicated members, they will become your brand ambassadors who make a lot of contributions of content to your community while supporting other customers.
Responsive design
More than 50% of users all over the world access the Internet by smartphones or tablets. Consequently, it has become very important to design websites that are responsive to all kinds of devices. Your website is the place where users meet your business for the first time. So, you need to create a good impression for users when they land on your site. Responsive layout guarantees the best experience possible for users with any device. This generates more leads, sales and conversions.
Engaging content
Undoubtedly, visually appealing content drives more traffic to your online community. Create valuable content which can benefit your customers. Besides, your community should allow users to add photos and videos to share and engage with your brand and other members. Photos, videos and other visual material have proved to be most successful for better interaction.
Collecting user behaviour
A successful online community leverage data to their benefit. Using analytics tools, you can easily track your customers’ interest, their sentiment, behaviour or what they’re searching for. This allows you to develop appropriate content, take suitable action to serve them.
Searching feature
Content of a successful community is constantly being generated more. Because of this, old content will be buried. However, it does not mean the buried content is no longer necessary anymore. Users will keep searching for what exactly they need no matter it’s old or new. Therefore, make sure you integrate the searching feature into your community for your members to easily find what they want.
Gamification
One of the most effective ways to get your customers engaged is running gamification. Gamification motivates your members to share with each other more enthusiastically. Run it frequently to increase the engagement of your community.
Understanding clearly which are the key factors to build a successful online community is really important for all the community’s owners. If you are planning to build your own one, or you’ve already had but want to customize it, contact phpFox at our Client Area. Along with consultation, we offer an optimal package while setting up and other services for your dream online community.