41 Community Engagement Ideas To Make Money Quickly

Do you need some community engagement ideas to burst your online community to life?

Different types of businesses show that communities complement business strategies and can be the basis of their thriving.

For instance, according to research from the University of Michigan, online communities have increased consumer spending by 19%.

Below, you’ll find multiple community engagement ideas to make more money quickly.

What Are Best Community Engagement Ideas?

Online communities can be a valuable asset that not only supports your business but might also become your secret weapon to secure a steady stream of profit. Nevertheless, managing an active community with engaged members shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Your most active community members might turn into your most dedicated fans. The power of their dedication lies in their honesty and sincere enthusiasm toward what you do and offer. That’s why the most effective community engagement strategies stem from genuinely sharing the same mindset.

Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty with these practical tips.

1. Start With a Warm Welcome.

To start building relationships with your members when they join your community, it’s a must. It’s also the most logical thing to do.

Imagine you’re this kid who moved to a distant town. They must enter a new class full of unknown faces, children who already know each other quite well. If the child is welcomed with a smile and encouragement, their journey could be much easier. A warm welcome can make things so much better.

It’s similar to joining a new community where there are already some rules, customs, and traditions. Make sure your new members are welcome.

2. Create Member Profiles They Want To Complete With Info.

It can be a very effective community engagement strategy. Giving members their space to show who they are and what they do makes it possible for them to build relationships with one another. That’s how you trigger their willingness to engage further.

The mere availability to fill out their member’s profile might not be enough for them to do it well. Encourage people to fill their member profiles with relevant information so other members can learn more about them.

That’s a great way to increase engagement since members of the same community have access to other people’s profiles, and this gives them a chance to learn about one another, making their sense of belonging to the same group more natural and authentic.

3. Stay Responsive, Active, And Channel-Flexible.

Nothing is as lethal to your online community as leaving it without supervision. With no regular updates or guidance, its members lose reasons to stay on board. It’s pretty simple: why should other people care about your community if you don’t?

Be responsive. Show other members that this place is worth being around, and they don’t want to miss out on anything. Answering questions and being there to encourage their involvement — that’s what you do to keep it alive.

Using multiple channels is wise since it decreases the possibility that any member will stay in the dark when something meaningful happens.

People have different preferences when it comes to communicating, so when one person checks their email inbox, the other will choose to receive a WhatsApp notification.

By choosing various communication methods, you ensure your message comes through and gets to the recipient.

4. Be a Firm But Fair Community Manager To Keep Your People’s Trust.

Community management might feel overwhelming. Especially when keeping it organized, having rules in place is indispensable. They are like guidelines that show community members how your platform works.

Without firm community management, your community is at risk of being taken over by chaos. That’s why you have to be consistent and assertive.

On the other hand, you also want to make sure the way you moderate is fair. Treat all members equally, whether they are community leaders or new members.

If a community issue needs solving, be as impartial as possible. In the beginning, you’re most likely to act as the sole community manager of your platform. Once you increase community engagement, you can start thinking about assigning or employing community managers.

5. Build a Safe Engagement Habitat.

If you want to encourage community members to be active, they have to feel safe being part of it. First of all, choose a trustworthy online community engagement tool. Make sure the platform you select is secure and steady.

Creating a safe space also means that the terms and conditions you introduce when accepting new members aren’t just theory. If it’s clear leaking information inside the community isn’t allowed, remember to enforce consequences whenever someone breaches it.

6. Keep It Organized And Clear.

Keeping things organized within your online community platform is another basic rule among engagement strategies to ensure your community thrives.

Whenever there are some downloadable resources or links relevant to your community members, ensure they are easy to locate and access.

It’s also a good idea to let your new members understand how the community works, where to look for specific content, and where to reach out for support.

7. Create a Sense Of Purpose.

Ensure there’s a clear goal of belonging to your community. Being open about your aims will help you avoid any confusion. Given how busy we all are today, people appreciate whenever you don’t waste their time.

On the other hand, if your community’s goals are precise, they are easier to measure. This way, you can easily see if the community engagement strategies you applied do work or require reworking.

8. Support Charity Events For The Causes You All Care About.

Community engagement events are a great tool to increase community engagement and support someone in need. By organizing events for the sake of the chosen charity, you show that community involvement can bring perks not just to its members.

