6 ways to Onboard & Engage New Community Members

Onboarding new community members can be a challenging experience and as well challenging especially when creating an engaging environment in a community. The goal is to list 6 ways that could help advertise your community for new members and how to retain them for the long run.

• Using Social Media/Application
• Create a Welcoming Environment
• Schedule a time that works for most
• Have small events
• Encourage discussion
• Build trust

Using Social Media/Applications

The first way to onboard new community members is to use the biggest social and communication application in order to advertise your community.

An application that could help with finding new community members is something like AroundMe. This app lets you create hotspots that people with the application can be notified of and can attend the event assuming it's open.

Using social media as a tool is so crucial in today’s ever evolving world of technology that any community that does not use social media probably is very small. So it's best to use social media as a tool since everybody is already using it. Why not use it to onboard some new members.

Create a Welcoming Environment

After you have used social media to onboard new community members it's time for the crucial part in all of this. That is creating an environment that is welcoming.

This is so crucial because as the saying goes first impressions are everything. If a person who is interested in joining sees that the environment is not very welcoming or they’re seen as a complete stranger it will scare them off and most likely won't return.

The big thing is to create a good first impression that would make them keep coming back and even word of mouth tell their friends to join. A welcoming environment is extremely important if you want new members to join and actually feel like they are a part of something bigger.

**Schedule a Time that Works **

This one is a bit tricky to manage since people have different responsibilities and it's hard to schedule meeting times. So the only advice is to communicate properly with everyone and try to come up with a good time that hopefully the new members would actually be able to make.

This is key for onboarding and engaging new members since if their feedback is not being taken into consideration they will most likely leave.

Also if you communicate with them and find a time that works for them they will feel like they are contributing to the community even if it is small they will feel like they should since the time works for them so time won't be an issue.

Have small events

Having small events is an easy way to engage new community members. These small events are great since they are small enough that the new members can feel comfortable attending and be impactful and have a sense of accomplishment.

These events are so important because people who are interested in joining see that the small event does not require a massive amount of sacrifices in order to attend which turns many people away from the community.

Also having small events is great for getting to know new people for both people who are interested in joining and those who are already joined. These events would bridge the gap between being a member and those who are interested in being a member of the community.

Encourage Discussion

This should be on the top priority for any community that is interested in onboarding new members. Encouraging discussion with a new member will make them feel like an actual member rather than a person who is looking in.

Creating discussion is a great way to onboard new members in that when people have a voice and have some kind of impact on the community it makes people feel more invested in the community.

Having Discussion is not just great for onboarding new members but for the whole community since as long as more people are discussing the more people build connections which in turn make people want to attend any kind of event that the community host since its a way for people to interact with each other more and create a sense of bond between all members.

The last thing you want is the new member feel isolated from the older members and feel left out which makes people feel not welcomed and eventually they leave.

Build Trust

As mentioned on the other topics, building trust is important in keeping new and old members to work together and encourage each other. This will make new members feel at home and like a family which in turn they will feel good when attending any sort of event.

Building trust is key not just for a community but as a lifelong relationship even after members leave and at the end it’s all that matters. Creating a sense of belonging and a bond between all your members.

That's what will help keep your community alive and well with new faces and returning ones as well.

Conclusion

So to summarize these 6 ways will hopefully help you onboard new members and create an engaging community.

From using social media to building a welcoming community environment and also building great relationships with old and new members.

These tips should help you with your community endeavors and hopefully lead to a bigger and more closer community.