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How to encourage your community to contribute more content

  • MendasDigital Level 1
    • 10

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    How to encourage your community to contribute more content

    There are plenty ways to get people to contribute to your site, the key is finding something you can offer them, that doesn't cost you much time or money. Here are a few examples:

    Q&A sites, and social media sites, often convince people to contribute content by rewarding them with access to features, giving them power, or offering points of some sort.

    When you post something on Facebook, people can "like" your post. This is a form of giving points. People feel good that other users enjoyed their post, and this inspires them to post again. It costs you nothing but the time it takes to develop the feature, but people are willing to trade their time for these imaginary "points".

    When you post on StackExchange sites, overtime you unlock features (eg: ability to see all upvotes/downvotes, post answers on restricted questions, edit questions), and this makes people aspire to unlocking more features by playing off human ambition. Video games use this same technique to keep people playing. Again, it doesn't cost you any money, just the time it takes to build these features.

    On many forums, your post count is a determining factor when asking to become a moderator, or join certain groups. People like to feel like they are not only part of something, but integral to it's success. The best part about this is that you're not just getting content, they actually help run your site.

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    Barida

    Barida

    There are ways to do about it and you're right when you say that one has got something to offer to those writers in return. It's not easy to do anyway.
    6 years ago

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    jeffreyjose48

    jeffreyjose48

    I think you give them incentives or bonus points. You give them encouraging words. Just like a pat on their shoulders can give them encouragement.
    6 years ago

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    TommyCarey

    TommyCarey

    One great feature is to have obtainable badges or medals for people with post counts. I thought you were going to mention this when you talked about StackExchange because they do this with their members How to encourage your community to contribute more content

    Basically, you will have preset standards for what medals are given out. You can give out a medal at 10 posts, 100 posts, or even 1,000 posts and they all show on the users profile. You can also go in a different direction, or combine them, and give out medals for how many times a post was upvoted or liked. So, 10 upvotes/likes gets you a bronze medal, 100 upvotes/likes gets you a silver medal, 500 upvotes/likes gets you a gold medal, and 1,000 upvotes/likes gets you a platinum How to encourage your community to contribute more content

    Another good system I've seen, that gives out these types of awards or medals, is ThemeForest. They give out medals to buyers and sellers for various things like your first theme purchase or your first theme sale. Top sellers will also have a ton of badges because they will get them for total sales, amount of positive reviews, amount of themes they place on the marketplace, and much more. I only have a few badges on there because I'm solely a buyer How to encourage your community to contribute more content

    - Razzy
    6 years ago

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    Corzhens

    Corzhens

    I recently came across the term “engaging” in one forum. The admin wants the posts to be engaging which means the post solicits replies. I think that’s a good advice to get more contents from the community of the forum. If the posts are asking for opinion or hinting on a debate, that would probably solicit replies. Maybe that’s why forum admins don’t want a dead-end topic which goes nowhere because it is not dynamic in terms of replies.
    6 years ago

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    Baburra

    Baburra

    Great tips and information, thanks for sharing! I agree with you when you say that making it into some sort of video game can help because it really is just natural for the human psychology to respond to positive rewards so might as well take advantage of it where you can when you are trying to reach a goal. Seeing it this way can also help the owner of the forum as you can see the site and the activity in a whole new light which can help guide you onto what to do next.
    6 years ago

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    vinaya

    vinaya

    If you own a website or blog, it is necessary to get engagements on your sites. Having traffic is not enough, your visitors also need to check your services, products, ads, posts etc. Your visitors need to interact with your content. You will earn revenue only when the traffic converts.
    marketing is one of the ways to encourage engagements.
    Social media helps in promotion, however, sharing on social media sites is not enough, you also need to gain social signals.
    6 years ago

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    treecko142

    treecko142

    Unlocking features along the way is one of the best ways of encouraging more contribution from your members. We are hardwired as humans to aim towards satisfaction and getting achievements or rewards and "earning" in any shape or form while being a part of a community will also boost the enthusiasm of the member to post in the site.
    6 years ago

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    Jeane

    Jeane

    There is one forum which has a "gifts" feature. The members and forum admin can send each other gifts.

    It works thusly:

    Each post earns you a specific number of points. You can use this points to purchase a gift. When you send someone this gift, they will probably want to repay you and in order to do that, they'll have to post more. It certainly is an interesting way to get more content from your community.
    6 years ago

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    Corzhens

    Corzhens

    That gift reward looks like a good novelty that it will truly motivate the members to post more so that they can have something to give a member. But may I ask what kind of gift you can give to a member? I want something that is tangible and not just a logo or image that I can use for my signature. Perhaps even a cap or keychain that can be sent by courier is a great idea for a gift.
    5 years ago

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    Jeane

    Jeane

    There is one forum which rewarded members with cash rewards, t-shirts, free hosting packages and more. If you can afford it, these gifts would probably encourage the community to contribute more content since most of these gifts can only be "unlocked" after you earn a specified number of points.
    5 years ago

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