It’s another way of reinforcing your community and encouraging people to be more engaged.

9. Speak Directly To Your Community Members.

Communicating with your online community is a perfect opportunity to use your brand voice and show how you stand out.

Addressing your community members must be consistent with how you speak as a brand. Be sure to keep it consistent, reliable, and believable.

10. Make Community Challenges a Regular.

One of the best strategies to increase community engagement is to set community challenges. It adds to the sense of purpose mentioned earlier, for it’s another community engagement tool that allows you to motivate community members to leave their comfort zones.

Just ensure you have a proper incentive ready, as you want to exceed people’s expectations to keep them on their toes, waiting for another challenge.

11. Motivate Your Community Space With Gamification, Competitions, And Giveaways.

Here’s a community engagement strategy that can be used effectively outside of your own community and boost it anyway. That’s one of those community engagement tools where you encourage your members to share your content, tagging their friends or followers, to be in the run for a prize.

You should use this community engagement strategy carefully, for giving your products away too easily might make them look less valuable.

Using gamification for community building is a great idea to engage your community members.

A small contest with rewards from time to time will be a wise community engagement strategy to apply since it can motivate your current members and lead to their success. And that’s another proof your online community keeps its promise.

Don’t forget about meaningful rewards. Try to analyze what the most valuable incentive for the members would be. Using digital products is easier since you don’t have to worry about delivery, but sometimes, the physical item might be a better option. It all depends on your particular circumstances.

Keep your rewards diverse so every new game contest doesn’t feel like a routine.

Healthy competition can be indeed one of the best community engagement ideas there. Competing with others can generate another level of motivation for your community members to pursue their goals and grow.

While it is also some gamification strategy, competitions have quite a prominent feature, as they always prove a winner.

12. Create a Freebie That People Will Benefit From.

People love getting something for free. You might doubt if creating a free resource is a wise idea. After all, you’re not getting paid for your work. But the idea behind offering free, meaningful content is quite simple and very clever at the same time.

Your free resource is like a taster of what you have to offer, and if done right, sharing freebies will only make your audience yearn for more.

It’s also a very effective community engagement strategy because community members can feel you care enough to share part of your expertise with them. It adds to their feeling of belonging to this particular community.

13. Provide Downloadable Resources.

Providing a library with downloadable content is a brilliant way of improving your community members’ experience. An online community can be a valuable way of helping tackle their particular problem. This downloadable content is another strategy to ensure they remember you’re a specialist in your field.

These resources may come in different forms. From files with checklists, cheat sheets, or worksheets to instructional videos where you’re walking your audience step by step, showing them how to do something.

14. Consider Flash Sale And Early Bird Offers.

Another way of reinforcing the sense of belonging to a unique community is offering its members exclusive offers they wouldn’t get access to otherwise.

A flash sale of your products, especially within a specific time frame, is available only to your community members. Or early bird offers where they can buy earlier, before anyone outside the community.

Another idea to consider is posting early bird offers. Sharing it exclusively with your community members is a great way of proving to them there’s additional value to their membership.

15. Reward Active Members And Remove Inactive Ones.

Once you can see the community engagement strategies you implemented work, it’s time to reward the most active members. There are different kinds of acknowledgments you’ll want to use. Examples include:

• Promote ‘regular’ members to ‘super members’ by offering them the roles of a moderator or a mentor. The latter might be a meaningful incentive since mentoring others can be evidence of expertise.
• Give the most active members members a shoutout. Acknowledge them publicly, telling your community how their actions supported the group.
• Set up a points system where accumulated points allow your community members to claim benefits like discounts, prizes, etc.

16. Create Member Spotlights To Highlight a Community Member And Celebrate Their Victories Together.

Encourage your members to share their success stories with the rest of your community with your member spotlight initiative.

Acknowledging their successes publicly will not only motivate them to grow more, but it will also strengthen their sense of belonging to the community.

17. Introduce Badges.

Using badges to emphasize your members’ engagement is a simple but powerful community engagement strategy.

Not only is it an acknowledgment of their status, but it can have some direct results. In a way, the most active members, by default, seem to be the most knowledgeable ones.

This way, new members might turn to them with any doubts. What’s more, your community leaders could see a direct financial result of this exposure.

