An online community is a group of people who have developed a relationship with each other around a strong common interest. If they don’t interact with each other, or don’t share a strong common interest, they are not a community. (Richard Millington)
Communities do matter for token sale projects; this is recognized by the majority of companies and teams. Community engagement and management, on the other hand, seem to be somewhat disputed. Some think that communities will thrive on their own and propel a product to the next level without any effort from the project team. Others rely on communities too much, taking away focus from the most important thing — the product/service around which this community is built.
There are several community management problems startups face:
- Investors not being product users;
- Absence of a product itself;
- Startup teams being too young or immature;
- Unqualified community managers.
Investors vs. Users
Investors have different aspirations and expectations than product users. Of course, some investors can become users themselves, but in most cases they are looking for profits and ROIs. It’s as simple as that. Therefore, they have to be approached differently, in a specific communication “language”. Communities will make a product better via sharing their ideas and experiences; investors will provide the resources for making future development possible.
Just “an idea”
ICORating data reveals that most projects don’t even have an MVP; they build their momentum around “an idea”. So, as a post-token sale startup, ask yourself two questions:
- Why would an individual join or participate in a community for a product they don’t buy or use?
- How can you engage the community if you don’t have a product or service yet?
The latter is possible, but is very difficult to sustain. People could be enticed by an idea, they could even envisage the benefits of a future product, but this won’t keep them engaged on a consistent basis. They will need a physical product to stay interested.
The team are too young
Most startups that raised funds within the last 2 years had their teams gathered “on-the-go”. Both company and team were created too quickly, too soon. Many join startups without any affinity or attachment to their product. Moreover, there is a lack of talent in the still-young crypto space; that’s why startups usually struggle to attract qualified staff. All these issues lead to an obvious gap between a team’s plan and its execution strategy.
Community management matters
Many see a community as just a “Telegram group”, while community management equates to customer support. This happens due to a lack of relevant experience for those who are hired as community managers. Having a chat channel, answering queries, blocking spammers — these are activities many consider to be the essence of community management. These activities don’t require lots of experience, hence anyone can do them.
Tips for effective community management
These tips are very simple and will probably sound familiar, yet many overlook even the most obvious things. So let us remind you to:
- Strategize. What outcome do you want from your community? Acquisition, retention, support? This will define your priorities.
- Undertake industry research to discover the needs and “pains” of consumers/users;
- Recruit a community manager from your community. This can add engaging and passionate personality to the team, plus a blockchain/crypto expert and a natural connector.
- Don’t neglect offline engagement that could be forged via newsletters and meetups.
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