Web3, the new iteration of the internet, is growing its stock. Whether it's metaverses and NFTs, or online gaming and communications, this space is expanding, and that means communities are key to what comes next. What’s more, the fact that the users are the owners of this space, there’s even more incentive to grow and nurture communities. That being said, the space is still emerging and to ensure its success, projects need to place great importance on privacy and security for their communities, utilising the vast array of Web3 tools and solutions on offer.
In this ultimate guide, we’ll explore various aspects of Web3 community building, such as how to build communities that are engaged, loyal, and profitable, how to define communities and their demographics, how to measure the success of your community with metrics and how you can growth hack tangible data to scale up. Let’s get underway.
Does your Web3 community revolve around a project? A game? A blockchain? An NFT collection? To start effectively building a community in this space, you need to know who your audience is, their demographics, their goals, and their values. Anything and everything you can learn about them can be leveraged to maximise the efficacy of your group and its growth.
Once you’re clear on who they are and what they stand for, you need to combine those things and align them with the mission statement of your community. If your Web3 community wants to unite gamers, the values might be fairness, asset ownership, and teamwork. If it’s about NFT collections, it’s more likely to be spotting gems in the marketplace, digital creativity, and web humour. Spend a good amount of time on this section as it has been known to make or break the success of some communities.
Tip: Become a member of similar or rival communities and glean as much information as possible. Look at what they do well and what they can improve upon.
There are six steps to actually building a community, moving beyond the theory and into the practical process.
- Choosing the right communication channels - Discord, Telegram, Twitter?
- Creating a social media strategy - Humorous? Serious? Video-based announcements?
- Developing a content plan - Medium or Substack? PR placements or backlinking? SEO?
- Hosting events & meetups - IRL events? Private & secure videoconferences on Relayz?
- Creating participation incentives- NFT or crypto rewards? Badges? Zealy (ex-Crew3)?
- Setting up a feedback loop - SurveyMonkey? Google Forms?
We’ve given suggestions above, but really that’s all they can be - suggestions. Only you can really know your community and where they hang out. Knowing that it’s Web3 and the audience is generally younger, it’s unlikely they’ll be active on Facebook, where the average user is older. Could your community be hanging out on TikTok or Instagram? It’s plausible, but you’ll need to do your own research (always DYOR) to find them.
Nurturing Your Web3 CommunityGreat community engagement and customer service will help lay the groundwork, but you need to think about how you’ll drive collaboration and feedback, starting with those community members who are actively trying to get involved. On top of creating those opportunities, you need to be transparent with your people, authentically letting them know what is going on, and what is happening in regard to the future of your project. The whole time, you also need to consider privacy and security for your community, leveraging Web3 solutions such as Relayz and Signal to protect conversations.
Measuring Your Web3 Community's SuccessThere are three parts to measuring the success of a community in Web3, and it’s really quite simple:
- Identify KPIs
- Set goals and track progress
- Analyse data and make adjustments
Let’s break it down a little further.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are specific metrics that allow you to track your progress towards pre-defined community goals. Let’s say each month you want 1,000 new members in your Telegram or Discord, 100,000 reach on Twitter.
After setting your KPIs, the community goals and how you track them will come into play, so consider how specific, measurable, and realistic they are. Tracking your progress keeps you focused and heading in the right direction, but sometimes, your community might veer slightly off track and you need to bring it back. Be dynamic, identify trends, and pivot when it serves your community and the mission well. If engagement in one area is low, try something different - if it’s high in another area, dig in and find out why. Grow and thrive, but don’t get stuck in a rigid box - be flexible and adaptable to change, that’s the nature of Web3.
Scaling Your Web3 CommunityWhilst some communities want to stay small and niche, they are in the minority. Most want explosive growth to support a project, business, game, protocol, or something in this Web3 realm that requires participation for success. There are four corners to scaling a Web3 community, and you’ll need to know where to divert your energy and effort based on previous success, understanding your community, and the mission statement you prepared previously.
Corner one: Growth StrategyScaling a Web3 community will require building and sticking to a strategy that is confidently aligned with your mission and values. You’ll need to do everything we’ve talked about, such as identifying your audience, considering the reach and efficacy of different platforms and tools, looking at communication channels and approaches, and how you will use the community to launch products and services. You’ll know the metrics and KPIs you want to achieve, and will measure performance against them as you go.
Corner two: Partnerships and CollaborationsYou can only do so much before you realise that other communities, projects, businesses, and people have the power, numbers, and creativity to help you scale. As you dive into partnerships, you can tap into their existing audiences and reach new people who might never have found you otherwise. Through cross-promotion, joint events, dual initiatives, and more serious ideas such as mergers and acquisitions, you have huge scaling opportunities to consider. Remember, however, that any potential partnership must reflect the community values you are founded on, otherwise growth can reverse and people may walk away.
Corner three: Developing a Governance ModelIn Web3, scaling reaches a tipping point whereby the community has reached a level of size and participation that requires more democracy and governance. Fortunately, this has been solved in a number of ways. Moderators and admin help to govern the group at first, but later, it usually ends up with the formation of a DAO - decentralised autonomous organisation. This allows community members to transform into community owners, giving them voting power and building consensus. Key to any DAO or alternative governance model is the establishment of transparent rules and processes to ensure everyone has the opportunity to have a voice and be heard.
Corner four: Scaling Community InfrastructureAs your community expands, you might face certain challenges that require you to invest in new tools and technologies. You might need to invest in larger group limits, management software for leads and opportunities, private Web3 communications platforms, and tools for managing tasks, initiative, rewards, or governance. Fortunately, Web3 is expanding rapidly and new tools are popping up to make sure that people in this space are well accommodated technologically.
Finally, Embrace the ProcessOnce you have defined who you are, how you want to communicate this, and how you will grow, you are well positioned to make an impact in Web3. While we have included some of the essential steps to help you build a community in Web3, there is an almost infinite number of ways that you can grow and build in this ever-evolving space. Focus on prioritising what is important, effective, and scalable, and your Web3 community will follow.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
