Finding it difficult to choose the best online community platform? 5 Pro tips to help!

Want to build a sustainable online business? Do you still rely on conventional marketing to create a name in the online world? If so, it’s time to upgrade your marketing mix and switch to online communities. Why? Because online community-based platforms, like Discord, make it easy for brands to connect and engage with their audiences.

Drive sales, build customer trust, improve brand loyalty and reduce customer service costs – are these your business objectives? Do you fail to achieve them using traditional marketing techniques?  With online communities, achieving these objectives is easier. An online community is all about building relationships and interactions with your audience. No matter how great the community features are, it won’t reap the benefits if it’s not customer-centric or properly managed.  For managing online communities, like Discord, Ternary Development brings you the best cloud-based membership management platform.

Factors to Consider Before Choosing an Online Community-Based Platform?

With the variety of features available in community-based platforms, how do you select the one that is the right fit for you?  Your customers love online communities and you are all set to select the right one but for that, you first have to define:

• Your target audience.
• Your business goals;
• The resources needed.
• Decide the community type.

Ultimately, everything boils down to the platform’s features, whether the community provides social media integration, whether it is responsive, how many members it can accommodate and whether the platform supports personalization.

To build strong connections, choose an online community-based platform with the following features.

Easy sign-up process

No-one wants to go through a sign-up process that requires more details than needed (credit card details, birthday, location, etc.). If the sign-up process involves multiple trips to their email inbox, it will lead to frustration. Members will only join the community if it offers a hassle-free sign-up process; so choose a community-based platform that allows members to sign-up easily and enter a discussion right away.

A great sign-up involves fewer steps. However, the easier you make it for users to join the community, the more vulnerable it is to spammers.  This is why Discord is an ideal platform for businesses because of its high level of security for admins and customers.

Enhanced search capability

Online communities, like Discord, allow users to start a conversation at any point in time and view previous conversations.  An advanced search feature enables community members to:

• Find relevant discussions and answers.
• Search discussions that happened a month or even a year ago.
• Find discussions located anywhere in the community.

The following features characterize high quality searches:

• Accessibility from anywhere.
• Fast
• Accurate
• Advanced query capabilities

Integration with membership management platforms

Online community-based platforms offer numerous benefits to businesses, like simplified communication, the ability to boost brand awareness, promoting a new product or service and providing a great source of revenue. However, businesses can enjoy these perks only if they know how to manage these communities.

While there are many CRM subscription membership management platforms, ensure the community supports the platform. For instance, for managing the Discord server, Ternary Development is the right platform.  It integrates securely with your website, payment processor and Discord to create a seamless ternary connection.

Use of moderation tools

Businesses fear their online community may be plagued by trolls and spam.  If the toxic content is not removed, it will damage the brand’s reputation.  That’s why firms need to choose a platform that provides high quality moderation tools.  Through moderation, users can act on behalf of the community to keep the discussion top quality and report offending content to the moderators, who will then decide the appropriate course of action.

Easy tracking of user behavior

Choose a community-based platform that uses analytical tools to closely watch users’ interests, a shift in their behavior and topics users are searching for. All these factors will help businesses in creating relevant, engaging discussions. Use the tracking features to analyze which users will participate and thank them with personal messages. Discord supports Google Analytics integration, making it easy for admins to track data.

Now that we have listed the key features of a powerful community-based platform, it’s time to declare the winner. Discord, the professional community-based chat platform, is a preferred choice for businesses who wish to develop a successful online community and scale their business. It supports all the above features in addition to enhanced security, tiered membership and a channel-based interface.

If you have decided to use Discord for your business, Ternary Development, through its ETE CRM business services, will help you make the most of your Discord membership.

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