A sure-shot way to increase Member Retention in a Community

Hey there! 👋

Hope you’re having some fun as well along your day

What if I tell you that we don’t need to be an “exclusive” community to have a good member retention rate or to increase our active member ratio.

In the face & rut of exclusivity, where most of us are running behind numbers, let’s not skip the fundamental building block or what I call it “the heart” of a community. ❤️

Be it family, corporate, or any human-involved setup, one of our core needs is to feel belonged & to connect deeply.

If we weave our culture in a way that helps the members to meet the core needs of any individual, the numbers will no longer be the chase. Where we strive to be more exclusive, how about we start to be more & more inclusive with the members. It is in being more and more inclusive, that it can be an exclusive community.

Sustaining a community & making the members feel valued, appreciated & included is the foundational requirement of any community.

Making the members feel inclusive is the building block of a community. While we all know this is the fuel that drives people to stay active in a community, it’s a tricky thing to achieve as feeling inclusive is different for different individuals.

Most of our understanding to feel included is quite similar though:

To feel accepted, valued, heard & respected. To be able to be their authentic self & to feel connected with the community. We all know that this is the most right thing to do, but forming an inclusive culture in a community takes a lot of experimental & non-structural ways of operation.

It is a tricky place to achieve because each individual comes from their own belief systems, culture & competence. What might trigger a feeling of “not included” can not be known at all times.

To weave such a culture takes a considerable amount of time, deep empathy & trust from a community manager. Most of the brand communities have been engrossed with transactional give-take relationships with their members, this crucial parameter stays unexplored.

And while each demographic population has certain enabling factors that can make them feel included. It is still not a mystery that is fully solved. But, one can always strive to get to this place.

Ways to Weave Inclusion Culture

• Communicating about supporting & celebrating diversity to their members can help them to remove the initial hesitations for various demographic distinctions that a member might be having.
• To curate activities & programs which practice equality in diversity & can help build members’ trust in the community.
• A rich & personal onboarding process can work in a humongous way. It makes a member feel valued, appreciated, heard & seen.
• Having regular catch-up calls goes a long way in the retention & sustainability of a community.
• Authentic Active Listening serves as a good enabler for making the member feel included.
• Diving deep into members’ pain points & providing tailor-made solutions to their issues on top of having generalized programs might serve few but not all.
• Adopting open & flow-based moderation & leadership strategies that are more inspiring rather than fixed & rigorous.
• Curating frequent events & rituals that promote fun, vulnerability, acceptance & the feeling of being heard can do wonders.
• To keep a check if everyone is coming from a space of non-judgemental & non-competent space to help build a safe space for the members to feel comfortable & this hugely activates the otherwise suppressed creative flow of the members.
• Practicing deep empathy & kindness at all levels & depths. As a community manager, it's very crucial to come from a space of deep empathy, full acceptance & kindness even when it's difficult.
• Designing support groups or calls that can help them feel safe & where they can open up to their vulnerability.
• Having regular Check=Ins or feedback sessions with our members also helps us to stay informed with the know-hows of the members and the members feel heard & needed.
• Seeking members’ opinions & thoughts over major community decisions can also bring in a sense of belongingness.

These are just a few ways we can weave an inclusive culture within our communities. One can play around with this parameter by going deeper & moving through empathy & compassion rather than numbers & timelines.

To make the members feel a sense of belonging & inclusiveness can become a very powerful tool to drive a meaningful & impactful community.

What are some of your ways to bring inclusiveness in your community?

If you want to show love to this piece of content, then press the “clap button” & share your thoughts over it. I would love to listen to you 🙂

If there is anything that you want to share Or connect or seek some guidance about,write me back at : prakruti@communityfolks.com

Sharing my LinkedIn Profile 👉 Link

Wish you a fantastic week ahead!

😁🤘