18. Encourage Members’ Content.

Posting or reposting user-generated content is a win-win situation.

In the case of your community members, your readiness to publish user-generated content is a chance to reach out to a broader audience.

When it comes to you, you have a chance to fill your content calendar earlier and attract even more community members. Of course, only if the content is relevant to the community.

19. Reach Out To Micro-Influencers.

Consider using influencers if you’re wondering how to generate external community engagement. Research who would make sense for your specific community.

Be selective and focus on micro-influencers instead of some big names. Typically, those who do it on a smaller scale also don’t accept random offers because of hefty payment. You want to focus on people who share your values.

It makes sense to choose right since you don’t want your brand to be associated with untrustworthy people. It can always backfire and do more harm than good.

20. Offer a Referral Program.

A referral program is a good community engagement concept since it shows directly in the money your community members get for recommending your products.

Your community members will spend their time spreading the word of mouth since it will show in the payment they cash. This way, you’re using another external community engagement strategy.

21. Create a Super Member Program.

Creating a super member program is one of the most effective community engagement strategies. Building a group for super members only allows them to be part of a premium space.

Just ensure that when you design your super member program, you fill it with benefits that make sense for your tribe.

22. Bind Them Deeper By Creating Subcommunities And Private Groups.

Think about creating smaller groups. More private circumstances might lead to a safe space where community members feel bold enough to build better relationships.

How you use this community engagement idea is up to you, and it’s based mainly on the type of your online community.

23. Offer Coaching And Mentorship.

This community engagement strategy will work well for communities where members are still beginners who don’t feel comfortable doing things independently.

By offering them this kind of support, you encourage them to grow. Plus, you’re proving your expertise in the field.

24. Partner With Other Creators And Businesses.

The idea of building relationships doesn’t need to stop with the limits of your own community. Reach out to companies from various niches, including your own, or content creators who share the same values you do.

Think about how you can support each other and do something meaningful together. That might be extremely helpful, especially for those of you still struggling to progress. To increase engagement this way, reach out to possible partners with a fresh idea on a relevant topic.

You might be surprised when more prominent players decide to share your initiatives within their own communities.

25. Host Online Events.

While the remote mode has limitations, there are still ways of engaging your community members in direct interaction with others.

Virtual events can be a robust community engagement strategy. Here are some more specific ideas on how to engage with your online community on a more personal level:

• Virtual panel discussion.
• Virtual networking event.
• Virtual workshop.
• Ask Me Anything sessions.
• Webinar events.
• Virtual coffee mornings.

26. Take Your Community For An Offline Event.

Building ties within your community by engaging with your members online is a good community engagement strategy. Yet, at some point, organizing a live event where community members can meet each other in person makes sense.

An in-person event from time to time is an excellent way of diversifying your community engagement events. Encourage the members of your community to actively engage in organizing offline events. Think about what they might benefit most from. It might be a live workshop or a conference. Or both.

Whenever you struggle to decide what relevant topic could be helpful in your community, encourage people to speak out. Come up with some ideas and ask them to vote.

Such events attended offline have the power to solidify your community. There’s always this possibility that some community members can’t participate in person, so consider creating a hybrid attendance model. This way, no one is going to feel sidelined.

27. Socialize remotely.

One of the cool ideas to tighten connections within your community is to socialize. And even if people are on different continents, the Internet allows us to fight this barrier.

With a virtual watch party, the participants agree not only to watch the same movie or TV show. They do it simultaneously, even though there’s a lot of distance between them.

Another idea is a book club. Sharing ideas, discussing differences, drawing inspiration from a given book is a good idea not only to

28. Use Live Streaming Regularly.

Another effective community engagement strategy worth noting is using live streaming. It indeed urges your community members to show up when the time comes.

If particular community members live in different time zones, making the recording available afterward makes sense. Or, at least mark some highlights.

Later, you might release the recording as available for purchase. This way, you may not only make money on the video directly. You also spice up your community engagement by showing its members they have access earlier because they belong to the community.

29. Create a Collaborative Project.

Working on projects together is a way of stepping even beyond the space where basic community engagement ideas are.

By doing so, you are building a real community where members are not just random people who end up together and respect each other but are neutral to one another.

