In 2020, we all experienced a dramatic shift. Suddenly, the face-to-face meetings and in-person connections that members crave were forced into the virtual space. For many associations, the transition was less-than-smooth. But in time, we all came to embrace the opportunities that online events create for networking and education.
Today, the virtual events you host in your online community are key drivers of engagement, connecting members with learning content and with each other. They help you transform less frequent, ad-hoc interactions into regular, intentional experiences. From formal sessions that deliver education and resources to informal meet-ups that foster member-to-member connections, these events can help you increase engagement and achieve your membership and revenue goals.
As you work to adopt an experience-driven approach to membership growth, you know that you want to:
A thoughtful plan for hosting webinars and meetings in your online community platform can help you meet these objectives.
Making the Most of Online Community Events
Savvy community leaders know that hosting online community events can help you boost engagement, drive retention, and uncover new opportunities for non-dues revenue. Consider the variety of use cases for webinars and meetings in your online community, including:
Facilitating onboarding. Onboarding is your association’s chance to make a first impression with new members. That means it needs to be memorable and live up to the promise. Use webinars and meetings to:
Consistently hosting events. Creating a steady stream of opportunities to engage is the best way to build a vibrant community of practice that keeps members coming back. Host events of varying types, like:
Inspire increased engagement. Online community events give you a chance to extend your reach and make more frequent, live connections with members. Inspire participation by:
The Benefits of Zoom Integration
Zoom integration on your community platform can evolve the way you manage and execute events, offering benefits that enhance both the organizer and attendee experiences.
Save time and avoid confusion. Making events easier to attend ensures more members participate. Zoom integration clearly identifies locations and descriptions, automatically adjusts to users’ time zones, and displays event information in both your community platform and the Zoom interface.
Avoid context switching. Eliminating the need to switch apps saves time and lets members focus on connecting and engaging in your events. Zoom integration allows attendees to join events directly from the platform they’re already using for community interactions and activities.
Manage all event-related tasks in one place. It can be a hassle to use multiple tools to manage your events. Zoom integration helps you schedule, send reminders, and manage registrant information—all in one place. Plus, Zoom offers a familiar interface that you and your members are most likely comfortable with.
Taking Zoom Integration to the Next Level
Zoom integration on your online community platform helps you create a seamless experience that boosts member engagement and satisfaction.
Some additional capabilities that empower you with valuable insights and opportunities to streamline your work include:
Capture event attendance information. The ability to see who attends an event (not just who registers) can help you enhance follow-up communication and outreach. Tracking attendance over time can also help you determine the best days and times for events, the topics that draw the most attendees, and your most enthusiastic community members.
Distinguish between members and non-members. The ability to dig deeper into event attendance allows you see which events draw participants who are already members and those who have not yet joined. This can help you refine your outreach and marketing strategies for both current and potential members.
Share already-scheduled meetings where members gather. You likely have events scheduled months in advance. Now you’ll be able to include existing meetings, eliminating the need to schedule these events again.
A Quick Start Guide to Online Community Events
We’ve heard a lot of clients express a need for Zoom integration to support their webinars and meetings on the Forj Platform. As you begin to use it more frequently , we want to inspire you to be thoughtful about creating an event strategy, and help you gain momentum quickly.
Here are your key takeaways for hosting online community events:
The Forj Community and Learning Platform helps association leaders cultivate a vibrant member experience, and our Zoom integration is a feature that supports your strategy to create a thriving community of practice. Learn more, or reach out to us to request a demo.