Online Event Communities: Benefits, Challenges & Strategies

In this guide, we will learn about

• The benefits of the online communities.
• The challenges communities face.
• The strategies to keep community groups active & alive.  

Benefits of Building an Online Community

1. Increases Customer Retention

Online communities engage with the customers beyond the product or service itself which increases the customer retention rates. In fact, a community group creates a stronger emotional connection—making customers feel valued and also supported. As a result, they are more likely to renew their subscriptions & continue using your brand’s products or services.

2. Encourages Peer-to-Peer Learning

Online communities naturally promote peer-to-peer learning and create a collaborative environment. It allows community members to learn from one another; they can exchange ideas, ask questions, discuss challenges and share their personal experiences with one another. 

3. Boost Customer Engagement

Through the discussion boards, polls & live chats, online communities keep in touch with the customers. Customers are also encouraged to share their own experiences in the group.

4. Enhances Brand Credibility

By sharing user-generated content (UGC) such as customer reviews, success stories, testimonials and product tips, community members enhance the brand’s credibility. UGC is usually viewed as more authentic as well as trustworthy because it reflects real experiences from the real customers which helps to build trust and confidence among the future potential buyers.

5. Creates Buzz Around New Offerings

Online communities create excitement about a company’s new products and their features which leads to pre-launch discussions and word-of-mouth promotion of the product. Community members are more likely to share product updates on their social media and also recommend it to their networks—amplifying its reach organically.

For example

There is a smartphone company that is preparing to launch its latest phone. Before the launch, they host short sessions for community members to watch teaser videos and to look at its features. Members share their experiences through the posts on social media like Instagram and Facebook; the community group discusses the phone’s camera, battery life & more—creating a lot of buzz about the phone.

Expert Tips for Building Online Communities

1. Define Your Community Purpose

First, decide why you’re creating a community and what you want to achieve with it. Decide whether you want to start a community group to encourage networking, provide updates about your product, share industry news, or more. 

For example

CRM platforms create a community where they share CRM best practices, automation tips, and sales success stories. And fitness brands create a community where they share fitness journeys, workout routines, nutrition advice, and more.

2. Identify Your Ideal Members

In order to build a strong community, you need to identify ideal community members. Choose the specific audience that will benefit most from your community and actively contribute to it. 

For example

A webinar platform provider wants to create an online community where they share webinar best practices, lead generation strategies, and more, so its target audiences would be organizers, marketers, event planners, etc.

3. Create Community Guidelines 

Set ground rules for your online community group. Creating community guidelines will help maintain a positive and constructive environment. Plus, it will help promote the kind of interactions community members should have with each other. 

Encourage members to treat everyone with courtesy and respect their viewpoints. Ask members to keep discussions related to the community’s purpose only. Furthermore, instruct them not to share any promotional posts in the group.

4. Choose the Right Community Platform

Select an online community platform that offers features like discussion forums, direct messaging, event hosting capabilities, networking opportunities, member directories, moderation tools, analytics dashboard, and more. Also, check whether it supports webinars, seminars, networking events, Q&A sessions, and other types of virtual events.

5. Organize Regular Events

Organize regular events like a webinar, workshop, or Q&A session every month to make your community group active, alive as well as engaged. React to and reply to every comment or message that community members share in the group so that they feel heard, valued and encouraged to continue participating in the discussions. 

You can run fun weekly challenges—such as trivia quizzes, photo or video contests, networking bingo, knowledge-sharing challenges & more—to encourage regular participation.

6. Welcome New Members

Always welcome and introduce the new member to your community with a personalized message. A warm welcome will create a first positive impression on the new member, make them feel comfortable, and encourage them to ask questions, share valuable information, take part in group discussions, and build relationships with others.

What Challenges Can Organizers Face When Managing Online Event Communities?

1) Low Participation of Community Members 

One of the biggest challenges that organizations encounter is the minimal involvement of community members in the group. When an organizer shares any valuable information or asks for opinions on a particular topic in a group, few members respond, ask questions, and participate in discussions.

Solution

To overcome this challenge, run live Q&A sessions with speakers, realtime polls and networking activities. Members will be encouraged to join discussions, share valuable information, and become active members of the group.

2) Keeping Members Engaged After the Event

After the event, the organization falls short in engaging community members. During the event, attendees are naturally active and engaged as they participate in live sessions, networking, and discussions.

Solution

To overcome this challenge, share event recordings, presentation slides, and key event highlights with members. Furthermore, hold an AMA (ask me anything) session and fireside chat. Don’t let event discussions end post-event. Create discussion threads for each keynote, workshop, or panel and encourage attendees to ask follow-up questions and share insights.

3) Struggling in Expanding the Community

Organizations struggle to expand their online event communities, even when they host successful events.

Solution

To overcome this challenge, promote your community on social media platforms 

like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

4) Winning the Trust of New Members

Several organizations struggle to win the trust of new community members. New members are often hesitant to participate because they are skeptical or unsure whether their questions will be answered and their opinions will be valued.

Solution

To overcome this challenge, welcome them warmly and introduce them to others

existing members.

5 Best Virtual Event Platforms for Online Communities

1) Airmeet

Airmeet is a powerful virtual community platform that not only grows your community but also helps build real connections. This platform allows you to host community webinars and events that involve virtual tables for networking, group

activities, collective learning, and more.

During a live webinar, you can run live polls and hold a Q&A session to encourage audience participation and engagement in real time. You can also use the Speed Networking feature to meaningfully yet serendipitously connect your audience by looking at factors like their job title, region, and more.

In addition, you can create virtual tables to enable your audience to meet and engage with each other, as well as create separate tables for introductions, AMAs, new topics and trends, and more.

Airmeet offers additional features to make your online community event professional, such as custom landing pages, ticketing, custom registration forms, email invitations & reminders, evergreen & on-demand webinar support, analytics dashboard, and more.

2) Zoom Events

Zoom Events is a popular video conferencing platform that enables online communities to host interactive virtual events and webinars. In order to make your virtual community events look polished and professional, Zoom offers branding & customization, a custom registration page, HD live video streaming, an interactive virtual stage, and more. Plus, Zoom allows communities to host multi-day conferences and events. 

3) Hivebrite

Hivebrite is a customizable online community management and engagement platform that drives organic connections & creates positive impact across your community. This platform enables you to grow your community through creating subgroups & communities, email campaigns, multi-channel announcements, mentoring & peer-to-peer programs, and more. Hivebrite offers a fully white-labeled mobile app, allowing you to grow and engage your community from smartphones.

4) Bevy

Bevy is a community engagement platform that empowers you to effortlessly host and manage in-person, hybrid, and virtual community events. This platform enables you to grow your online communities through events, discussion forums, local chapters, and member groups. Bevy offers features called the Engagement Agent Hub that boost audience participation and retention. In addition, this platform offers gamification features such as points, badges, and a leaderboard that elevate audience participation and engagement.

5) Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is one of the most popular all-in-one community platforms, allowing businesses and creators to build communities with courses, events, livestreaming, gamification, and memberships. This platform offers you a configurable room where you can combine a feed, chat, events, courses, member directory, or a mix of them.

Final Thoughts

Online event communities not only bring shared interests and purposes of people together, such as customers, members, partners, users, or employees, but also allow them to socialize and engage with each other every day in a respectful way. Beyond the event days, community members can connect, exchange knowledge, and participate in group discussions. Customers are more likely to stick with you and have faith in your brand when you establish an online community.