How to build an active community system?

When we operate a community, the thing we fear most is probably that the community atmosphere is not active and everyone in the group is silent. This not only makes it difficult to understand the users of the community, but also makes subsequent traffic and conversion even more difficult.

1. High threshold

The higher the threshold, the higher the corresponding sunk cost for users! In order to raise the threshold, we can design payment, forwarding or review systems. I usually use the review system because among the thresholds, the review system has the strongest sense of ceremony.

2. Efficient Ice Breaking

Let me first point out a common misunderstanding. Many people on the Internet say that using red envelopes to break the ice is the most effective way. I don’t agree with this because many times when you throw out a few big red envelopes, it may make others pin their names to the top of the group and pay attention to the information in the group (just to wait for red envelopes), but it does not effectively break the ice.

There might be a sudden bustle in the group, with everyone coming out to say thank you (in fact, it would be good if 30% of those who grab the red envelopes come out to say thank you). If it is a small red envelope, it will be even more embarrassing. If the small account does not come out to lead, no one will even reply to the thank you.

So this is a misunderstanding of many community operators . In my opinion, red envelopes have no effect. What’s more serious is that users are spoiled by red envelopes, and sending red envelopes becomes a transaction. After grabbing the red envelope, they may say thank you but do not participate in the communication within the group - this is not the result we want.

So when I’m working on a community, I basically don’t use red envelopes, unless there are specific design scenarios.

Now back to the topic, how can we break the ice in the community?

First of all: it is necessary to clearly understand the people who want to create the group. It is crucial whether the people who create the group are really like-minded. If they are really like-minded, you can have the confidence to set a threshold for entering the group.

For example: Now there is an industry exchange group. Do users really have the need for this exchange? If so, are they willing to meet the threshold before joining the group? This is a practical way to consider whether a like-minded person is a true like-minded person. However, most of the communities on the market are operating fake like-minded people.

For example: many C-end user groups of social e-commerce directly let agents add people they know into the group. There is no threshold for the first 40 people, and later people can come in as long as they want. A common feature of social e-commerce is that it allows users to enjoy discounts.

But as soon as you enter the group, you start selling advertisements. All users remain silent, and then they bombard you with N red envelopes of 1 yuan. This mode gives people the feeling of harassment, and then the group is blocked or people exit. This group of like-minded people is actually fake because it does not touch on human nature.

I used to manage the C-end user group of social e-commerce. The people I used were enthusiasts who enjoyed discounts that others could not enjoy. You can understand the difference between enjoying discounts and enjoying discounts that others cannot enjoy. Enjoying discounts does not touch on human nature (at most it just touches on a little greed).

Because your discount may not be suitable for me, and everyone can enter, so it naturally lacks scarcity. To enjoy discounts that others cannot enjoy, you can not only set thresholds, but also limit the number of people, thus creating scarcity in the community.

Moreover, through the psychological effect of loss aversion, when people see that others cannot have something but they have the opportunity to own it, people who like shopping naturally don’t want to miss such an opportunity.

Therefore, finding true like-minded people who capture human nature is the first step in breaking the ice in a community. Of course, like-minded people also need to be packaged and guided so that users can recognize the importance of this like-minded person to themselves.

Then, after sorting out the people with similar interests, we need to put the ice-breaking behavior in front, so that users can break the ice as soon as they enter the group. The logic of this approach is to take advantage of the user's enthusiasm. Generally, in the first 1-3 days when users just join the community, their attention is very high, so we must use this time to complete the ice-breaking action.

Pre-icebreaking should make users feel involved, have a sense of ceremony and make commitments. The method I use most often is to let users introduce themselves after joining the group and make active commitments. The link of this pre-icebreaking is: users add personal accounts, let users complete the threshold for entering the group, introduce group rules to users and expand group interests, require users to complete specific actions after joining the group, and invite them to join the group.

The purpose of this approach is to enhance the user's sense of ritual by introducing group rules and group interests. The act of users introducing themselves after joining the group increases their sense of participation and allows users to make commitments, which is to take advantage of the psychology of commitment.

Generally, people tend to fulfill a promise after making it, and this promise is placed after the self-introduction, which invisibly amplifies the user's commitment psychology.

After users join the group, they introduce themselves and promise to be active. At this stage, users are willing to speak up and communicate, but they need us to give them the opportunity to fulfill their promise. As long as users speak up, the ice is naturally broken.

What I usually do is use topics. Topics are a quick way to break the ice, and topics also need to be designed. Generally, the threshold is set to the lowest + hot spots or explosive points + chat scripts. Users are activated through topics first, allowing users to speak in the group and eliminate their vigilance.

However, topic design is very important. We should use topics that can affect users' emotions, because it is the stimulation of users' emotions that will arouse their strong desire to express themselves.

What do users need most after they start engaging in group behavior?

