Building a community as a content creator: 12 community engagement strategies to consider

Importance of building an online community

With the rise of the creator economy, content creators are now in a unique position to leverage their skills and create content that resonates with their audience. Building online communities is an essential part of content creation. These communities give content creators a fair chance to engage with their audience, build relationships, and create a sense of belonging. They also offer the opportunity to learn from community members and share ideas on improving their content. We have seen how exponentially Telegram and Discord communities have developed in a such short time as they provided a platform for like-minded people to get together and communicate over their shared hobbies or passions. With our platform Spreadd, we have similar aspirations to build a robust and active community of influencers, creators, and brands and to facilitate creative, profitable collaborations. Visit our website spreadd.io to know how we plan to achieve our community vision.

What are community engagement strategies, why are they important, and how do they work?

Building an online community is undoubtedly essential for any successful content creator looking to build a successful brand and grow a loyal fan base. The good news is that at least 76% of internet users actively participate in online communities. But to get them onto your platform, you need to have a handle on community engagement strategies that work. A community engagement strategy is essentially a game plan for content creators to interact actively with their audience in order to foster a sense of community and build stronger relationships with followers.

In retrospect, it is already quite a task to keep people engaged with your content when attention time span are getting shorter by the day. But if you are successful in properly milking those strategies, a healthy and lively community is what you will get. Your active and highly engaged community members will automatically promote your brand and content through word-of-mouth and social sharing, leading to what every content creator dreams of — visibility, growth, and more revenue.

Keeping these factors in mind, we have drummed up a list of 12 reinvigorating engagement strategies that would indeed up your game in the process of community building and growth.

1. Consistently create valuable content: Value is as the value does. This means your content should be worth something to the people you are creating it for. Today’s audience has access to all and every sort of information. So you have to be more innovative and consider how to take the available content and smarten it up enough to attract your community members. Just thinking out of the box isn’t enough; you must think out of the body to keep up with the ever-changing trends. Creating outstanding content will take mad skills, a good chunk of your time, and a lot of effort, but it will be worth it. And try to be as consistent as possible so your fans know what’s coming and when. It would also be awesome if you tease the upcoming content in advance to keep the curiosity fanning.
2. Leverage SEO: Optimized content has a higher chance of catching Google’s eye-algorithm. We can’t stress enough the importance of using primary keywords, long tail keywords, relevant hashtags, backlinks, and visually appealing content. Use alt text with catchy titles and descriptions, and make sure you cover all the bases of search intent — content type, form, and angle.
3. Run promotions and contests: Promotional events and frequent contests are community engagement strategies that effectively keep the community member’s interests roused. Don’t overdo it; just enough at intervals to keep the fire of attraction sizzling.
4. Hold interactive live sessions and Q&As: A live session or Q&As connect you with your audience on a more personalized level and nurture dynamic interaction. Today’s audience doesn’t want to be passive spectators; they want to know their favourite creators on a personal level, ask questions, and even offer their expertise or advice. Today’s audience likes to voice their opinions, and if you provide them with a platform to do just that, you have a winner.
5. Offer unique experiences: Like any other industry, the creator economy is as fiercely competitive as it can get. Interestingly, it’s the war of content against content more than it is between individuals. One with fresher, exclusive, authentic, and engaging content will win. For example, user-generated content appeals to emotions; it’s real and attention-grabbing. Encourage your community members to create private groups within the community revolving around UGC or any other topic of their choice. Nothing can be more stimulating than community challenges where members try to beat each other. You can design creative challenges and even announce rewards to motivate more people to participate. Sharing personalized content such as bts, creating personalized emails, or giving a glimpse into your personal life works like magic. Even adding nuances like a certain style of salutation, a signature move, or using your voice can work in your favour. Your followers will start associating that nuance with you, and it becomes your USP. Try the ‘Ask me Anything’ sessions to connect with your fans on a deeper level.
6. Make your members feel like a king: By showing appreciation to your community members, you will make them feel special. You can ask them to share their stories and experiences and even take the lead during the live sessions. Ask your most creative members to post their content on the community forum. Publicly recognize their accomplishments and give shout-outs. Give special privileges like the moderator’s duty or right to answer the questions on your behalf. You can give special community badges to the most active or long-standing members. These little gestures can go a long way in community engagement and creating fan loyalty.
7. Run referral programs: Reward your community members whenever they onboard a new member. You can offer discounts, free merchandise exclusive to referral programs, one-on-one sessions or even cash prizes to keep them motivated to ring on new people in your community. Trust us when we say this, your community members have a more robust network than your own, which is why running referrals is such an effective community engagement strategy.
8. Create diversified content: Today, creators cannot rely on one form of content. You will have to diversify your offerings within the community to keep the audience hooked on your community. One of the ways to get into diversification is by selling digital products to members depending on your content type or public demand. You can check out a few profitable digital products here.
9. Create polls and surveys: Polls, especially interactive ones, are a fun way to get your fans’ opinions and decide your next piece of content. They also get a good engagement rate as they require an active response and even spark debates and conversations among the members regarding the poll topic. Similarly, surveys tell you how your members feel about how your community operates. If they are disgruntled, people tend to leave without giving reasons for their departure. Surveys serve as collated data that help you formulate strategies that benefit the community, weed out the issues your members might be having, and get a better picture of what needs to be improved.
10. Freebies and giveaways: Giveaways are the perfect community engagement boosters that keep them glued to your content and community. Whether it’s merchandise, cash rewards, or a ticket to a concert, if you add ‘free’ in front, they are willing to put in some extra effort for a chance to win a prize. Using a freebie strategy at frequent intervals will increase fan loyalty and bring in more people.
11. Create collaborative content: As a creator, you must already know how Instagram collabs posts have benefited creators/brands and creators/creators in getting more engagement and raising brand awareness. Similarly, When two creators create collaborative content for their respective communities, they will get more eyeballs. Such collaborations are mutually beneficial as members from both communities get aware of the content the other creator creates. Let’s say you collaborate with the same creator again; it is bound to create excitement in both communities, compelling members to start talking about within the community circle and out of it too, naturally driving the engagement.
12. Utilize multiple channels for content alerts: If you think just sending out an email alert will do the trick, think again. Not everyone is email savvy. For example, you plan a live session, flash contest, Q&A, or a live demo. Put alerts on every media platform to widen your reach and advertise your community. There is a good probability of them retweeting your alerts so it reaches even more users.

About’ Spreadd:

Spreadd is a platform primarily for creators and influencers looking to carve a niche through their content in the giant creator ecosystem. We aim to be a reliable support system helping you on your journey toward success. Connect with us, and we promise to make your creator journey a cakewalk. Let’s figure it out together.

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