5 Mistakes Course Creators Make When Launching Their Online Community

Amid the excitement of launching an online community, it’s so easy to overlook crucial elements that if not taken care of can lead to its downfall.

By understanding the most common pitfalls and implementing strategies to overcome them, you can launch your online community on a strong foundation and continue to create meaningful experiences for your members as you grow.

From not clearly defining your purpose to forgetting that your members are actually, well, real people, I’ll cover the 5 most common mistakes to avoid when launching your community.

5 Mistakes Course Creators Make When Launching Their Online Community

In today’s digital landscape, online communities are increasingly becoming vital hubs for fostering connection and collaboration. As a course creator, these digital hubs offer an unprecedented avenue for you to engage with your audience, foster relationships, and drive meaningful interactions. They also offer a very effective way for you to showcase your courses and services to like-minded customers who are more than willing to invest in what they are passionate about. They can be a safe space where your students and clients can swap stories, ask questions, and maybe even share the occasional meme or two.

Yet, amid the excitement of launching an online community, it’s so easy to overlook crucial elements that if not taken care of can lead to its downfall. Sadly, according to Gartner, 70% of online communities do fail. So, creating your online community is not a “set it and forget it” strategy to grow your business. It does take work, strategy and forethought.

The good news is that if you do this right, the payoff will be amazing. A study by Higher Logic Resources reported that 55% of businesses with an online community showed an increase in sales and new leads as a result of their branded community.

By understanding the most common pitfalls and implementing strategies to overcome them, you can launch your online community on a strong foundation and continue to create meaningful experiences for your members as you grow.

From not clearly defining your purpose to forgetting that your members are actually, well, real people, I’ll cover the 5 most common mistakes to avoid when launching your community.

Let’s go!

Mistake #1: Lack of Clear Purpose and Vision for your Online Community.

Why will your community exist?

This is the most important step when creating your online community. Your community’s purpose and vision will drive every decision you make.

The first step in defining your purpose is to decide what benefit you want your community to bring to your business. As a course creator the most common benefits are 1) increasing course/program sales or upsells after initial purchase, 2) adding value to your course or service offerings or 3) improving student or client satisfaction and retention rates. It is possible to cover all three in your community, but when getting started it’s best to pick one main goal and build from there.

Once you have decided the benefit the community will have for your business, then you can define the purpose of the community for your members. As a course creator, you know about the importance of communicating a specific result to your audience. The same applies to your community.

Your audience will be more likely to join and stay if they are motivated by the purpose or transformation you can provide them.

  • Some questions to ask yourself to help define your community’s goal or purpose are:
  • Why should this community exist?
  • Who is the community for?
  • What are the needs of the intended members?
  • How will I solve for/provide a solution for this?
  • What will make my community unique?

Mistake #2: Not Properly Onboarding Your New Members to your Online Community.

Become the party hostess with the mostest.

When launching an online community, one critical aspect that creators often overlook is the onboarding process for new members. Properly onboarding new members is essential for setting the tone and expectations within the community and fostering a sense of belonging from the outset.

Imagine walking into a party and being completely ignored by everyone. Not even being acknowledged by the host. You’re probably not going to stick around for too long. Neither will your new members.

To avoid this mistake, it’s essential to have a structured onboarding process in place to welcome and guide new members. This process should include:

  • Welcome message: Take the time to go above the standard “Welcome to our new members. Please introduce yourself”. Send a personalized welcome message to your community, introducing them to the community, sharing a bit about them and providing guidance on how to get started. Pretend you are introducing your new member to your friend at a party. You wouldn’t say, “Hey, introduce yourself to Mary”. You would say, “Hey Mary, let me introduce you to my friend Seth. Seth likes bird watching as well. His favorite bird is the woodpecker. Oh, and don’t forget the snacks are in the corner”.
    As the Community Creator providing this jumping off point will lead to much higher member engagement and interaction from the very start.
  • Orientation materials: Provide new members with orientation materials, such as a welcome packet or video, that outline the community’s purpose, guidelines, and features. Also, provide a contact they can reach out to with any questions or concerns.
  • Onboarding sequence: Implement an automated onboarding email sequence that gradually introduces your new members to the community’s resources, features, and opportunities for engagement.
  • Community guidelines: Clearly communicate the community guidelines and expectations for member behavior to ensure a positive and inclusive environment.
  • Model the behavior you desire: As the Community Creator members will look to you for guidance on how to interact within the community. Be sure to always model the type of behavior you want within your community.

Mistake #3: Failing to Monetize OR Making Monetization the Main Focus of Your Online Community.

Build the community around your purpose, not your brand.

Yes, you read that right.

Remember at the beginning I said it wouldn’t be easy, but would be worth it. This is the stage that separates the successful communities from the others.

When launching an online community, it’s crucial to strike the right balance between monetization and community-building. While generating revenue is undoubtedly important for sustaining the community and growing your business, making monetization the sole focus can detract from its primary purpose and turn off your members.

