What is Digital Engagement?

A successful community looks very different than it did years ago. Whether you’re an aspiring influencer, an artist, an entrepreneur or you run a non-profit, today’s success is often made online – and almost always goes hand in hand with a thriving digital community.

Why Start a Digital Community?

Just like building a community in the real world, a digital community is just a group of people with a shared identity. But this group is different. In a digital community, members can easily join or leave the group, meaning they only stay with the ones they like. It’s not as simple as being born into a neighborhood, and forever being part of that group. 

Digital communities are created by people with a shared goal or interest, who take that commonality and make it the center of a whole online ecosystem. They interact, build friendships, debate, celebrate, support and even shop, all while keeping the common core in mind. These digital communities are vital to modern businesses and organizations and should be skillfully cultivated.

A Digital Community Can Mean More Revenue

A thriving digital community can drive sales, strengthen name recognition and get people involved with a cause – but those people are more than just customers or fans. When healthy, members act almost like ambassadors, carrying a message out into the world, and helping brands achieve goals and grow bigger. 

It involves capturing attention and earning respect and trust. Communities can do this by making self-expression feel safe and making it worth while for community members to get involved. That involvement should be something that signals passion –  making a purchase, signing up for a volunteer opportunity, or even just sharing a post with the group. Hopefully, it will create enough goodwill and loyalty to keep the community members engaged over and over. 

Ultimately, all modern brands and missions need a digital community, but if creating one sounds scary, don’t worry. It’s not nearly as daunting as it seems. It should be noted that the most effective examples are not always the ones with the most followers – they’re the ones whose members feel most comfortable engaging.

3 Steps to Building a Successful Digital Community

1. Know Your Role

First things first, and you need to get real about what you want from this digital community. Consider why you are starting it, the needs of the brand, and who you are serving. That last one is a biggie – you have to have an ideal member in mind and prepare your messaging for them. What do they like? What are they against? Only by knowing your users can you find something in common with them, which is your core community bond.

• Imagine your ideal member, and try to be as realistic as possible.
• Find something in common, and be prepared to highlight that.
• This will begin to generate a shared identity.

2. Give Ownership to Members

Here’s a secret: Just because you built the community, that doesn’t mean it’s yours. A true digital community belongs to the people, and people value a community most when they connect, engage, and feel encouraged to share. Whether in an open forum, live event, or even a digital community around learning through online courses. Always listen to the community members and consider their suggestions; this will give them a sense of ownership. And when you do start sharing content, be human, and be vulnerable in what you express (this isn’t the place for corporate business-speak).

• Listen to your community and give members a sense of ownership.
• Focus on solutions (not problems), and be human (not HR).
• Offer something of value.

3. Share the Wins

This may come as a surprise, but there is evidence that a digital community is at its most active when celebrating success, even if it’s a small win. According to a study by The Visual Capitalist shared by Rolling Stone’s Culture Council, even the world’s biggest influencers see peaks in interaction when they announce milestones like new albums, endorsements, or personal achievements – you can do this, too. Is a longtime team member getting married? Have you reached a sales goal or some other marker of progress? Share it with your community, because they just won, too. That’s the point of community to begin with. In the immortal words of Billy Dee Williams, “Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with.”

• Share your goals and achievements.
• Celebrate them like family.
• Ride the wave with follow-up posts.

Get Started With Cause Machine

Starting with a community engagement strategy is the secret to building a successful platform in the long term. Cause Machine helps customers build the plan of engaging a community well and then begin mapping out the technology to help support that strategy. We’re certain that you’ll find some great resources and powerful tools in Cause Machine to better engage your community. Learn how it can work for you here.

Many times we think of innovation as a gifting that certain people have.  We think of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Einstein, and others… which just leads most of us to think we don’t have that special “gene”.  While there are some people who are exceptionally gifted to innovate and think outside the box, there’s also a process that all of us can use to solve problems and innovate toward a better solution.  

In the past several decades, several pioneers have navigated a path to build processes that have helped countless people work through an innovation process.  This largely began with David Kelley, the founder of IDEO.  Since those early years, others have adopted the process, changed pieces, and renamed things (ex: Stanford University, Google, etc.), but all the while continued the legacy of leading innovation.

