Drop an opinion about masks or Donald Trump and your social media feed lights up.

Say something relevant to your niche, however, and it’s as though everyone has suddenly taken the night off.

Sound familiar?

While we all know the importance of creating buzz within our communities, most of us are more familiar with leading a ghost town than a paparazzi frenzy. Yet it can’t be overstated: People will come to your group page or membership site for your content and stay for your community.

So, how can you create a community that has people talking? Here are 7 tips to get you started.

Initiate the Discussion Yourself

Like it or not, you’re the leader, which means you have to carry the heavy lift in the beginning.

You’re going to be the one who starts conversations at first.

It isn’t simply a matter of starting a Facebook group or Discord channel, handing over the URL, and watching the comments tumble in.

Whether your group is new or just needs an injection of life, you’ll have to spearhead the discussion.

It’s a lot easier for people to respond to a conversation than initiate one.

If you’re the one making the posts and asking for responses, you’re a lot more likely to get comments, likes, and reactions. This is especially true among people who tend to sit on the periphery of your group and wait a bit before joining in.

Which is why you should make it a priority to post even after your group becomes wildly successful.

Generally speaking, this is a solid framework to use when deciding what and how to post. It outlines a strategic approach for how to build relationships and create engagement.

2. Include Some Fluff

For many of the coaches and mental health professionals I work with, this suggestion will provoke a visible cringe. Hear me out.

If you have a group that’s all about something serious -- anxiety, trauma, finances, weight loss, sexuality -- it may feel insurmountable for people to create discussions or even respond to other people’s posts about those topics.

Especially if someone is new to the group or hasn’t posted much before.

For them, it may feel like standing in front of a firing squad to even admit that they are in chronic pain or are suicidal, let alone to actually engage in conversation about it.

Which is why it helps if you can let them warm up, get comfortable, and dip their toes in the shallow end before hopping in head-first.

What I mean by “fluff” are conversation starters like:

What’s the view out of your window right now?
Caption this photo.
How will you finish off the week?

These types of conversations help people get comfortable with allowing their voice to be heard rather than sitting back and watching the show.

It is far easier to weigh in on topics like “Coffee or tea?” and “What superhero is your alter-ego?” than it is to describe the bullying you went through as a kid.

No tension, no divisiveness, nothing scary to worry about with those types of conversations.

3. Welcome New Members

By posting a welcome message and asking new members to introduce themselves, you’re automatically establishing a connection. This helps your members feel included and more inclined to share their thoughts with other members of the group.

Just make sure to tag the new members so they know there’s a post for them.

4. Tag Other Members in Posts

Speaking of tagging, be sure to tag other members in posts. This is a highly effective way to increase participation and pull people into the conversations.

Rather than assume you’re the only one who can respond to questions, it’s okay to avoid giving answers once in a while and instead tag two or three people who are also well-suited to reply.

Depending on the question, other members may be a good fit because they have the appropriate experience or skills to answer. Maybe they live in the right location or are in the right age bracket. You can tag a small group of people or a large group.

Once you’ve tagged the appropriate people, it’s time to step back and let them take over the discussion.

5. Wrap the Community Into Your Onboarding Process

Often, the biggest hurdle of getting people to participate in your community is simply getting them there in the first place.

The best way to overcome this is to wrap the community forum into the onboarding process. Enthusiasm will be at its peak when someone first comes into your orbit, so it’s the ideal time to nudge newbies toward your community and make posting there a habit.

Make it as easy as possible for new people to find and participate in the community.

If you’re using a platform that allows you to create separate threads, mark one specifically for New Member Introductions.

Make sure that your onboarding system links to the forum and that you have easily answered questions for people to respond to.

Emphasize that the community is an integral part of what they signed up for and highlight how it will benefit them as they move toward achieving their outcomes with you.

6. Leverage the Power of Storytelling

Storytelling, particularly visual storytelling, ignites responses like nothing else.

A quick way to increase engagement in your group, then, is to leverage this powerful hook around topics that appeal to your audience.

Yet this doesn’t mean you’re doing all the heavy lifting. Instead, ask members of your group to share their images and videos that you can share with the entire group.

Old Spice does this exceptionally well, as does Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and SodaStream.

7. Ask Questions

Posting direct questions creates immediate engagement and provides you with insight into your audience. Consider the question a call-to-action that convinces people to immediately jump into the conversation and share their thoughts. Here are some types of questions to consider asking:

Open-ended questions such as, “What did you like most about Game of Thrones?” There is no right or wrong answer and each member of the community will likely answer differently.

Closed questions like, “Do you like Game of Thrones?”

Debate-oriented questions intended to stir engagement through people either supporting or going against the topic. For instance, “Organic marketing or paid ads?”

Image-based questions where an image is shared along with a question so that people are able to understand the question easily. This is an example of an image-based question:

General questions are no-brainer questions, such as “Tell me something you can never find when you want to.” These are easy to answer and generally spark a lot of responses quickly.

Put time and effort into creating a lively community. Doing so will ensure the success of your group for the long-haul. While it may feel like a lot of wasted effort in the beginning, it will pay off over the weeks and months that follow.

Ready to start your own online community? Schedule your free consultation with Membership Fix and we’ll show you how.