Here are some top tips for keeping the engagement high in your Buzz space
So you've created your Buzz space and you're nearly ready to invite your Buzz members...congratulations! 🥳
Before you go live, it's worth considering how you will keep the engagement high in your community space to make sure that your users have the best experience possible and are buzzing to be a part of your institution.
With a little preparation and by reading our top tips below, you'll be able to sustain the engagement between your ambassadors and members following your Buzz launch...
1. Plan a marketing campaign
The first step in the process is to consider how you will promote your Buzz space to potential members. What is the value proposition you are offering to your offer holders? Is it the opportunity for them to meet their future classmates and flatmates before they join campus? Or is your community offering your future students the chance to learn more about their course and how to best prepare for their studies ahead of the programme start date? Make it clear to your offer holders what benefits they will be able to take advantage of from joining Buzz, and feed this into your email copy.
It's also best to take a multi-stage approach by sending out reminder emails about the Buzz space beyond the initial launch. As students move through the recruitment funnel, consider what might be most important to them in their decision making process, and how the feature will empower them to take their next steps confidently.
2. Empower your Ambassadors
Selecting the right ambassadors to join your digital community is key to your success. Think about the audience you're reaching out to - do you have a diverse range of voices within the Buzz space that represent the subjects of interest, nationalities, and general hobbies and interests of the Members you are inviting?
Before inviting your Members to join, we recommend that you brief your Ambassadors on the responsiveness and type of engagement you expect from them. If your ambassadors can aim to share a first message in the Group Chats that they are invited to (before your Members join), this will get the conversations off to a good start and make it less intimidating for your incoming Members.
Also encourage your Ambassadors to check in on the Group Chats on a regular basis and share open ended questions with prospective students to keep the conversation flowing. They are the student life experts, so empower your Ambassadors to chat as much as possible in the Buzz space and to share their personal experiences. This will greatly enhance the engagement of newly joined members.
3. Create new Community Group Chats after your Buzz launch
You will learn more about your Buzz Members as the community begins to grow and new 121 conversations start taking place. You can have a quick read through some of the new interactions happening via the admin dashboard to see which common themes and topics are emerging. Use this intel to create new Community Groups - this will help bring people together on the subjects that matter most.
The information that you gather on your Members can also feed into your Buzz promotional plan. If you find that your students are asking lots of questions about a certain topic, you could create a new Community Group on this theme and send a Buzz promotional email that says "have you checked out our new group chat on ....?" to draw your audience in. You can also share anonymised screenshots or quotes from individual Community Groups in your promotional emails as further social proof, and to show off your most buzzing chats!
We look forward to seeing your new digital community grow! If you need any further help as you get set up, or would like more tips on how to build engagement, please don't hesitate in reaching out to your Dedicated Customer Success Manager or email support@theambassadorplatform.com.