The document provides tips for community managers to increase member participation and retention. It recommends (1) promoting specific activities for members to do within the community, (2) asking members to share what they are doing, thinking or feeling to spark discussion, and (3) optimizing the six main communication tools like forums, emails and notifications to engage more members. It also suggests setting goals, focusing on popular topics, making members feel their contributions are valued, designing autonomy-supportive features, and building connections between members to keep them actively involved over time.

1. BY RICHARD MILLINGTON
FOUNDER, WWW.FEVERBEE.COM
crack the social code:
Turn Members Into Contributors

2. 7% of members
will CONTRIBUTE
TO the community
HigherLogic, 2015
Community Benchmarking Report

3. 37%WHO participate
will make 1+
contribution
HigherLogic, 2014
Community Benchmarking Report

4. we need 39 members
to get 1 REGULAR, active, participant
(0.07 * 0.37) = 0.0259
1/0.0259 = 38.61

5. 0"
500"
1000"
1500"
2000"
2500"
3000"
3500"
1" 2" 3" 4" 5" 6"
Sector"Growth"Rate"
Community"Burn"Rate"

6. We’re in a life and death
struggle For retention

8. fix the pipes first

9. + Technology
+ Data
+ Psychology
= Retention

10. Level 1:
improve your basic calls to action

14. I can’t wait to connect,
share, and be
welcomed today!!!

15. Invite people to do
something specific
within the community

16. Level 2:
asking members to do the right things

23. must interest
new and old members

24. doing
thinking
feeling
fearing

25. doing
thinking
feeling
fearing
Working on?
Upcoming events?
Spend time on?

26. doing
thinking
feeling
fearing
Books read?
Recently learned?
Future predictions?

27. doing
thinking
feeling
fearing
What do you think
about {topic}?
What do you like/
dislike about {topic}?

28. doing
thinking
feeling
fearing
Worried about?
Struggling with?
Biggest challenges?

29. Level 3:
use 6 communication tools effectively

30. Direct messages
and notifications
Forum posts
and replies
Banners / sticky
discussions
News / blog
posts / content
Newsletters /
mass e-mails
ThemYou
Welcome e-mails
& autoresponders
Frequency
of use
# people
you reach

31. Direct messages
and notifications
Forum posts
and replies
Banners / sticky
discussions
News / blog
posts
Newsletters /
mass e-mails
ThemYou
Welcome e-mails
& autoresponders
Frequency
of use
# people
you reach
optimise every tool

32. Notifications

33. existing discussions

34. Add CTAs to
the areas people
actually visit

35. single-focus
welcome e-mails

36. Tell members
where to
go next
(use a bit.ly link)
to track it

37. what’s popular?

38. drive people
to your most
popular discussions

39. Autoresponders

40. This is what your
e-mails look like in the
future of the inbox

42. Deliver huge
value in 1st e-mail

43. Deliver huge
value in 1st e-mail

44. Culture / USP of the
community

45. Culture / USP of the
community

46. simple hack:
who isn’t the group for?

47. More resources in the
3rd e-mail

48. More resources in the
3rd e-mail

49. Community culture in
the 4th e-mail

50. Culture / CTA in the
4th e-mail

51. Use curiosity-driven
subject lines for
higher open rates

52. Level 4:
create explosive momentum

55. you can’t have social
momentum without….

56. specific,
hard, goals

57. interview 20+
members
then survey
the group
to validate

58. solicit
opinions
first from
20 people

59. this sounds
suspiciously hard
so let’s cheat…

60. remove the bad stuff

61. solicit ideas to
achieve group goals
in-page analytics can
quickly identify least
popular areas of the site

62. focus on the
successful stuff

63. List discussions by popularity
(replies/activity/views). Categorise
top 30 discussion topics.

64. 0
75
150
225
300
Technology Onboarding Metrics Gamification Guidelines Security Definitions Examples PseudonymitySub-G
More discussions,
articles, and spotlighting
on the winners

65. 0
75
150
225
300
Technology Onboarding Metrics Gamification Guidelines Security Definitions GamificationPseudonymitySub-G
More discussions,
articles, and spotlighting
on the winners
big wins are
usually 1) + 2)

66. Level 5:
Keeping members active for life

67. Level 5:
Keeping members active for life
2 - 3 years

69. “No clear evidence”
“No support”
(Wahba & Bridwell, 1979)

70. competence
autonomy
relatednes
SELF-
DETERMINATION
THEORY

71. everyone is too busy
to participate

72. Your
community
Priorities
e-mailFacebook
BlogsTwitter
Relevant
news sites
Game of Thrones
Spoiler Sites

73. INFORMATION
SEEKERS
THE PROBLEM is

75. People look for information far
less frequently than they look
to satisfy social needs

76. competence

77. members will participate in a
group if they can keep make
unique, useful, contributions

78. ASK MEMBERS
ABOUT THEIR
EXPERIENCE &
EXPERTISE

79. label their
experience
and Expertise

81. Find and reference
their expertise

82. be specific
where they
contribute
expertise

84. HIGHLIGHT gREAT
CONTRIBUTIONS

86. …AND DOCUMENT THEM!

