The first interactions with your community members, welcoming them to joining your community will make a long-lasting impression on a new member and provide the foundation for your community to build a relationship that continues for decades.
Now that you have your new members joining your community, as a Community Manager, Admin, or Moderator, you have one job to do… Make the members feel welcomed and feel at home. Now achieving this could be done in multiple ways. We are going to dissect the pros and cons of every way in welcoming new members. You are welcome to dive in, let’s do this!
Conventional ways of welcoming new members
I know it could be overwhelming to keep a track of new member sign-ups, and it could be a tad overwhelming to handle an aggrandizing number. Let us see the common ways Community managers and Admins follow in welcoming new members.
A big no-no for Greet-bots
You could have big problems like resolving chaos in your community… But just to take an easy way out, you can’t use a helpful Greet-bot which sends out a sweet welcome message to the new member.
Now let me tell you something… Why do customers or users join your community in the first place? What do they expect from your community? Oh! Just forget about what you provide your members through your community -- but Members join your community having little expectations that your community must be excited for them joining in.
They expect you to reach out and connect with them and other members of the community, now if you send them a bland welcome message that is sent by a BOT, where is the goddamn human touch to it? Where is the positive reinforcement in it? Eventually, your members would be so disappointed that they even joined the community in the first place? I mean, they forked out their time in joining your community and what are you giving them in return? Well, what is the point?
Ah! How the mighty has fallen! What is the price for your easy way out? You lose your new member. Trust me, your members know the difference between an actual BOT and a human interaction.
Sending a personalized welcome message
A personalized message is a great touch, especially if you can keep tabs on new sign-ups, then you can instantly make a great first impression on your members. You can gather some information about them from their social media handles to spice it up a little, and also to be a little creative.
This is also a place where you can mention your members’ interests and passions and tag an existing member who shares similar interests.
Fun and creative ways to welcome new members
Why should welcoming new members be very professional when we can do it differently?
Sending a welcome message doesn’t always have to be done by Community managers or Admins. Oh really? Then who else should do the deed?
Existing members welcoming new members
Why should Community managers do weightlifting all the time? They can delegate it to other members and when other existing members do the welcoming part it becomes very realistic and even fun for new members.
It also is more friendly and it eases the tension among new members -- eventually opening up would be made easy-peasy. It relieves the pressure on Community managers as well.
Example:
Hey Ted,
We are so excited to have you here. I am Alex, a part of this community, and to represent our whole community. Welcome to our community. We are so chuffed to have you join our community. I and other members of the community are here to help you out with anything, but if you are into Self-exploration -- then I have attached the links below. Do check it out. And hey! DO NOT forget to introduce yourself over here ‘Introduce yourself’.
How about a quick catch-up over a call?
You can save more time by having a quick call with your members. Well, you can do it over Meet or Zoom call too. It’s almost 2022. Come on! As far as your members are comfortable with it. You can have a quick chat with them and then after the call, send them the relevant links to make their way around your community.
Calling your new members will give them a more special feeling and it is also a great way to reach out to someone personally. You can ask their likes and interests, so you can tag existing members according to new members’ inclinations. This way you can create cohorts in the long run.
Send brand gifts and swags
Sending out swags and brand gifts to new members is the most popular way to welcome a member and is more appreciated by new members. You could send them a personalized message or a quick call and write a thank you note along with some fun brand gifts. You can send a follow-up email with important links and ask them to introduce themselves in the space for new members. This way you could get their phone numbers and addresses and also your members will be absolutely delighted for the recipient.
The intro part
Now the whole welcoming part is done, moving on to the Introduction part. Your community members should open up and this could be a tricky part.
Introducing themselves on a personal level, apart from their professional side will add more value to your community, and also it will make them feel better to open up about their personal interests and interests. If you want to make it easier for your new members then you can send them a message prompting them to answer a few questions along with the Intro part.
For Example:
We are so pleased that you joined our community. Please take a moment to introduce yourself along with your views and answers to the following questions.
- What do you want to say to this community?
- Why did you choose to be a part of our community?
- Do you want to tell them about your journey to becoming a member of the community?
- Why don’t you tell us where you live so you can connect with fellow members in your city?
- Why don't you tell us the quirkiest nickname you have and the history behind it?
- Have you ever been a part of a community before? How did it affect you? Did you contribute to any community before?
- What's the unique thing about our community that got your attention?
- What is the weirdest food you've ever had? Trust me, we have had some super weird foods.
- Are you a foodie? Book-lover? Chatter-box? Do let us know, we have fellow members who are fanatical about the mentioned things like you -- so why not connect with them?
- We give a special shout-out to new members who have introduced themselves in the most funniest and best ways. So why don't you share with us some of your funny personal experiences and be the next one on the shout-out list?
Sharing stories
Your newly joined members won't be up to sharing personal stories unless you do it in the first place. You will find it compelling to share stories, but when you do so, you will enable others to start to open up as well. The most gratifying responses aren’t necessarily the most congratulatory ones--they are the ones in which people found themselves compelled to share stories back. This is when you know you have made a breakthrough in enabling others to share their stories in your community. If you achieve this, then your community members will be with you on the long haul.
It won't be a great start where members of your community would start pouring their hearts out. Let us say, you share a story about yourself or a story related to you, how the community helped you in overcoming you. You can end your story with something like…
I hope to hear the same from whoever cares to share a few or many words in our community. I have faith that something good can come from it.
This would allow your members to start sharing their stories. Quantity is a useless proxy for meaning. It doesn't have to be a lengthy essay, brevity is powerful! Even if it's just a few sentences, it is always welcomed with gratitude.
Like and appreciate
Wouldn't you be grateful that your members came forward to share their stories amongst strangers? Never forget to like their stories or posts and appreciate their bravery for opening up which many people find very hard.
Your token of appreciation would make them feel special and also encourage other members of your community to share their stories. It's a positive domino effect. More members will come forward and share their stories. OH! And don't forget to like!
The final takeaway
Welcoming your members into the community doesn’t have to be monotonous and drab, you can get creative by asking silly and simple questions – both personal and also related to your community. This way you will get to know the personal side of your community members and also you will get a crystal clear picture of what they are expecting from your community. So go ahead, try creative and best scenarios to welcome new members and to enable them to open up.
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