During the deep dive sessions of innosabi connect, our annual customer meeting, innosabi’s Customer Success Managers and customers work together on best practices for current topics. One of this year’s focus was best practices for community guidance in innovation: how to manage your community from onboarding to expert level.
In the dynamic landscape of innovation platforms, understanding the different needs of your community members is critical. Whether they are newcomers exploring the possibilities or seasoned participants who return regularly, tailoring your approach to their level of experience can significantly increase their engagement. In this article, we’ll look at best practices for community guidance in innovation, and how to motivate users at different stages of innovation platforms.
1. Not a community member yet
Let’s start with the journey of attracting the curious and laying the foundation for community engagement by exploring strategies for attracting and guiding users who are not yet part of your innovative community.
Capturing the curious: creating an inviting environment
For those who have just discovered your platform, the goal is to entice them to become part of your innovation community. Consider creating a home page specifically for unregistered users. Use visually appealing graphics and easy-to-understand content to illustrate the platform’s goals and opportunities for interaction.
Engaging visuals and testimonials: Create a compelling first impression
Short introductory videos, ideally featuring a member of senior management expressing the vision for the innovation community, can be a powerful tool. Showcase ongoing projects and their results to give a glimpse of the platform’s potential. Strategically place call-to-action buttons to take users seamlessly to the registration page.
Customizable Homepages: Tailoring the Welcome Experience
In the innosabi software, you can use the flexible homepage configurator to create a customised start page, ensuring that it is perfectly aligned with the content aimed at unregistered users.
2. Newcomers to the community
Once users have created their profile, it is crucial to convert them from registered users to active users. To do this, you need to nurture their enthusiasm and provide them with the information they need to start their innovation journey.
Welcome the enthusiasts: Keeping the registration momentum going
Once users have registered, it’s time to provide them with important information and links to enhance their experience. Use the customizable welcome email feature on the innosabi platform, for example, to send a personalised message to each newly registered user. Include links to ongoing projects, important overview pages, or any other content you want to highlight.
Strategic content placement: Facilitate easy discovery
Make it easy for new users to discover ongoing projects and relevant content. Use the homepage strategically by placing high-priority information, e.g., using our hero boards for innovation challenges, and using call-to-action banners to direct users to top content.
Targeted content display: Increase relevance
innosabi’s flexible homepage configurator allows you to display content exclusively for specific audiences, ensuring that users see only what’s relevant to them. While a page with general platform information is valuable, it doesn’t have to be prominently displayed. Provide a link in the navigation or further down the homepage.
3. Advanced Community Member
Our exploration deepens as we turn our attention to the advanced community members who return regularly, seeking to empower them with streamlined tools and intelligent features to enhance their experience and facilitate seamless navigation within your innovation platform.
Empowering Regulars: Streamlining the experience for returning users
For regular users, the focus is on providing efficient tools for navigation and interaction, as they already know the platform and what they are searching for. E.g., implement our global search function that allows users to quickly find the projects or information they are looking for.
Customised assistance: Guide users to relevant areas
Based on their preferences, users should be able to quickly access those specific areas. With the innosabi software, this can easily be done with our customised assistance. Whether they want to submit an idea, collaborate on a project, or explore content related to a specific area, the wizard streamlines the experience.
innosabi Initiative Pages: Dedicated Spaces for Specialized Topics
Thanks to the innosabi feature “initiative pages”, you can create those pages catering to specific departments, programs, or regions. Display quick links on the homepage to direct users straight to the spaces relevant to their key interests.
In summary, understanding, and meeting the diverse needs of your community members is key to driving engagement and success on your innovation platform. By implementing these best practices for community guidance in innovation, you can seamlessly guide users through their journey, from initial exploration to becoming experts in your innovation programme.