Users need positive feedback, which can be the recognition of people in the group, the recognition of the group owner, or extra points in the points system. These are all positive feedback on the user's speaking behavior. After receiving positive feedback, users will have a sense of belonging.

Because he gained recognition from others here and his words attracted other people's attention. This will encourage him to speak a second or third time. At this point, the entire ice-breaking process has been completed, and the activity level in the group will be very high afterwards.

3. Points system design

Value is the key to the continued activity of a community, and this value is designed through a points system. Therefore, the effectiveness of the points system design will directly affect the sustainability of the group's activity.

Next, I will use the private community points system that I designed for a friend who owns a clothing store on Tmall to explain the reason for my design. Because of this points system, her community clothing sales increased by more than 2 times.

1. Point 1: Points must be designed around the closed loop of "core actions"

What is a "core action"? The core action is the action that we most want users to do. This action is directly linked to our fission or conversion goals.

For example, I designed the “Post buyer’s show pictures in the group + 5 points”. Actually, I wanted to design this point so that her core action is buying clothes. So in order to get these 5 points by posting buyer’s show pictures, she has to complete the action of buying clothes. After she buys clothes, she will definitely post buyer’s show pictures, and by posting buyer’s show pictures she will definitely get points. Getting points will encourage her to consume again. This is the closed loop of user actions.

2. Key point 2: Hierarchical drive design of points

There is often more than one core action in a community. Multiple core actions can be designed, but it is necessary to drive user behavior through point grading by comparing point differences.

I will continue to use examples to explain this to you. In this case, my core actions are as follows:

1. Grab the lucky draw red envelope - participation (0.5 points)
2. Invite female friends to join the group - fission (1 point)
3. Number of speeches – activity (2 points)
4. Showing off the seller’s experience – Buying clothes (3-5 points)

Let's look at it from low to high. Why do we need to design points for grabbing the lottery red envelope? Because it can increase her participation. You can imagine:

A user participated in a red envelope draw in a group. She didn't win a prize, but she got a red envelope and obtained 3 points (a voucher worth 1.5 yuan). Is this a positive feedback for her participation in the red envelope draw? The points generated will encourage her to continue to grab red envelopes and follow the group.

We don't need to say much about fission. This is a way for users to exchange points for social currency. It is not the main means of fission, so we will not elaborate on it here.

As for the number of speeches, this requires us to return to the essence of the community. What are the people in this kind of community like?

Wanting to make yourself more beautiful is actually a kind of greed for beauty, so the topics in this group are naturally related to beauty, and the topic related to beauty is the seller's show.

You can imagine that when a user posts his or her own seller show, it gives all other users an opportunity to generate topics, such as "your legs are so thin", "this dress is so fairy", "how tall are you", etc. Because these are topics that women are interested in, and if the activity level is high enough, they can get extra points as rewards. So, is there a cumulative effect here on promoting activity?

Let's look at the seller show. Why do we have to design two forms of seller shows? Because we prefer that she post a seller show with upper body pictures, but many people are unwilling to post pictures of their upper body. But in order to make it a display, we have to settle for the second best option and set up a system where points can be earned by posting pictures of receiving the goods.

This also forms a form that allows users to freely choose to post their own show. By comparing points, it is easier for them to choose to take upper body pictures, and upper body pictures make it easier for more people to generate topics.

You can see that the points for different levels are different. The more important the core action is to us, the more complicated it will be for the user, because the straight line between two points is the shortest, but it is the most difficult to walk, so we need to give it more drive.

3. Key Point 3: The meaning of points, how to consume and calculate the cycle

So what is the meaning of points?

What it means to us is to drive users, and what it means to users is the value to them. In the above case, what it means to users is money. 1 point is equivalent to a 3-yuan voucher. The design of 1:3 is not made on a whim, but is based on the average order value of clothes and the analysis of users. If the points cannot give users the value they want, all designs will be meaningless.

How to consume and accumulate points continuously, it is important to give users a way to use the points. The usage method in the above case is to use them as vouchers with no threshold.

It is important to calculate the cycle and reset it to zero regularly. This is why the sales of the above-mentioned communities will surge at the end of the month. Giving users a reason to use their points is that the points will expire. Sunk costs + loss aversion + herd effect, often no one can resist the temptation.

Therefore, in the early stage, give users as many points as possible, put out more baits, and the harvest will naturally be rich.

4. Point 4: Design the effect of other people’s points on users

In order for points to arouse users' comparison psychology, they must be ranked in order of high and low. What is more important for points is to consider their driving effect on users.

You can see in the above case that I designed a statistical item in the statistical table: the most recent use of points is actually to let other users pay attention to what others are buying, forming a herd effect. The reality of the points system is also designed based on whether it can drive users.

Mastering the above three tips can not only extend the life cycle of the community, but also you don’t have to worry about the community’s activity. Writing is not easy. If this article has given you some inspiration to understand the community, our fate begins with the likes.

Author: Wai Wai Kan Community

Source: Waiwaikan Community