Boosting Engagement with the Community Feed
How you can use the Optix Community Feed to engage your community
October 25, 2021
Blog
Summary
- The Optix Community Feed feature centralizes communication for your coworking space members
- You can drive engagement through your Community Feed through posting introductions to new members, community news, and member perks
- You can use the Community Feed to encourage proactive engagement by using push notifications, rewarding top contributors, and engaging your most social members
The pandemic has taught us many things, one of which is the importance of being a part of a community. Being a part of a community is one of the driving forces for joining a coworking space. Not only does it ease the isolation of remote work, especially in these uncertain times, but it expands individuals’ networks and facilitates new opportunities. A recent survey has shown that 82% of surveyed professionals say coworking has expanded their professional networks and 51% feel that joining has helped them in finding new job opportunities
This is why the most successful coworking spaces are those that foster a sense of belonging. Members who feel as if they’re part of a thriving community are less inclined to leave. Creating the right level of engagement can be a challenge, especially when utilizing an array of communication tools that can divide members’ attention.
This blog shares how you can use the Optix Community Feed as a one-stop communication channel, supporting a loyal community that helps your coworking space thrive. Let’s dive in!
Establishing a centralized hub for communication
With an ever-growing number of communication tools in the palm of our hands, it can be challenging to get important messages out to your users. Optix is designed to be the centralized hub for your users to engage with your workspace. With users already using your workplace app for bookings, payments, and more, posting to the Community Feed is a great way to push out important information and can serve as the communication hub for your coworking space.
Here are a few ideas for what you can share to drive engagement:
Introductions to new members: Introduce new members when they join your community. Make them feel special and get your community to show some love!
Community news: Share announcements of your member’s success. Keeping everyone connected and in the loop creates a sense of belonging. Not to mention, they get the chance to cheer each other on.
Member perks: If you’ve negotiated deals with local businesses, the Community Feed is the place to share it. This is a great way to show your members that you are providing value-added services as part of their workplace experience.
For our members, the benefit of the Community Feed allows them to communicate with the entire Co-Co membership. Members' posts involve business promotions, event opportunities, job postings, non-profit happenings, or shares of favorite podcasts.
Creating a community-powered coworking space
The key to a truly thriving coworking community is for members to nurture it themselves – to support each other, welcome fellow coworkers, and organize their own events. Getting busy professionals to set aside their work and be proactively social, however, is not always easy.
We find the Community Feed to be an additional tool to promote our upcoming events and happenings at The Co-Co. The tool allows for another important level of communication with our membership. We especially love the push notification feature for immediate notices such as weather-related issues.
Here are some ways you can use the Community Feed to encourage proactive engagement:
Use push notifications: Use push notifications to make sure your most important announcements get noticed by your community. This is also a great way to introduce members to the feed if they haven’t discovered it yet!
Reward top contributors: Everyone loves prizes. To incentivize participation in the community, consider offering perks; such as a monthly membership discount to those who participate most.
Engage your most social members: Seeing certain members getting more involved? Ask them to help set an example for the rest of the community by sharing and commenting on the feed.
Kickstart social events: More often than not people are too shy to organize social events. Get the ball rolling by promoting some yourself and your community members will follow. Provide discounted rates to your event space if a community member wants to host an event and invite the community.
Facilitate connections: Know members who could help each other out? Introduce them at your next event. Creating a community takes intention.
Encourage skillshares: Allow members to host informal workshops in their area of expertise! You’ll find that once you start a support network, members will feel empowered to help each other.
When all is said and done, community starts with you. Members are often too shy or too busy to kickstart it on their own. By taking advantage of your in-app Community Feed, you can proactively create a single spot for members to find the latest news, sign up for events, and get to know each other. In the process, you’ll create an engaged, self-sustaining community with happy members and the strong retention your coworking space needs to succeed.
Have questions about your Community Feed? Feel free to reach out to our Customer Success team.
