Who Is In Your Online Community?

An online community or virtual community is the group of people or businesses who interact with one another online whether it's through email, newsletters, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and more. Through this interaction, members of an online community share information, offer services and possibly referrals, through different social mediums. Though the interaction takes place over social networks, community members often know one another in real life.

How do you set up an online community?

First, give visitors a place to interact. Create a Twitter profile, set up a blog and enable visitors to leave comments, create a Facebook page (our Facebook page highlights our latest site launches), or set up a monthly or weekly newsletter (like our monthly Fission Blast) to keep your online community up to date with company news and promotions. Newsletters are also a great way to invite visitors to your online community and a great place to advertise your other social networks like your Twitter and Facebook pages.

Next, it's important that you interact. When you set up a Facebook page or a Twitter account, you expect visitors to join your group. It's important that you reciprocate social interaction by following other community members on Twitter, joining their Facebook groups, and commenting on their blogs.

If you build it, they will come.

Finally, a key to being an active member of an online community is to be as active as possible. Don't be discouraged if your online community grows slowly at first. Keep your content up-to-date, give your community members a reason to keep coming back and a reason to spread the word, and be patient. Utilize social networking tools to grow your business within your online community.

Get Started

360 PSG can help get you started immediately on setting up an online community. Contact us today to set up a Fission Blast campaign. Our graphic designers can create a custom template for your newsletter. Or check out the designer's desk article to learn how a custom Twitter background can help you make a lasting impression on your followers. Finally, blogs are a great way to keep your site up to date and improve search engine optimization. Contact us today to get started on a custom blog design for your website.