Key Principle: Innovation is far more a process than a personal gifting.

So what does that mean for me on a practical level?  Do you ever find yourself working on a project feeling stuck?  Do you ever feel like a project should have more input from others?  Do you have projects that just feel so epic that you’re intimidated by them?  If yes for any of those questions then there’s a good chance an innovation can help you.  Look at this process as a good friend who is going to help you navigate a path to a better solution.  And the amazing part of running an innovation… you’re basically guaranteed a better solution on the other side of the process.  So let’s take a moment to talk through the stages of the innovation process.

Scope

The first stage is setting the foundations for your project.  You start by building your scope which includes things like your problem statement, defined WIN, the team to participate, how long of an innovation, what Discovery voices to invite, and general logistics.  Strong scope development helps set up the innovation event for success.  

Discovery

The innovation session begins with what we call Discovery.  This is where you look outside the world of what’s common for you and your team.  Here you explore what others are doing that are outside your industry but who have enough crossover to make you scratch your head and consider ideas from outside.

Brainstorming

Here we move to more internal thoughts and perspectives on how to address the core problem/project.  This stage walks a group through 12+ “buckets” of strategic thought that are helping to equip the working group to help solve the problem.  This interactive stage allows for mass contribution to specific points of your future plan.

Sketching

Next we move into a phase where you allow each participant to sketch out a few models for how they would see solving this project.  We’re always working toward tangible models and visual representations of the strategy.  This stage allows individuals to express and share ideas and then presents an opportunity for group members to vote on which bring the most clarity and direction to the project.  

Prototyping

The final major stage is where the whole group is broken into two core teams to build prototype projects.  Think arts and crafts projects with supplies from Hobby Lobby and Office Depot… seriously.  The goal here is to create some solution to the core problem that’s a creative approach to the problem statement.  

Presentations

Once prototypes are complete, the two teams give a short presentation of their prototype and field questions from the other team.  This phase helps flush out the two proposed solutions and gives the innovation owner two working models that could be used to solve their core problem (the owner leaves the innovation with the task to compile those two models and create the blended solution that meets their core problem).  

And that’s it… it’s really that simple!  Now there are all sorts of nuances to the process and how to facilitate these sessions well but this is the basic construct for what an innovation looks like.  These sessions are excellent to help you dig into those more complex problems, seek the council of others, and come up with solutions better than you probably could construct on your own… or at the least, put a lot more “meat on the bones” of what you’ve already created.

Cause Machine Solutions

Cause Machine is a platform created to help you better engage your audience.  We share blog posts like this to encourage community leaders to work through processes like an innovation to discover how better to engage community members.  One of our core principles at Cause Machine is that your strategy should always drive your technology.  Our hope is that you have great rhythms to better engage your audience, like hosting innovation sessions.  And then we would love to see you bring those engagement plans to life on Cause Machine.   Schedule a demo today!

Community drives everything. People need it. As a businessperson or thought leader, it should come as no surprise, then: when you give people community, they become more than just customers/members/students – they become believers.

Most of us understand that, whether it’s a clear-as-day truth or just an intangible feeling we get from our favorite brands. But knowing how to build a community? That’s not something you’re born with.

Are you ready to sprout that initial group from a seedling of an idea? Grow it into a real community. And then monetize it in ways that benefit both users, and entrepreneurs. Find out how. 

Obviously, there’s much more to it than one blog post can cover (get in touch here to see what I mean), but we can at least get you started … right now, in fact.

How to Build a Community in 7 Steps.

1. Form an identity 

Think about any community you belong to, whether it’s digital or out in the real world. They all exist with the phrase “this is who we are” at the core. Sports fandom, professional associations, and student bodies – they’re all built around identity, and that’s what your community needs, too.

• Start by ask yourself the question, “who are we?”
• Then, find a clear way to fully express the “why” of your mission. 

2. Connect with a few early members 

The next thing on our “how to build a community” checklist – well we need to put the "community" in community. Time to get some members. That sounds daunting, but don’t overthink it. We’re not talking about numbers in the thousands … or even dozens. Start with people you know, or friends of friends, but make sure they fit that “who are we” question.

