5 Tenets of Engagement Success
How
important is user engagement to the success of your site? If you said
“very”, then you are like most Higher Logic users whose focus is to
provide a community where members create value through interaction. How
do you get users to engage in the activities on your site? If the answer
isn’t as clear for you, the following 5 tenets of engagement success
will arm you with a common sense framework for building a successful
community.
1 - Define the purpose of your community
This
is a crucial first step that people often glance over in the excitement
of launching a new community. It’s so important that I don’t want to
put it off for another minute. Before you read any further, stop what
you’re doing and answer the following two questions about your
community:
Who are we?
What actions make our site valuable for our members?
Make it concise –
A focused identity makes it easy to communicate your message and forces
you to concentrate on what is really important. Look at your answer and
start crossing out words until you have only the most crucial aspects
that can be communicated in two sentences or less.
“We are a global community of nurse practitioners who are divided into 7 sections, and 50 chapters, providing thought leadership to our profession”
“Members come to the online community to share events and news that is relevant to the nursing profession. They are part of communities where they engage with other members and have discussions about user generated topics. Members also come to network with other members by making contacts.”
Make it clear -
When your members read this, they should identify as part of the WHO
and quickly understand WHAT they should be doing on your online
community. This helps them understand what your site is for and why it
is valuable to them.
This
will serve as the driving force for many of the decisions that you will
make along the way. It will help you focus your energy on what will
have the greatest impact on success, and serve as a beacon when you
stray too far from the path of your purpose.
DESIGN TIP
Your
logo should be the visual answer to the “who” part of the question.
Include the “what” in a tagline along with your logo. This will allow
users coming to the site to quickly get a sense for its purpose. The
example below from the Cosmetic Executive Woman uses a prominent tagline
that highlights specific actions to communicate the purpose of the
site.