Understand your target audience
To succeed in creating a thriving community platform or professional network, its important to gain a deep understanding of your audience. Without this, your platform may fail to resonate with those it aims to serve.
Sometimes, leaders come to us with an idea for a platform, but they don't have at that point the evidence that shows their audience truly wants or needs it.
Building a thriving community platfrom requires careful planning! Doing research will always help.
Key questions to ask include:
- Who is the platform for?
- What value will it add to their daily lives or routines?
- How will it help you achieve your goals?
- What does success look like?
Below are some tried and tested strategies to help you fully understand your audience.
1. Engage in conversations
Don't guess your audience's needs; talk to them and find out. Understand their challenges, goals and priorities. Find out what digital tools they use and where there are gaps. Be as creative as you can, using all available tools, to gather a wide range of perspectives.
2. Analyse data
Use data to shape your strategy. Gather relevant information and statistics about your community. Study these insights to identify key audiences, focus your efforts effectively and create a community that truly meets needs.
3. Map existing assets
Communities thrive on their combined strengths; so mapping out existing networks, resources, activities and services will help you understand your community better. This process helps spot available services and hidden opportunities.
4. Observe behaviour
To create a platform that truly connects, step into your audience's world. Spend time with them, listen and observe. Map their experiences and explore their connections, noting important moments. Learn their behaviours, desires and gaps.
5. Bring people together
Hosting a workshop where everyone can freely share insights, experiences and ideas can make a big difference. The process of uniting stakeholders around community or network building can often generate many new ideas and opportunities.
6. Develop personas
Your audience is special and your community platform should reflect that. Making personas that embody their traits, needs and motivations will help you to customise your platform and create an engagement strategy that surpasses their expectations.
In short, to build a successful online community, understand your audience well. Use these methods to create a strong foundation that meets their needs. Let go of assumptions, work together and unlock your community's true potential.
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