8 reasons why you need a community platform

More and more trade and professional associations are setting up a community platform. But there is (much) more to it than providing a digital domain. You have to prompt and encourage your members to use it.

As an overarching association, you might think: nice for the members but a community platform is a lot of work and we get little in return. However, this is far from true. Below you can read what the advantages are for your association.

1. You can easily interact with your target audience

With a community platform, you provide your members with information directly from your organisation. You can also use statistics to see who reads your messages and give members the opportunity to ask questions and respond.  

Besides offering information, you have the opportunity to ask your target group for input. A poll or survey is now much easier to distribute among your members. Ask them all for feedback, for example, or ask a selected group based on certain characteristics. And all this in a protected, secure environment.

2. Together you will build a collective memory

As a trade or professional association, you want to share your knowledge. But you know that your members also have knowledge. After all, they have practical experience. In a community platform, they can not only share this knowledge easily and quickly, but the knowledge also remains more readily available and accessible.

Together with your members, you will build a collective memory that is easily searchable. And it is easier to find experts among your members who have expertise that your organisation may not have on hand.

3. It unburdens your association’s staff  

If your members get answers online from one another, or in the collective memory of your platform, it frees up your association’s staff. The flow of usual questions is reduced.

And from the remaining questions or concerns that come pouring in, you can create new content in the form of Q&A or background articles that you subsequently post on your platform.

4. You get a better understanding of your members’ needs and aspirations 

A community platform is not just about distributing information. It is an ongoing dialogue both between the association and its members and between members themselves.

If you enable and participate in a community-led conversation, you will gain insight into what concerns the profession. You get a much better idea of their needs and aspirations.

If you know and really understand these, you have more opportunities to respond to them. For example, by setting up and offering a course on a new trend. Or by representing your members’ interests at the municipal or national level. In this way, you ensure that the form and content of your communication better reflect the needs and priorities of your members

5. You can quickly respond to concerns and grievances

By closely monitoring the activities on your platform, you are more likely to recognise concerns or grievances among your members. This can be about the industry but also about the association itself. 

Do you notice a misunderstanding or irritation about something you recently communicated? A quick response to clear up miscommunications prevents further misunderstandings and removes annoyance. This in turn benefits your organisation’s reputation and their trust in your organisation.

6. Different perspectives strengthen your decision-making 

As a trade or professional association, you often represent your community as a whole. In that case, you need to know all perspectives and not just the perspective of those with the loudest voices or strongest opinions.

On your own community platform, you create opportunities for professionals, specialists, juniors, seniors or representatives of different points of view to have their voices heard.

This way, you get a balanced view of the community’s views and strengthen the value of the final decision you make as an overarching association.

7. Non-members also notice what you do   

On a community platform, you do not have to restrict all content. You can choose to offer certain content to non-members. Non-members thus get a good idea of what you do and what else they can expect if they become members.

But this is about more than recruiting new members. As a trade or professional association, you want to influence issues that improve your profession. This matters to members, non-members, and sometimes even other stakeholders in society.

Those who have a good, transparent and active community build a reputation as an expert who is to be taken seriously is the social arena.

8. It is fun

This one is pretty simple, but online communities can be so much fun. Together you have the chance to spark big dreams, talk about the ambitions of the profession and brainstorm with professional peers. In short, it’s a place for inspiration, fun, and solidarity.

Want to know the specific benefits of an online community for your association? 

Our team has already set up an online community for several trade and professional associations in various fields. Our community software offers many components to support you in this, allowing you to get started relatively quickly.

Would you like more tips on the opportunities and possibilities of an online community or would you like to become a community manager? Feel free to contact us, and we will we are happy to brainstorm with you in a non-binding consultation.