Questions To Ask Your Community Members Before Restrategizing
Lately, I’ve been talking to many community professionals who are interested in re-strategizing. There could be many reasons to rethink your community strategy:
A new goal or change of goals for the community or business
Migrating to a new platform
Creating or removing a section of the community
Opening up the community to a new additional audience
Whatever the reason, the first step I recommend to anyone going through this process is to interview your members. I’ve found that these interviews are the most productive when conducted one-on-one or in a roundtable setting. That’s because it’s a more personal approach than just sending out a survey, and your members will appreciate this level of attention.
Who should be interviewed?
You’ll want to get strategic here rather than choosing people at random. I recommend selecting people who are in various stages of their journey on the community. For example, if you’re going to interview five people, you may choose:
One who’s been a super active member since the community launched
One who’s been a not-so-active member since the community launched
One who just recently joined, and has already been very active
One who just recently joined, and has not been too active yet
One who’s been a member for at least half the lifetime of the community and active here and there (not consistently)
What should I ask them?
Promotion & Registration:
How did you hear about the community?
What inspired you to register for it?
How long have you been a member of the community?
Engagement:
Have you posted at all yet, and if so, what kind of content was it? (a question, a response, a tip)
What brings you back to the community?
If you haven’t logged into the community in a while, why not?
What kind of rewards or incentives do you want to see/earn (that don’t exist today)?
What kind of rewards or incentives would NOT be of interest to you
What would inspire you to post more often?
Which content is the most valuable to you so far and why?
When you log in, what's the first thing you want to see? (specific content, a certain section/category, etc)
What would you like to get email notifications about?
Tell me about other communities you are a member of. How often do you visit and engage in them?
The Overall Experience:
What's been the most valuable experience in the community so far?
What's been the least-valuable experience in the community so far?
Does being a member of the community make you feel more connected or less connected to the brand, or neutral? And why?
Would you recommend this community (or the idea of this community) to others? Why or why not?
What questions would you add to the list above?
Vote for Your Community Industry Favs
CMX has released the nominees for this year’s Community Industry Awards, and it’s time to vote! Even though my name is on that list, I encourage you to vote for someone else in my category. That’s because my fellow nominees are the professionals actually running communities today. Me…I just consult and advise community teams, but the other nominees are doing the work to run their communities every single day. I’m truly honored to be nominated, and I’ll be thrilled to see one of these fantastic people win the award!