Have them engaged in something that is going to lead to outcomes they are excited about. It’s a win-win since while they accomplish something for themselves, you create a strong community built to last.

30. Celebrate Seasonal Events And Nurture Community Traditions.

Another community engagement strategy you might want to consider is using some community traditions and celebrations.

Not only can you come up with your ideas, but you can also celebrate events relevant to your community. Even seasonal events make sense since adding them to your content calendar is another inspiration.

31. Sell Brand Merchandise.

At some point, you want your community to be an inspirational and valuable place its members would be delighted to show they are part of.

Brand merchandise is a good community engagement strategy to consolidate your tribe. It gives the community members a sense of belonging to an exclusive group.

32. Don’t Hesitate To Educate And Communicate With The Community.

Educating your audience and community is not just an effective community engagement idea. There’s always a tremendous value in sharing your knowledge with other people.

Think about smart ways of doing it, like with microlearning. This learning approach is flexible and offers multiple types that you can mix.

Ensure your attempts are always presented respectfully, without patronizing your community members. Engage them so they feel it’s not a lecture but a discussion where they are heard and seen.

33. Run Community Polls And Surveys.

Community polls and surveys aren’t just a tool to increase members’ engagement. They are also a brilliant way of discovering if what you’ve been doing works.

We often fail to be objective about our attempts, and your community’s insights might inspire you or show you that the direction you’ve chosen requires reconsidering.

It’s also another brilliant way of telling your own community members that you care about their opinions and experiences. Remember to mention how your community members inspired you to develop these solutions or ideas by publicly recognizing their input.

34. Get Feedback From Your Community.

There’s no way of overestimating the value of quality feedback. If you ask good questions, the answers you get might blow your mind, and in a very positive way.

It’s also another one of those community engagement strategies where you give your members space to present their point of view, but this time in a more detailed manner.

35. Take Negative Input With a Pinch Of Salt.

Remember that just because you asked for feedback doesn’t mean you’ll get praise. You’re looking for the gaps where you can improve, so whenever anybody signals it, you have food for thought.

At the same time, remember that not every feedback will be constructive. Opinions are subjective by default, and that’s all right. It’s always up to you what you will do with it.

Also, whenever you see anything that sounds bitter or negative, try to respond instead of reacting. Please take a deep breath, and don’t think of it as any attempt to discredit you or what you do. Even if that’s the case, be mature and responsible for your actions.

36. Encourage Questions.

It’s hard to imagine a thriving community without discussions. And there’s no better way of spurring your members to speak up than asking questions.

Use a relevant topic, something that is going to resonate with your community members. At the same time, encourage them by making your community a space where it’s safe to ask and err.

37. Acknowledge Failures.

Being open and vulnerable proves to your community that you’re sincere. You show your members that you make mistakes as anybody does.

This way, you show your people that every accomplishment is just an outcome of multiple failures and rejections, and it’s just a circle of life, not the ultimate defeat.

38. Be Consistent.

There’s nothing equally lethal to your community as a lack of consistency. How do you expect its members to care for it if you don’t show up for your own community?

Increase their interest by being the one who leads them and keeps their promise.

39. Post Memes And Funny GIFs; Make It Fun.

No matter how formal your community is, there’s always some space for fun and chill needed. Don’t hesitate to use amusing memes or GIFs to make it easier to face daily challenges.

It’s not just generating more engagement but finding the balance to continue your journey. Post memes use emojis and GIFs to make your platform a safer space where there’s a place for recharging its members’ batteries.

40. Migrate From Social Media To Your Own Private Community.

Using social channels to host your community might be a good idea when you’re starting, but not long-term. The specificity of social media is that you don’t influence many factors on how it all works.

There’s been an issue with data safety repeatedly, and some people don’t trust social media enough to register. In time, you might think about using an online platform and deciding on some white-label platform solutions.

41. Keep It Visually Pleasing.

Remember to keep it visually attractive. At the same time, don’t forget it’s mostly about user experience, so keep it under proportions.

Wrapping Up

I hope this list of community engagement ideas I just walked you through has already triggered some creative processes in your head and you’ll give them a go.

Nothing is set in stone, so don’t be afraid to test, change, modify, and align it to your community’s needs.

If you’re passionate about educating your community members, you’re surely will want to learn about how different types of microlearning can make it work for you.