Webinar: Growing and Retaining Your Community

Announcements
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On, 2025-05-20T17:00:00Z we explored why people join and stay in communities!

Watch the Replay

Key Takeaways

What is participation, anyway?

Participation - Why People Join and Stay in Communities (1)
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Participation - Why People Join and Stay in Communities
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Participation - Why People Join and Stay in Communities
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Key Motivators for Community Participation

  • Getting help or solving a problem/practical need.
  • Connecting with like-minded people.
  • Building credibility or reputation.
  • Giving back after receiving value.
  • Staying informed or accessing exclusive content.

Questions Answered in the Webinar
We had over 100 people answer this registration question:

What’s the biggest challenge you face in getting people to engage in your community?

Here are the top themes we saw across all questions, and members of the Product team and I go in-depth addressing these in the presentation!

  1. Getting People to Post First
    Many users visit and read but hesitate to make the first move or start a conversation.
  2. Low Participation After Launch
    Communities are started but fail to gain momentum—resulting in very few posts or ongoing activity.
  3. Time Constraints
    Both community managers and members feel too busy to engage consistently.
  4. Lack of Icebreakers or Starting Points
    Uncertainty around how to kick off conversations or guide first interactions.
  5. Large Member Base, But Low Engagement
    Even in communities with thousands of members, participation remains minimal.
  6. Overreliance on the Admin/Manager
    Engagement only happens when the community leader actively posts multiple times per day.
  7. Fear of Posting or Shyness
    Members may be hesitant to share due to social anxiety, fear of judgment, or unfamiliarity.
  8. Lack of Strategy or Know-How
    Some respondents admitted they don’t have a plan or aren’t sure what tactics will work.
  9. Unclear Value Proposition
    Members don’t immediately see why they should engage or what’s in it for them.
  10. Competing Platforms
    Some users prefer familiar platforms (e.g., Facebook), making it harder to transition them to a new space.

Mentioned Discourse Tools & Resources

What to Watch Next:

18 Likes
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Just confirming, will the webinar be recorded?

Thanks.

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Yes, it will! The replay will be posted in the OP a few days after the live event.

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@Danielle Did you post the slides from the webinar already? I want to translate and re-use them for some promotion among communities in Germany.

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Replay posted to the OP!

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What is “OP”? I was asking for the slides, not the replay. It would be handy if I could use your slides and just translate them. File format could be LibreOffice or MS Office, no problem …

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Hi Thomas, :waving_hand:

OP in this instance means ‘original post’ however, it can also mean ‘original poster’ As for the slides, I’ll let Danielle assist you.

Have a great day :sun: :smiley:

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Made a copy for you with just a blank template. Shooting you a DM now.

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