5 Ways To Give Thanks To Your Community
The fourth Thursday of November celebrates the bounty of fall harvest and serves as a reminder count our blessings. This year, between bites of pumpkin pie, take a moment to appreciate the people that supported, championed, and bettered your product.
Want to make your community feel special? Here’s a handful of ways to show how much you care this very Thanksgiving Day – and it starts one user at a time. Indeed, this is the time of year to do things that don’t scale.
1. Tell ‘em how you feel.
Take a page from Wufoo’s book and jot down a handwritten card to great members of the community. If you don’t have their addresses, take a Frontback picture of the card and tweet or email it out. Got a little time on your hands? Get a few members of your team to record short video messages, stitch them together, and send forth as love from HQ.
2. Fix the product.
In our industry, MVP doesn’t refer to a ball player. With half-baked products being shipped every day, chances are something’s not going to work. Find a minor bug and hammer out a fix. If you can’t tear yourself away from the mashers and gravy for too long, at least put up a cute picture on a boring error page. For bonus points, sit down with CS and prioritize list of feature requests to present to your team next week.
3. Recognize the fantastic ones.
Every Community Manager has their peoples. They’re the users who welcome new members, help diffuse conflicts on the threads, and contribute insights to the community. For those of whom you can’t buy a drink and give a hug, applaud them for their contributions. A shout out in the newsletter, blog post feature, or other ways of recognizing users publicly will give them the warm and fuzzies while setting an example for other folks to aspire to.
4. Gather them offline.
Invite folks to come ‘round the office to meet the team and one another. Breaking bread brings people closer together, and a vat of spiked cider can create bonds for life. Especially if it’s doled out during a food drive or served up after a morning at the soup kitchen. Communities are strengthened by a sense of purpose.
5. Gift something unexpected.
A true gift is a thoughtful little something that doesn’t ask anything of the recipient. What it is not is a 20% off discount code. Don’t be that company. Take this as an opportunity to surprise and delight.
You can imagine my glee when I unexpectedly received drink coasters, a letter from the founders, and an oven mitt with my order from the folks at Munchery. My mouth is now their megaphone.
The most powerful, sneaky thing about acting on feelings of gratitude is that they have momentum. Once you’re able to meditate on things of goodness and draw out those feelings, other blessed aspects of your life are conjured up, as if with a life of their own. And that’s the type of rush no turducken can give you.
