The leaves have changed colors and have begun falling. The air is brisker and winter clothes are now down from the attic. It’s that time of year. A time for Thanksgiving and celebrations with family and friends. With the changing of seasons entrepreneurs and community owners can reflect on this year’s accomplishments and list of work-ons. They also are in strategy mode for the upcoming year which means placing a great deal of emphasis on promoting their business or community.
Community owners want their community members to have access to the best tools, the most informative courses and webinars, and the most innovative ideas for growth. In our community, Online Community Creators, we are in the midst of a challenge called Growing Our Communities. In this challenge, we are laser-focused on impacting growth and sharing meaningful strategies to get there.
As part of the Growing Our Communities challenge, this week we are set to promote our communities for Cyber Monday! There are numerous ways to promote your community and our members have each chosen a strategy suitable for their business and audience. Some are focused on email nurturing campaigns, while others are creating and using lead-generation quizzes, free trials, and live events.
HOW CAN YOU USE CYBER MONDAY TO PROMOTE?
Email Nurturing Campaigns
As entrepreneurs and community leaders, it’s important to utilize effective email marketing to community members and your contact list. Email nurturing campaigns use automation and targeted email content to build relationships.
Promote your Cyber Monday offer through a series of emails that clearly lay out the benefits and incentives. You can do this gradually in 3-4 different emails that vary in presentation.
Lead-generation Quizzes
What kind of quiz is best for your community? There’s a variety to choose from depending on the makeup of your community. Keep in mind the most important aspects of any promotional campaign are the value given and the quality of the content.
Quiz options you can use for Cyber Monday
- Multiple-Choice Quiz – provide participants with multiple responses to choose from
- Picture Quiz – relies on images as the primary method for eliciting responses
- Trivia Quiz – test for knowledge on varying topics
- Community Insights – a quiz or poll used to discover the content interests of members
- Expertise – test the knowledge of members on specific topics related to them as a group
- Personality Quiz – find out more about who your community members are as individuals
- Myths vs. Facts Quiz – engage with members by using Fact vs. Fiction
Live Public Events
Host live events in your community to spark engagement. Conduct Q&A sessions where members and guests can ask questions and get answers to the obstacles they are facing. Hold webinars and workshops to educate and develop your members.
Community is all about connection. Connection with members who share common interests and passion. Any offer for social interaction amongst community members is wanted whether it’s voiced or not. People spend endless hours with their faces stuck to their phones without any human-to-human intimacy. Give members opportunities to engage face-to-face online.
Free Trials
Who doesn’t like to try something new for free? Answer: Nobody. Free trials give users an opportunity to try products and services for a period of time without any cost to them. This is an excellent way to allow prospective members a chance to see your online community and find out how it can be beneficial to them.
Offer prospects 7-14 days to take that virtual tour inside the community. Let them get a peek at spaces, channels, events, resources, and other “rooms” in your community. For Heather and I, we are looking forward to offering a free trial which is something we haven’t tried before.
It’s an experiment. The results can’t be predicted and that’s fine. It’s important as entrepreneurs and community leaders to try things. Failure isn’t punitive because lessons are learned and new attempts through other means are open to discover.
For those reading this blog who aren’t yet a part of the Online Community Creators, you can join our group of community owners by taking advantage of a FREE TRIAL membership.
Don’t miss out – click the button below to embark on this exploration with us.