• Find a few people who feel like you do, invite them to take part 
• These members will help set the tone for your community, so choose carefully

3. Earn the Community's Trust 

You’ve got to give your community a purpose, a reason to join and stay – and that is best done through involvement. Interact with your early members, get comfortable with each other and invite them to speak into the mission. 

• Start slow, with regular content posting
• Schedule a real life meet up, if possible, or get to know one another online 
• Hear your members' thoughts on the mission

4. Encourage Connections 

Now you’ve got something going, and it’s time to expand. Once your small community has identity and trust, you can give members ownership in driving growth. Empower them to find new likely members from their own lives, and get those “recruits” involved, too. 

• Empower members to spread the word
• Personal connections are the strongest 

5. Rewards

I like to think of this as the “gold star phase” of how to build a community. Just like in elementary school, positive reinforcement works wonders in a group environment. Find ways to celebrate your most dedicated and effective members, and that will encourage others to follow suit.

• Give perks to those helping accomplish community goals 
• It could be as simple as a newsletter shout out, or actual prizes 

6. Never Lose the ‘Why’ 

As things progress, your community may start to get sidetracked away from the original mission. This is natural, but it’s important to always steer the group back toward its overall goal. 

• Remember, communities are built on identity and trust

7. Continuous Growth 

If you make it this far, your community should now be nearly self-sufficient. You’ve got a clearly defined mission and an active group of members, who all feel empowered by each other and want to see it succeed. 

• Produce content to keep your members involved. 
• Look for membership sites that put the control in your hands

Sounds simple enough, yet learning how to build a community is something entire careers are devoted to – like they are here at Cause Machine. This guide can help, but there’s nothing like having a team of experts on your side, each step of the way. Set up a free demo and get your community on the right track today.

Get Started With Cause Machine

Starting with a community engagement strategy is the secret to building a successful platform in the long term. Cause Machine helps customers build the plan of engaging a community well and then begin mapping out the technology to help support that strategy. We’re certain that you’ll find some great resources and powerful tools in Cause Machine to better engage your community. Learn how it can work for you here.

Whether you’re just starting out or already a crafty veteran, the proper CRM software for small business is essential. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and when implemented correctly, it can supercharge sales, drive exponential growth and let you provide incredible customer experiences.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, not necessarily.

With the right CRM software for small business, you can create a central hub of customer information that allows your team’s different departments to optimize their effort. CRMs can track sales, quickly organize analysis and encourage collaboration, getting everyone on the same page and putting all the elements of a successful business in one place.

In an increasingly data-driven world, this is a critical piece of the small-business puzzle, with the best options aiming for clarity – letting you spend less time cobbling insights together and more time engaging your community. But, the CRM landscape is large, and with so many options, getting started can feel daunting. Even deciding which type of CRM software is right for you may not be easy.

There are 3 types of CRM software for small business:

Collaborative – To help teams within your company work together more seamlessly.

Operational – Automated, tactical solutions that make your customer experience better.

Analytical – Providing insight into customer behavior, helping you steer toward greater results.

With those in mind, we’ve broken down the top 10 CRM software solutions for small businesses.
 

1. Salesforce

Salesforce is an all-in-one CRM with a sales focus, helping manage contacts, leads and more into an interactive dashboard. The result is a big-picture view of your business, and you can add features as you grow.

Key Features:

• Cloud-based platform with mobile app
• Scales with your business
• Lead management

2. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a popular choice for small startups looking to keep expenses down, because its free plan allows up to three users. You can create sales workflows and keep track of customers, and switch to a paid version for more features.

Key Features:

• Free option for three users (Good for those just starting out)
• Add-on apps to integrate marketing, inventory and accounting (paid version only)
• Workflow automation

 
3. Zendesk Sell

For small businesses relying heavily on customer support, Zendesk Sell funnels all customer interactions into a single interface, tracking leads and keeping your team informed. It even allows calls to be recorded, helping your help desk be its best.

