Want to build a community? This is what you need to know

Content is a lightning rod to attract people who have something in common. They pick up the signal and think, “This is interesting and I’m going to follow along.” But community is about opening up relationships between individual followers and generating value from them.

In April 2021, Jay Clouse gave an online workshop for creators and aspiring organizers, sharing the lessons he’s learned as an experienced community builder. He revealed that the core traits of group identity are common interest, shared responsibility, joint ownership.

Ok, so why do people join communities? 1) Human connection 2) Transformation 3) Finding a sense of identity. (Be aware of this last point: identity is hard to promote explicitly because people aren’t necessarily aware of it happening.)

Clouse believes there are three golden rules to building a thriving community: 1) Have a clear purpose and reason for joining 2) Provide a frictionless and inviting onboarding experience 3) Make sure participation is gratifying. Let’s look at each of these in closer detail...

Purpose: Why does your community exist? It must be a fundamental reason that serves others. What promise are you making? Imagine people are hiring your community for a specific job that needs doing. How are you different? If someone’s doing the same thing better, forget it.

It’s a big mistake to think that audience + tools = community. Without a clear purpose, people make assumptions about why they’re joining and what they’re expecting to get out of it. Be clear up front that you know how to deliver something specific.

Onboarding: The first thing someone thinks when joining a community is, “Now what?” If you run out of answers to that question before your promise has been delivered, people will leave. Create a mechanism that lets the user think, “Oh, I came here for X and I got it.”

Gratification: Your community experience needs to reward people quickly. It’s not about the platform itself. It’s not about the tools or technology members can use. The truth is that people will go out of their way to do something as long as their desires are being satisfied.

Emulate effective offline communities. There’s a reason they’ve been around since the dawn of humanity. Think about joining a gym: you’re shown around, offered training, introduced to others. And if you stick with it, you’ll see a transformation. That’s pretty appealing.

Bottom line: Life involves a lot of self-discovery. Communities simply accelerate that process. Its members are typically trying to get from point A to point B. When that journey is complete, it’s important that they can clearly see the role your community played in it.