We’ve all attended that free webinar or masterclass lured in with the promise of business changing strategies and secrets, only to realize 2 minutes in we are sitting through a 60 min sales pitch. You leave pretty quickly, right? So will your members.

Members join expecting valuable content and interactions but if they are bombarded with nothing but sales pitches and promotional messages they will feel alienated or perceive the community to be purely transactional and check out.

Ok, so I will just provide all of my valuable content for free?

No, wait!

On the other hand, failing to monetize the community altogether can hinder its long-term sustainability and viability. Without a clear monetization strategy, you will struggle to cover the costs associated with running the community and will most certainly lose the motivation to keep your community engaged and growing.

So, what should you do?

  • Provide value-first & small wins: Focus on delivering valuable content, resources, and advice to members without the expectation of immediate financial gain. Building trust and rapport with members will ultimately drive long-term monetization opportunities. Also, delivering small, attainable wins to your members that align with your community’s purpose will keep your members engaged and coming back for more.
  • Premium offerings: Introduce premium offerings, such as exclusive content, courses, or one-on-one coaching services, that provide additional value to members willing to invest in deeper engagement.
  • Implement subtle monetization strategies: Incorporate subtle monetization strategies, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored content, partnerships or memberships, that enhance your member’s experience without compromising the community’s integrity.

Mistake #4: Focusing Solely on Member Acquisition While Ignoring Retention in Your Online Community.

Keep them coming back for more.

One common pitfall that course creators encounter when launching their online community is prioritizing member acquisition at the expense of member retention. While it’s essential to attract new members to the community, neglecting retention efforts will result in high churn rates and kill any hopes for your community’s long-term growth and success.

Think back to the last time you were making a large purchase, such as a new car. As soon as you walk on the car lot as a potential customer you are the belle of the ball, all of the attention is on you. But, as soon as you sign on the dotted line what happens to that red carpet treatment? It usually vanishes as the salesperson moves on to their next customer. Feels pretty crappy, right? Don’t do that to your community members. They joined your community to be a part of your world. Don’t forget about them.

So, how can you make sure you are giving your community the right amount of attention without burning yourself out?

  • Encourage peer-to-peer engagement: All of the community content doesn’t have to fall on your shoulders. By strategically connecting your members and encouraging peer-to-peer sharing and engagement your community can thrive with lively discussions and new content without you. Your members will still receive the value and interaction they joined for without you having to do all of the work.
  • Celebrate and reward your top members: Let your members know you are watching and celebrating their progress alongside them. This can include personalized communication when they hit a certain milestone, offering exclusive member rewards and community-wide celebrations for high achievements. The good news is a lot of these can be automated within your community, again taking the heavy lifting off of your plate.
  • Listen to your Member Feedback: Don’t build your community on assumptions. Actively seek feedback from your existing community members to continue to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points in real time. Then use this direct feedback to tailor your community initiatives, events and content to better serve the interests of your current members.

Mistake #5: Not Starting Your Online Community.

The most significant mistake a course creator can make for their business is simply not doing it.

I truly believe, in today’s online landscape, where connection and engagement are becoming more and more valuable, failing to establish an online community can mean missing out on valuable opportunities for growth, brand building, and customer retention.

And it’s not just me. The numbers don’t lie.

  • Growing Importance of Online Communities: According to a study by CMX, 86% of community professionals believe that a community is a strategic asset to their organization. This indicates the growing recognition of the importance of online communities.
  • Your Audience Wants to be a Part of It: 76% of internet users participate in an online community of some form. These include communities on social media, Reddit, Discord, and individual branded communities. The concept of an online community is becoming more and more mainstream in the digital world.
  • Increased Customer Loyalty: This study found that 73% of consumers say being a part of a community makes them more likely to recommend the brand’s products/services to others. By providing a platform for ongoing engagement and support, online communities can foster stronger relationships and loyalty among customers. An online brand community also sparks brand advocacy and valuable word-of-mouth to drive awareness and trigger new customer acquisition.
  • Opportunities for Collaboration and Improvement: Online communities provide a platform for collaboration, feedback, and knowledge sharing among members. According to a survey by Vanilla Forums, 90% of communities say that suggestions from their community have been used to improve their products or
    services.

By not starting an online community now, you are missing out on these valuable benefits and opportunities for your business. Just as those who embraced email marketing in its infancy gained a competitive edge, establishing an online community now, before it becomes common day, offers the chance to get in on the ground floor of a powerful tool for engagement, loyalty, and brand building.

Let Me Leave You With This.

In today’s dynamic business landscape, where customer connection is paramount, seizing the opportunity early to grow and engage with your online community can pave the way for growth and differentiation for your course or program in a crowded marketplace.

By taking the time to avoid these common pitfalls you can build your community on a strong foundation and set yourself and your community up for long term success and growth.