In this guide, you will learn the proven techniques to grow your WhatsApp community and boost engagement. As someone who has been building online communities for over 20 years; I have seen the good, bad and the ugly of community building.
Before we begin:
My honest opinion is that building a community on WhatsApp is always playing the community game in the ‘hard mode’. WhatsApp is a group-chat tool and not a full-fledged community platform. Sooner or later, you should consider migrating your community to a platform that gives you natural growth and engagement.
If you want some help, comment below or reach out to me through Jatra’s contact-us section.
TL;DR:
This guide answers two most important questions for WhatsApp community owners:
How do you get new users for WhatsApp community?
How to keep members engaged?
I’ll share all the practical ideas that I’ve used to build and grow WhatsApp group before migrating all of them to Jatra. Let’s start.
How to get new users for WhatsApp community?
WhatsApp is a ‘closed group’ system. This means, your group remains undiscoverable to people unless an existing member invites their contacts; or you have publicly shared the group invitation link on the Internet.
Following 5 pointers will give you a clear path to growing your WhatsApp community:
1. Catchy Tagline
Most community builders ignore the tagline. It’s the most important part of your WhatsApp group; because new members will decide whether to join your community based on it. WhatsApp community tagline should explain the value proposition in a catchy way.
Example: A community of D2C marketers on Shopify. Tips and network to grow your business.
2. Simple, Shareable Invites
Create an invite link and make sure that it’s easy to copy and share. Promote the invitation link through your existing marketing channels like blog, website header, social media posts and link-in-bio.
Example: We’ve created a WhatsApp group for early product sneak peeks—[Click here to join!]
3. Offer Exclusive Content or Perks
It’s important to make your members feel valued. Offer something extra only to the members and make it a part of your advertising campaign.
Example: “We’re sharing top industry secrets in our WhatsApp community. Don’t miss out!”
4. Influencer Collaborations
Do not underestimate the importance of online influencers in your niche. A simple shoutout from them can boost your member count. For example, when I formed a local entrepreneurs WhatsApp group, I collaborated with a well-known businessman to promote the group. We went from about 40 members to 190 members overnight.
5. Engage Existing Network
Your existing network can get you new members. You can find several contacts in your email contact list, LinkedIn connections, Instagram followers. Sometimes, you might just want to send a DM to people who you think will benefit from the community.
How to engage WhatsApp community members?
For most of the WhatsApp communities, member engagement is a bigger challenge than onboarding new users.
WhatsApp makes it easy to get new members; but getting them to be active is hard. Following are some of the activities you can do to boost engagement in your WhatsApp community.
1. Weekly QnA Sessions
Themed sessions where users can ask questions and get answers quickly is a great way to boost engagement in WhatsApp group. You can pick any day that works for most of your members and then host the session specific to a topic.
This is important. Don’t make it a general QnA because that does not create enough value for your members.
2. Polls and Surveys
Ask simple questions and create polls about latest topics, happenings, trends related to your niche. It’s interesting to see what the group thinks. I’ve found that people usually love to participate in polls because it’s low effort.
3. Mini Challenges and Contests
Think about organizing short, fun contests like “Post a photo of your workstation” where there’s a winner. Don’t make it a ‘competition’ among the members. Aim for something simple that most members can enjoy.
4. AMA Sessions
AMA sessions were popularised by Reddit. Invite an influencer or a celebrity for an AMA session. Encourage members to participate in the AMA.
5. Share Success Stories
Simple appreciation in public can really boost member morale and make them feel more connected to the community. A genuine appreciation from community manager create a positive environment for the community and members love it.
6. Member Created Content
Encourage your members to share their own content, questions, tips, tricks, photos, videos related to your niche.
Ideally, you’d want the community to be driven by its members. Encouraging members to ask questions, help others is a great way to boost engagement on WhatsApp community.
Wait a Min. There’s a Better Way!
I know what you are thinking - this is difficult! I agree with you. It is difficult to grow a community on WhatsApp because it’s not a community platform. Most WhatsApp communities are ‘dead’ because they don’t offer any reason for people to be active.
WhatsApp Communities do not
Offer organic content growth
Expand content life span beyond few hours or days
Make it easy to find old discussions and content
Respect people’s privacy (although, this is being solved in newer versions)
Offer detailed analytics
Offer moderation tools
I hope you get my point. I’d love to hear from you.