I’ve always known the value of having a community.They say no man is an Island, joining the community helped me learn from others but also found my tribe and those l could journey with. Being a community manager is not easy but it's the resilience, the will and the passion to keep going despite the various challenges that may arise.
I have met and walked with great community leads allowing me to acquire knowledge not found in books but by experience. Every day has been a learning curve and I get to see what works and what does not. Having attended some tech events to observe and learn, some were impressive while others needed a little bit of more passion, more energy, and better planning.Well, there’s no manual script or even a guide, but as l find my footing, l am bringing you along in my journey as a community manager.
Dear upcoming community managers.
My predecessor believed in me, she saw the potential l had. I guess that was the only assurance I needed to take up the role and perform at my optimum. I love a new challenge. Everything was new but we learn and live, right?
As a community manager, every day has been a learning curve and I not only get to try options and ideas that might work but at the same time learn from the ones that don’t succeed. I have walked and observed great community managers and picked a few lessons. One of the key areas as a community manager has been attending events where l get to have major takeaways taking notes on the ones that are impressive while also noting down those that need a little bit of better planning.
Here are a few take aways that I hope they will assist you in building or navigating your community management journey;
- Identify your Community’s unifying factor.
A community is a group of people with a common interest and a goal.
Don’t build a community that has everyone, it will bring confusion and division. All members need to be united. Unity can stream from different angles such as; industry affiliation, skills affiliation, jobs affiliation, age affiliation, gender affiliation, or hobby affiliation. There has to be a common factor and interest. You can’t have everyone in your community.
- It takes a community to raise a community
Have a team, two, three or more if need be on a need basis. You can’t build a community alone, there is a lot that goes into it, time, dedication, determination, planning and networking. Your team has to be for you and the community to share ideas, brainstorm and assist each other in executing.
- Listen to your members.
In business, the end user is the main stakeholder.
In communities, your members are the main stakeholders. Get to understand the composition of your community. Understand their needs and concerns. Understanding will help you channel the way forward helping you deliver what is relatable and useful to them. The idea here is to avoid building blindly.
- Have an engaging community.
Don’t have a dormant community with zero activities over a month.When I say activities, not necessarily physical but also virtual. Based on feedback, have activities that meet the needs or satisfy your community. You can collect information through Google Forms, make the questions short, easy to comprehend, and few yet straight to the point. Then act on the information rendered to you.
- Collaborate.
Competition kills, collaboration builds.
Identify other communities or organisations that have a similar goal that you can work with. Don’t collaborate to dilute your community or change the main objective of the community. Collaborate to enrich and grow your community enabling you to tap into opportunities that would serve your community. Collaboration can be twisted and turned to benefit all parties involved. There has to be a win-win situation for all parties involved.
- Network
As a community lead, network with people in the industry, and attend events based on your interest and community interest. Speak highly of your community, and have your 2-minute introductory statement that states your community mission. This makes it easier to ice-break a conversation and to answer what your community is all about. Network with other community managers, get to learn what worked for them and what did not. Seek to be included in their activities as well.
- Have an online presence
Your community needs to be out there. In this digital era, this makes it easier for people to know the incredible work you are doing and even contribute. This will help boost your credibility and attract more members to your community.
- Host physical events
This can be hard as compared to virtual events. In virtual events, you need content, speakers, wifi, proper marketing, and a suitable time.
On the other hand, physical events require more resources and they are very impactful. You need to properly plan and execute to have a successful event. You can have them quarterly, twice a year or as often as you can afford.
When organizing a physical event, here are some factors to put into consideration;
Have a well-stated objective for your event- an objective will help you plan backward. It becomes easy to identify the value proposition from both ends.
Look for partners and sponsors early, a few months in advance if possible, not a month to the set date. Have a proposal for the partners. They can partner with you to provide services or sponsor the event. Be open to ideas.
Organise based on feedback, and listen to what your community members want while considering the industry trends.
Identify your target audience- narrow down to your intended audience, you can’t have everyone.
Find the right activities for your event- In most cases, we have panel discussions, fireside chats, and keynote speakers. After the informative session, what would be the icing to your event, what will be its climax?
Is it games at the end or the networking? These are some of the questions to ask yourself as you plan for your event.
Have the right speakers on board- make sure you vet their credibility and expertise in the topics you intend to invite them to speak on.
Prepare your speakers in advance- share briefs with them, containing the intended topic, questions, the audience they’ll be addressing and time allocated.
Have feedback criteria, from your audience, your sponsors and your team. The data collected will help you analyze performance.
Have a fallback plan in case one thing doesn’t work out as intended. It's advisable to double-check everything before D-day and have a backup plan..
Remain calm and delegate responsibilities. Include your community members too.
These points are meant to assist you in building or navigating your community management journey. In case you want to add on feel free in the comment section below.
Cheers
Building greater communities for greater impact.