Most communities have a terrible newcomer to regular conversion ratio.
Of 100,000 unique new ips that visit the platform per month, some 1,000 might click to sign up, 700 might complete the registration process, 250 might make an active contribution to the community, 50 will be active after the first month, and just 5 will be active 6 months later.
Yet the end result, regular active members, is exactly what communities need to survive. If more than 5 regulars depart over that time, the community is in trouble.
Long-term regulars are valuable. They bring not only a name most members recognise, but references to the in-jokes, connections to other members, upholders of the community culture, and their own high levels of activity. The time spent on these members is worthwhile. Their potential life-time value to the community is huge.
This is why it's worth building strong relationships with members (you should always know your best members better than you know your worst), soliciting personal investments form members into the community, and sharing influence/control with these members. They're all tactics that hook these members into the community for the long-term.
Yes, it's dealing with one member at a time. But if your ratio is anything close to 1 long-term regular per month, simply doubling that would be an incredible achievement.
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