Key Features:

• High performance help desk features
• Call recording 
• Sales triggers

4. Insightly

Insightly works best for small businesses with project-management needs. If you need to track a project from inception through implementation, delivery and review, this CRM can help keep things running efficiently.

Key Features:

• Chart-view tracking of project workflow
• Easily import date from other apps
• Mass Email Contacts with MailChimp Integration

5. Agile CRM

Like its name suggests, Agile is a CRM for small business which excels at being versatile – namely by adding top-notch marketing features. It’s ideal for shops where sales and marketing team members work closely together.

Key Features:

• Streamlined sales and contact tools
• Drag and drop marketing campaign builder
• Project management tools

6. Keap

Keap is another CRM which combines sales and marketing prowess, where leads can be organized, tracked and turned into sales. Plus, it offers expert instruction to get the most of the platform.

Key Features:

• Automated lead capture and organization
• Expert coaching and support 
• Great email marketing features

7. Less Annoying CRM

Knowing that complexity is a small-business turn off, Less Annoying CRM is exactly what it claims to be. It lets you manage your contacts, calendar, and more without getting lost in the tech-feature weeds. 

Key Features:

• Built for ease of use, less complexity.
• Straight forward, to-the-point feature set. 
• Relationship management

8. monday.com

If you’ve got a fast-moving team who need to be in lockstep, monday.com could be your ideal CRM for small business. Those familiar with Kanban will find its visual organizer especially easy to use.

Key Features:

• Kanban-style organizer boards 
• Free option with robust features
• Dynamic sales pipelines

9. Freshsales

For many small businesses, finding and developing leads is a key concern, and Freshsales is built to make that easier. Automatically capturing and tracking potential customers is the beginning of rising revenues.

Key Features:

• Built-in lead generation
• Advanced analytics 
• Make calls & send emails
   

10. Creatio

Creatio can take a complicated, multi-step process and make it (relatively) simple, by automating the sales cycle, marketing approvals and more. And best of all, you don’t need to be a code wizard.

Key Features:

• “Process library” of pre-built workflows
• Intuitive customer record keeping 
• Automated marketing campaigns

Remember, with the right CRM software for small business; you can take your customer experience to the next level – along with your sales, revenue, and more. As long as you're in a system that WORKS for your business! 

So, which CRM solution is best for you?

Ask these 3 questions about your business needs:

1. What are we trying to achieve? (Manage Customer Relationships, Leads, Audience Segmentation)

2. What features are needed to achieve our goals? (Email sender, automation capabilities, etc.)

3. What is our budget? 

When comparing platforms, look for those with numerous positive reviews and a good track record. If you're on a budget, shoot for the middle of the market. You'll find a reliable platform that may have some feature limitations. But, if you need a CRM as dynamic as a fighter jet, then there's a solution for your organization out there!

Cause Machine Solutions

One of the most significant pieces of what sets Cause Machine apart from other technology platforms is where we start… with a community engagement strategy.  We begin all of our work on the foundation of engaging a community well and then begin mapping out the technology to help support that strategy.  We’re certain that you’ll find some great resources and powerful tools in Cause Machine to better engage your community as well. Learn how it can work for you here. 
 

There are so many reasons why you want to get more followers to your site. Maybe you have something great to share. It’s your passion and it really helps people. The more people who see your message—the better. 

On some level, it’s a matter of stewardship. You should want to help more people with your message as a leader of your own community. You do this by gaining more followers and getting your message to a wider audience. 

So, you want to know how to get more followers on your website? Great! Here are a few real-life ways to grow your followers today and over the long term. 

How to get more followers on your website

#1 Create relevant content.

My guess is, you're already doing this fairly well. The point is—write about what people are asking about. If you follow this blog, you already know how to create content that Google ranks you for. So, for the people around you, think about your blog, through email, social media...what are the questions people are repeatedly asking you? Make a list and write about those things. 

Don’t have anyone asking you questions? No problem. Ask your followers! Survey your followers to learn more about their needs. For example, if you don't already have an email list of thousands, crowdsource on social channels like Facebook and twitter asking questions to learn more about what people who already follow you would like you to address. 

