The often overlooked aspect of running an ICO or blockchain company
You’re finally on your way. You’ve got a rockstar development team, you have a product and vision to work on, and your whitepaper is so well tuned that it should be submitted to the Library of Congress. Except, you may be missing an important factor. Your social media communities (Telegram, Discord, Reddit, Twitter) are just lying in wait for an announcement. You have hundreds, maybe thousands of people interested in your project, talking about it amongst peers, asking questions and more, but that chatter may going nowhere for you, or worse…
This is one of the main issues facing many Blockchain companies and ICOs today and lack of engaging with the community can absolutely kill an otherwise successful company. You will create advertisement deals and bounties to bring people in, but not follow through with keeping their interest in the project. This can lead to empty rooms, low engagement rates, low quality conversation on the project, and worst of all, you lose the ever valuable word of mouth as more people tune out due to lack of interest.
Some companies will take on this role themselves, split amongst their members. This can cause delays or burn out as important tasks are put on hold and long hours are spent trying to keep communities together. Over time, as duties to the actual project begin to demand more time, focus shifts away as the built up community falls by the wayside.
To solve this, many companies hire a single community manager. This individual more often than not is tasked with control of all social media related to your project, but quickly becomes overwhelmed with the nuances and must resort simply to moderation and Q&A. Another issue arises when customers are active when your manager is unavailable. In the blockchain space, customers are global.
Without 24/7 support, you could be leaving a potential customer on hold for hours.
In many cases, open and thriving communities are the number one driver of new traffic to a project. It’s been proven time and time again that a customer who hears positive remarks from other happy buyers is much more likely to purchase a product. Second, a thriving community is a well informed community. Often, simple questions will be answered by other members, happy to assist new additions to their group. This helps take the burden away from admins, and fosters discussion between members.
This constant community engagement leads to greater user acquisition and accessibility naturally. Customers are more likely to stay with a project that keeps them engaged longer. If a customer enters a dead telegram room or an update filled Facebook with no comments on it, it makes the customer feel estranged. They don’t want to feel awkward and break the silence. Apart from simple moderation and Q&A, it is also the community manager’s job to encourage the ongoing discussion.
So, you’ve come to realize your community needs more excitement. How do we go about getting that? Here are a few tricks of the trade that we have gathered that will take your communities to the next level.
Ask them Questions
When a customer first approaches you, it means they are interested. It’s this moment you should be able to keep the attention you’ve captured and capitalize on it. And it all starts with a quick message. “Hi Potential_Cusomer555, how are you today?” This question gets them talking and opening up to you. You can then learn their interests, what brought them to the project, and what questions they have. Already, it shows you are welcoming, friendly, and no longer a faceless company.
Share photos
Here is a big thing that most companies don’t do. Share team photos. Quiet day at the office? Snag a photo of everyone hard at work. Team outing? Grab one and let your customers share the adventure. Big meeting? See if the other party is ok with a friendly photo as well. People tend to resonate with visual media more so than any other, and can elicit an emotional connection between team members and community.
Have a regular update schedule
As frustrating as it sounds, holding off on updates until you have good news is hurting you far worse than just being honest and saying you have no news. It makes it seem like you aren’t open to sharing in the community, and can sometimes breed abandonment panic. Letting them know that something is still ongoing, or even if something didn’t go quite as planned is essential. A regular update schedule lets them know you are still there bringing your project to life, and gives them reason to check back regularly.
Listen to your customers
You want to make sure that your customers and investors know they are being heard. When they ask a question, acknowledge it, and either give them an answer or let them know you have to look into it and get back with them. It can sound tempting to solely rely on canned answers for this, but add a personal touch if you go this route. If questions are being asked frequently, address them in a full fledged announcement or update. A little goes a long way here.
Let your roadmap guide you
One of the few tools your customers have to see your potential progress is your roadmap. It should always be celebrated when you hit a goal on time, call out and thank team members who made it happen, and go over the next goal. Adversely, do not shy away if a roadmap deadline is missed. Go over what speed bumps were hit, and be clear about your new deadlines. Your fans will appreciate the honesty more than an attempt to sweep it under the rug.
Engage with everyone
It’s no secret that a good attitude goes a long way. You always want to steer conversation in a positive direction, even if there are storms brewing along the way. Your biggest detractors could become your greatest fans, or even brand advocates. Participate in every conversation.
Consider hiring a community management company
By now, you should see that growing a community is a lot of hard work and requires at least 5–6 people to keep your community engaged at all times. Growing a community management team takes time, money, and resources that can be better spent elsewhere. By hiring a trusted community management company instead, you don’t have to train new hires, pay salaries, provide 24/7 support, or learn as you go. A good community management company will already have all the knowledge necessary to bring your community to the next level while letting you do what you do best.
Getting overwhelmed managing a community on your own?
We at Ngaged are here to help. Our 24/7 team of community engagement experts love assisting with Blockchain and ICO companies. We don’t just sit back and moderate. We learn about your project, interact with your communities, and help foster great conversations with your customers, clients, investors or fans. Our success speaks for itself, taking one of our communities from 0 to nearly 10,000 members, all for an affordable price. We can assist with all major social sites; from chat services like Telegram and Discord, to traditional posting with Reddit and Twitter. Have some questions about community management?. Check us out at https://ngaged.io/ and schedule your free consultation call today!
