Upgrading your FB group to a real community platform
Helpful tips for your big move
When you’re making your start in the world, you don’t typically go out and invest in nice, sturdy furniture.
Why spend hundreds on a beautiful desk when a secondhand IKEA table holds up your computer just as well?
Similarly when community founders start out, they also tend to choose bare-minimum solutions - just for now.
For many, that means starting a Facebook or WhatsApp group.
Social media groups offer a low-risk, easy-entry way to validate whether there’s demand for a community like yours.
But if you‘ve been managing one for a while, it’s probably starting to feel about as functional as that secondhand table with the duct tape on the leg.
You have no real data on your members or how they interact.
Your member engagement options are limited and there’s no way to organize your content.
Platform management is all behind closed doors and out of your control.
I could go on.
But migrating to a dedicated community platform can feel like a massive undertaking.
Like trading your IKEA table for furnishing a whole house.
I promise, with the right information and a little guidance, moving to a community platform is so worth it. Your ability to engage your members and to grow and develop your community will be on a different level. You’ll wonder why you waited so long.
Here are three secrets to a successful migration:
Choose the right platform. There are plenty of community platforms to choose from – Heartbeat, Circle, and Mighty Networks, to name just a few. They all have their strong points. You want to choose the one that best suits what you and your community will need.
Build a firm foundation. Migrating your members without establishing a strong back end first is just inviting disaster. When they see their new home, you want it to be so functional and inviting and easy to use that they’re just as excited as you are.
Make the move a positive experience. Moving from the social media platform they know to a community platform they don’t is bound to cause some friction for your members. Manage these feelings by getting buy-in before the move, welcoming members in with a well-planned launch party, and phasing out the Facebook group.
When your community is built on a strong foundation, the member experience is better, recruitment and engagement are easier, and the entire community is more successful.
Everything you need to get your community off to a strong start in its new home is covered in my Community Foundations Summer Cohort, a unique group coaching program where I help founders at any stage of their community journey find and patch up weak spots in their strategy.
We cover:
Your community’s foundation and model
Defining and attracting ideal members
Mapping a successful member journey
Crafting values and guidelines
Designing your community spaces
Engaging your members with rituals and events
The member life cycle from onboarding to leadership
Marketing and growing your community
And any specific challenges or obstacles holding your community back
Just like moving to a new home, migrating a community can be a mix of exciting and scary – especially if it comes with other changes, like a new strategy or business model.
Just remember you’re not alone. I’m here in your corner rooting for your big move!
You’ve got this,
☀️ Think the Community Foundations Summer Cohort might be for you? Check it out.
Feeling pretty confident, but just have a question or two that needs clarity? Book a one-time strategy session.
Ready to build a thriving community without feeling lost, overwhelmed, or alone? The Hive is a space where community founders support one another as they build and scale profitable communities.