Don’t ask people to join a community to ‘connect’ or ‘share’ with members. Use appeals that
target specific motivational triggers.
Ensure that members need to interact to satisfy the need triggered by your motivation message.
For example, raise your profile is selfish, very selfish, however, it forces a member to participate. This is good for the community. Members have to demonstrate their expertise. They are primed to join and then participate.
If your appeals are about passive,
lurking-activities (receive information/latest updates/connect), few people
join. A few that have worked for us include:
- Raise your profile – {status/positive
distinctiveness} - Solve this (common) problem –
{immediate need} - Become an expert expert
{status/positive distinctiveness} - Join an exclusive/elite group
{social identity} - Change (the field/sector/topic)
– {efficacy} - Improve (the
field/sector/topic) – {efficacy, with a dose of nobleness} - Improve how you (do a particular
task) – {immediate tangible benefit} - Influence (sector/task) –
{efficacy} - Don’t be left out of exclusive
group. {fear of missing out}
You can expand this list to include any
number of motivational appeals. Make sure the appeal is selfish and forces members
to interact to achieve it.