#2 Push lots of content online. 

Rule number one: be helpful. Don’t say stuff just to be saying stuff. Offer helpful advice. Engage. Space out your content so you’re always working ahead. This helps me. It’s always easier to start with some content, no matter how small, than it is to start from scratch. Here’s the point: make your content valuable by being helpful to people. 

#3 Use your content for multiple purposes.

Once you’ve written a piece of content, use it for several purposes. Write once—use the writing several times. Craft your content for a blog post and then chop it up in snippets for social media. You can get days, weeks, and months out helpful content.  

#4 Use lead generators to your advantage.

After answering some questions from your followers, over time, you will develop content that is more popular than others. Learn from this content what is most helpful for your audience and create an asset your followers can download or watch which provides value to your visitors in exchange for their email. 

Don’t overthink this. If you make it super complex, you won’t start the project and you won't finish it. Be as simple as you can and race to finish. You can get a ton of use out of a lead-generator on your site. 

#5 Use compelling and clear CTA’s.

Create clear and compelling calls to action (CTA’s). Then, place them everywhere as fitting. Be sure you have them on your homepage and on many other pages of your site. 

Be sure you’re not asking a ton of information. The name and email of contact will be fine. You want to convert your visitors, so make it a low barrier to entry. Don’t ask a visitor to do too much too soon. 

#6 Create a simple flow on your website.

If you’re selling a product, course, event, or trying to monetize your website and gain more followers, be sure to make it easy to find your products.

Also, use simple navigation and clear messaging. Don't clutter your site with a ton of different products or messages. 

#7 Equip your audience to be advocates.

Once you have an audience. It doesn’t hurt, if they are following, to ask them to share certain messages. Your followers are the most likely to share your content. So, don’t be afraid to ask them to share.

For some of your top followers or fans, consider asking them to become guest bloggers for your site. You never know the power of the community until you connect with several different writers. 

#8 Be a guide for your followers.

You are the guide for your followers. Where are you taking them? Consistently be a guide to your audience with your content. Be a teacher. 

When you write, always consider what will help your readers know how to take the next step. Work hard to keep the follower engaged by laying out the next step. 

#9 Be sure your SEO keywords are optimized.

If you’re wondering where to start, create a list of potential keyword phrases that fit what your followers are interested in. Use keyword tools like Moz or Google for doing the keyword research. 

Things like search volume and searcher intent will be vital for you to write about, so you’re the most helpful to your followers. And, doing this will give you a leg up because if you pick the right keyword for the post, you already know, because you’ve done the research, that folks are searching for it. Win-win. 

#10 Engage your audience with giveaways. 

Giveaways can be done on your website and on your social media channels. Find some things that you sell or partner with a fellow brand that your followers would enjoy. Do it at random, or even on a monthly basis. 

The point is to be helpful and have fun. Giveaways will create engagement! Doing giveaways will not only be helpful and encouraging to your followers, but it will increase your reach as your current followers share your giveaway.

#11 Study what’s working and do more of it.

Be sure, through all of this, that you have installed analytics on your website. This way, you can look back through all of these great things you’re doing and learn what’s working and what’s not working with your followers. 

You may like some content you’re churning out, but if it’s not getting any visitors, something needs to change. Study what’s gaining traction and what isn’t. You don’t have to stop creating content that isn't getting visitors. But, you may have to step back and look at what you’re doing to grow your email list or how you're sharing on social media. 

Do more of what’s working. Stop or improve what’s not working. You got this. 

Need more help taking your community digital?

You want to have a dynamic and multi-dimensional community that thrives. In order to do that, you need a strategy of both online and offline engagement. This guide will help you think through your approach to engaging a virtual community. Download the free eBook: How to Take Your Community Digital.

About the author: Will Rogers is the Founder and CEO of CauseMachine. Will’s career has been spent leading organizations and helping to mobilize communities to a shared vision. He has served in various leadership roles to build community engagement and movements teaching him valuable hands-on skills and experience. Will has developed business and community engagement strategies for dozens of organizations in nearly 50 countries. He and his wife have two sons and now live in Kentucky after two decades in Colorado.