More digital marketers are becoming aware of Discord as a powerful tool for community building. It’s very popular in certain spaces, including crypto, politics, and investor relations. As web3 projects continue to grow, it will become even more prevalent. And, as some users are abandoning platforms like Twitter, they are looking for a new home. You can provide such a space, using Discord and real time communications.
There aren’t a lot of experts when it comes to Discord communities. But, if you start utilizing it now, eventually you can achieve expert status and get the most out of the platform. Here are a few tips that you may find of value as you learn the system.
- Reward Participation
- Prioritize Server Security
- Make Sure that Your Channels Help You Reach Your Goals
- Identifying a Server & a Reason for Members to Stay
- Familiarize Yourself With Discord Etiquette
- Learn the Commitment Level for Moderation
Reward Participation
Actively rewarding participation is one best practice for building a strong Discord community. Discord is commonly used in MMORPGs like ours as a means of communication between players.
Players with high participation rates are critical assets to any team. Developing a rewards system encourages players to join your community, actively take part as much as possible, and work together towards common goals for those coveted prizes.
Adam Bem, Co-Founder & COO, Victoria VR
Prioritize Server Security
When you’ve opened up a Discord server for your or your client’s company, you should immediately arm yourself against unwanted attention and visitors that would bring the server down.
Set up clear but not intrusive rules, and assign moderator roles so that there are people whose sole purpose is to watch over the content that finds its way there. Every healthy community needs some level of oversight and a human aspect in the moderation process.
Natalia Brzezinska, Marketing & Outreach Manager, US Visa Photo
Make Sure that Your Channels Help You Reach Your Goals
Make sure that your channels help you reach the goals you set for your community. If you want to build a customer-centric community, make channels dedicated to FAQs or customer service. Also, if you want to share product updates, set up a dedicated channel for that.
Brenton Thomas, CEO, Twibi Digital Marketing Agency
Identify a Server and a Reason for Members to Stay
As the popularity of online platforms gets more and more massive, creating communities on platforms like Discord is a great way to harness ideas and a potential market base.
Marking your server as one is the first step, where you head into the Server Settings > Community and going through the setup process. After designating your server as a Community server, you’ll have the option to unlock many features.
As your server grows further, it will require innovative efforts, like the good practice of regularly evaluating what the community members are interested in and what keeps them excited and engaged.
Having collaborative feedback sessions where community members can share their preferences regarding your products and services helps your community build more intimate connections.
Yongming Song, CEO, Live Poll for Slides
Familiarize Yourself With Discord Etiquette
Discord is a very casual platform, used by a lot of the younger generations. The biggest tip here is to not be serious, and become familiar with “Discord lingo”, the usage of memes and emotes, and have a well-created server, i.e., what channels are necessary, how many text/voice channels, the categories of users, etc.
Using this casual relationship with your customers can strengthen the trust and loyalty they have to your business, bettering the brand image and, therefore, sales. Be casual! Discord is also a great place to see what others think of your business, and get feedback/criticism on what could be done better.
Derek Sall, Founder & Financial Expert, Life and My Finances
Learn the Commitment Level for Moderation
Discord communities are very challenging to manage and monitor. Messages are posted randomly and often one after the other. It’s like various chains of communication going on at once.
Whoever handles social media for your brand will have a lot to keep track of. Messages are posted in rapid fire, so it’s easy to lose track of what gets posted on a particular channel.
It’s more of a free-for-all compared to Slack or other platforms. Discord generates great conversations and content, so it’s usually worth the extra time to track, but someone will need to be assigned that task and it will be a time-consuming one. Make sure that’s understood.
John Sarson, CEO, American Crypto Academy
