One of the most rewarding parts of being a community manager is when the community works together, and harnesses their power to create great change. When this happens, community managers never hesitate to show their appreciation to the lovely souls. We reached out to a few community managers to learn about how they show love to their communities. We were so impressed by all of the creative and thoughtful ideas. Don’t forget to file them away for the next time you need to send your community a big hug!
1. A Thank-You Video
At Transamerica, the community team made a personalized thank-you video. They wanted to thank the community for rocking 2015, says Director of Communities, Nikoletta Vecsei Harrold.
You can view the awesome video here:
2. Personalized Notes & Calls
At Kickstarter, Senior Content Manager Carol Ann Benovic, says they send their top contributors personal notes. Sometimes, they even call to say hello and thanks.
3. Community Contests, Giveaways & More
When we asked Ro Hensley, the Community Ambassador at Vinted, she rattled off a whole list of lovely ideas.
“Office videos, animated GIFS, community contests or giveaways,” she says.
4. An Interview Series
At Opus Affair, a network connecting people who are interested in arts and culture, members are interviewed for an ongoing interview series called “10 Questions” on the blog.
Members are encouraged to nominate other members who they’d like to see interviewed.
“It’s a simple little thing, but it’s nice to show a little love to individuals—and let them decide who else gets some love,” says Graham Wright, the network’s founder.
5. Opportunities to Advance Someone’s Career
At IBM, Ryan Bares runs a community to help IBM users learn how to be more social media savvy. In an effort to show the community more love and appreciation, he sent out surveys to collect new ideas on what will motivate the group. IBM discovered these members were more incentivized by career-enhancing gifts.
“This helped us discover that as much as our members might like tangible prizes (t-shirts, apple watches, etc.), they’re equally motivated by things that they believe will enhance their career trajectory, like winning a one-on-one lunch with an executive, or completing a certification that they can add to their LinkedIn profile,” says Whitney Francis Magnuson, Global Social Media Team Manager.
6. Member-Only Rewards
The SF Etsy community gathers together for regular events where artists show off their jewelry and crafts, explains Rebecca Saylor, who co-leads the team. When this happens, one of the artists will make a special gift for the SF Etsy team.
“One thing we do at our events when we all get together is create special vendor piece of swag. This year we did a custom designed enamel pin designed by SF Etsy team member Min of Bottle of Clouds,” she says.
7. Milestone Rewards
At Marvel, the social media team shows love to their followers when they hit milestones on social media. For example, when they reached 7 million followers on Facebook the team offered followers an exclusive first-look at a digital comic.
8. Exclusive Trips
Google’s Local Guides team depends on an amazing network of local contributors to make sure local businesses get their names on the map. Corrie Davidson, Local Guides Americas Lead, is always thinking of ways to say thanks to the local guides.
“The Local Guides team is always looking for new ways to say thank you to our amazing community of Google Maps contributors. From partnering with other companies like Cabify and Le Tote to offer free services or sending invitations to exclusive events like a screening of the movie Lion or the Local Guides Summit in San Francisco, we love to ‘show some love’ to our community,” she says.
Here’s a photo of when they flew in Local Guides from around the world to attend the Local Guides Summit 2016.
It truly is the little things that matter in community management. We want to say thank you to everyone who shared their awesome ideas with us.
Now it’s your turn!
How do you show your community love? Share your ideas with us in the comments section below.