How Do You Cultivate A Community In An Online World?
As COVID-19 moves day-to-day life from physical environments to virtual ones, communities that existed in the real world are now living behind our screens. But how do we cultivate genuine and authentic communities in an already cluttered online space?
Our latest Side B Sessions panel dove headfirst into this topic, looking into the value of creating communities, the emergence of new platforms and products, and what these groups are doing in the ongoing wake of COVID-19.
Moderated by music strategist, Amber Horsburgh, the panel featured:
- Jerry Soer: the VP S.E Asia for Collab, a digital talent network and entertainment studio for content creators.
- Mindy Day: the Head of Community at Patreon, one of the world’s most successful membership platforms for creators.
- Jahan Karimaghayi: CEO of Benchmob, the agency managing the social channels for Flume, Diplo & more.
- Hayley Rosenblum: the manager of Amanda Palmer’s online community.
Overall, prior to COVID-19 very few of the panelists had been using live streams. But now that has become a priority. They all believe this is the time to get your hands dirty and test different platforms, but so far Twitch has been the strongest live streaming service for their needs.
“Spend the time properly engaging and building connection on fewer platforms rather than spreading yourself too thin.” — Mindy Day
According to the panelists, the platform has the best sound quality and no latency. Plus it has embraced artists and music festivals coming onto the platform to throw events (especially for the dance music community) very quickly.
How has COVID-19 changed online communities?
Hayley Rosenblum: “What is exciting now is that people are seeing the benefit of community tools through the growth of online connection.”
Mindy Day: “Cafes are now [using Patreon] to offer T-shirts which say ‘I keep the lights on’, an example of the community coming together to support businesses we may have taken for granted before COVID.”
Jahan Karimaghayi: “Diplo couldn’t tour, so we thought about what we could actually do in this time. And now live streaming is a big part of his business, using multiple platforms like Twitch and Zoom, and it was born out of an understanding that we needed to keep going through COVID.”
What are your top tips for people new to community management?
Hayley: “Right now, it’s a great time to experiment — most people are learning as they go along right now, so the community seems open to watching people figure out new tools.”
Mindy: “Hook people in with your content, but create a community who are engaged and interesting enough to keep people coming back. Spend time thinking about what you need and what value your community brings to people and find a tool which works best for this.”
Jerry Soer: “Know your platform and your audience. For example, TikTok is a platform where you can still have fun and cut through the noise, whereas Twitter has been heavily political of late. So focus on speaking to the different audiences on each platform differently.”
What content have you seen work well?
Jahan: “Comedy and humour work well for our style of artist, especially on TikTok, but not so well on other platforms given the current climate. Content of substance seems to be working best on more political platforms.”
Jerry: “Start with the hook of a song, launch a 15 second clip of it on TikTok, try and engage that community to get the challenge off the ground organically. If the song takes off, the artist can finish it off and release the complete song. A flip in the way the creative process works.”
Mindy: “Some of the most successful people on Patreon are ones who put out in-depth longform discussions and documentary style content. Once people have been drawn in by short catchy content, this longer and more specific content is what keeps people coming back.”
How do you assess what platforms are worth your time?
Hayley: “What are you trying to do? Are you trying to reach new fans or bring existing fans onto a new platform? Are you trying to mobilise your audience? Let your goals determine the platforms you use.”
Mindy: “What resources do you have? Spend the time properly engaging and building connection on fewer platforms rather than spreading yourself too thin.”
What about podcasting?
Jahan: “It can be hard for artists to do podcasts, as some people are not built for longer form conversation. So it needs to be sustainable, as in, what can artists talk about regularly without revealing too much. [You could] have an ambassador hosting the podcast with different artists rather than a musician hosting it themselves.”
Hayley: “If you cant create your own, think about participating in existing podcasts to tap into new communities. Think about who [these podcasts] are talking to and what you can offer them.”
Side B Sessions is a series of free online talks brought to you by Bolster. It brings together industry thought leaders and specialists to discuss the intersection between digital, music, tech, entertainment, and brand. Find out more here.