87. turn members
into experts

90. autonomy

91. autonomy
perceived
support

92. how do we design an
autonomy-supportive
Community ?

93. how do we design an
autonomy-supportive
Community ?
Measure
Recruit volunteers
train volunteers
automated messages
feel understood
design options
follow-up

94. www.selfdeterminationtheory.org/
perceived-autonomy-support/
Measure your
group’s PAS

95. recruit greeters

96. train
volunteers
IN ‘ALCO’

97. e-mails appear
from you.
Replies go to you

98. ask questions
to create
understanding

99. Design options
to pursue this
unique beliefs
and passions Tackle questions
on key topic
Run column/
group/category
Find
experts
Give
feedback
How would you like
to be involved?

100. follow up
and sustain
interest
Use
inbox.google.com
Use
inbox.google.com

101. Social
relatedness

102. what to
look for
References to the past
Mentions by name
Inside jokes
High self-disclosure
Off-site connections
Sub-groups forming

103. more references
to the past

104. content about members,
mention by name

105. Increase the level
of disclosure
More specific
More detailed
More researched
More emotive
More self-disclosure
More funny
More ……….?

106. Ask clarifying questions,
push for more information,
and for more disclosure

107. List both your online/offline
events AND other events in your
sector (linked to discussions!)

108. Let members create and promote
their own events for other members

109. Introduce
RITUALS

110. First
ritual
Engagement
Experience
Introduce to
similar member
etc…
Identify
wants
Create
opportunities
Recruit
volunteers
Follow
up
Identify
expertise
Explain where
to use expertise
Highlight
expertise
Give
ownership

111. Level 6:
Become more Influential

112. do you have a style
of participation?

113. being nice doesn’t
lead to influence

114. don’t be a
customer
service rep

115. don’t be the
angry god

116. AN INFLUENCE-
BASED
MODEL OF
PARTICIPATION

117. =
connected

118. =
practical
steps to get
connected
INTERVIEW EVERY
TOP EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD
HOST EVENTS, ACTIVITIES
(ONLINE OR OFFLINE)
ATTEND AS MANY EVENTS
AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN
ASK FOR INTRODUCTIONS

119. Research top people by
Amazon books, top blogs/
content sites, and speakers
at relevant conferences.

120. Publish the interviews as
blog posts, white papers,
podcasts or webinars

121. Ask for introductions to key
people you want to meet

122. respected

123. =
practical
steps to
become
respected
SYNTHESIZE EXISTING
KNOWLEDGE
PUBLISH NEW RESEARCH/
DATA/CONTRADICTORY
PERSPECTIVES
SPEAK AT EVENTS
IN YOUR FIELD

125. What people
know/agree on
Good speaking
topics

126. likeable

127. =
practical
steps to
become
likeable
ADD POSITIVE LANGUAGE
TO EVERY INTERACTION
IDENTIFY MEMBER PROBLEMS
AND HELP TO RESOLVE THEM
DELIVER FREQUENT,
UNEXPECTED, PRAISE
SHOW GENUINE INTEREST
IN MEMBERS

129. CONNECTED:
“I don’t know personally, but I know
@Jon, @Susan, and @Carol have
worked on this. Can they help?”

130. RESPECTED:
“There are four great systems here.These
are the pros and cons of each…Here are
some examples of these in action”

131. LIKEABLE
“Love the question. I don’t think we’ve spoken about
automated text analysis before. How are you using it
right now? Can you share any successes?”

132. select a participation style
and stay consistent

133. SUMMARIZE THIS!
1) Promote an activity within the community
2) Ask members to share what they’re doing, thinking, feeling, or fearing
3) Optimize your 6 communication tools
4) Set goals, remove the bad stuff, and focus on good stuff
5) Make members feel they can make unique, useful, contributions
6) Design ways members can participate
7) Build a better sense of connection
8) Become more influential

134. download.feverbee.com
get half the book
for free!