Do you know about Discord? For those who have heard about this platform, MAYBE some of you will wonder why a gaming community platform relates to Marketing. The truth is, Discord was once a platform for game lovers to gather and discuss games, but that’s the old days. Discord now has emerged as a popular base for a diverse range of communities in various fields from technology to art, music, and more.
In this guide, we will explore the world of Discord community management and how social media marketers can build communities and engage audiences from that.
Why Marketers should think of Discord as one channel to engage audience?
First of all, you have to know how Discord works.
Discord allows users to build and register into groups, including study groups, art communities, hikers, whatever. From that, many communities emerge on Discord and attract people to join in and share their interests with like-minded people.
This trait plus its flexibility help Discord become an ideal choice of businesses who want to build loyal communities around their brands. However, effectively managing and growing a Discord community requires a comprehensive strategy.
Some facts about Discord
So what is Discord’s position in the social media landscape? Let’s take a look at who is using it.
Discord’s user base is small but growing quickly: Discord has approximately 563 Million registered users Jan 2023. Of them, about 196 million are active monthly.
Despite its relatively low number of registered users, Discord is growing quickly. The platform had just 45 million registered users in 2017. That makes for a 1,151% increase in just six years.
The number of daily messages sent on Discord has also exploded.
In 2018, they sent just 480 million messages per day, but in 2022 this figure reaches up to 4 billion messages per day.
Millennial men are most likely to use Discord.
About 67% of Discord’s users are men. More than 42% of Discord users are between 25 and 34. The second-most popular age group is 16-24 (22.2%).
The information listed above helps you form a general look of Discord.
Power of Discord Communities:
Discord communities provide a platform for businesses to connect with their audience on a deeper level. These communities foster a sense of belonging, facilitate direct communication, and enable businesses to gather valuable insights and feedback from their community members.
Unlike other social networks, in Discord, each community has a profound and private attachment between members as it emphasizes the user’s role in one community. This is the key to unlock its full potential in doing digital marketing.
In a community – through any kind of performance: streams, events, crowd-sourced content, etc – servers can receive participant’s feedback about the product in real-time. This helps save time in determining insights of customers. Moreover, if a brand performs well, it can gain itself a number of ambassadors.
Build community and engage audience on Discord
First of all, you must have a Discord server.
If you don’t have one, create one right away and start building a dedicated Discord server.
A server having various features and activities builds and nurtures a loyal community of engaged users, therefore helps increase brand loyalty. By engaging directly with your audience in real-time, you’ll be able to respond to questions, and receive feedback faster to help develop stronger relationships with your fans.
Next, we introduce to you some of the easiest ways to reach your target audience with minimal infrastructure effort:
Customer Community Groups
Discord’s channels, threads, and roles provide useful features to manage customer marketing in a branded hub, both in the process of introducing a new product or monitoring (potential) customers’ feeling toward the product.
Via their servers, Brands can identify highly engaged customers and tag them for VIP events such as product feedback, discounts, etc.
Discord is an alternative means for tagging as email advertising and social network tagging gradually show low efficiency.
Events And Live Streams
Discord is superior to other webinar platforms thanks to optimized features: pop-out screen-share, user audio settings, ability to pull users into a new server or move channels on the fly.
Channels can serve as sponsor hubs and networking areas, and attendees can each get roles associated with their passes.
Live Streams can be baked into events or day-to-day communications.
Besides two ways above, you can combine some methods below:
Offer exclusive benefits.
To make server users feel valued and special, give them exclusive content, early access to goods and services, or behind-the-scenes tours of projects etc. One common strategy is to start a discussion on one social media platform and then invite your followers to continue it on Discord, where real-time interactions are more accessible and feature-rich.
Run contests and giveaways.
Organizing events and activities is an effective way to keep a Discord community engaged and excited. Here are the steps you can apply to your Discord service:
- Create clues. Prepare a series of clever and challenging clues related to your brand, products, or industry. Each clue should lead participants to the next clue or a specific channel in your Discord server.
- Form teams. Encourage participants to form teams to foster collaboration within your community.
- Set a time limit. Set a timer for the winner to create a sense of urgency and excitement.
- Offer prizes. Hook up the winning teams with some prizes. such as exclusive merchandise, discounts, or special experiences.
Host live Q&As.
By hosting a live Q&A on Discord, you can leverage real-time interactions, gain insights, and strengthen your brand’s relationship with your audience.
Here’s how to do it:
- Consider the date and time that works for you and your target audience and announce in advance.
- Make the announcement. Spread the word on your Discord server. Use an @mention to notify your community and provide details about the date, time, and topic of the Q&A.
- Set up a voice channel. Create a dedicated voice channel for the live Q&A session. Ensure all participants have the necessary permission to join and speak in the channel.
- Promote the event Encourage your community to share with their friends.
- Prepare questions. to ensure a smooth start.
- Go live. On the scheduled date and time, join the voice channel, and start the live Q&A session. Begin by introducing yourself and welcoming participants.
Gather feedback and insights.
Discord is an ideal means to gather feedback from Discord audience to deepen your understanding of your community, improve brand perception, and create more effective marketing campaigns.
Here are a some suggestions
- Operate Emoji polls: Use emoji reactions to create quick and fun polls in your Discord server to ask questions about your products, services, or content.
- User-generated content (UGC) contests: Organize contests that encourage members to create content related to your brand. This could be fan art, videos, or testimonials.
- Interactive quizzes: Host interactive quizzes based on your brand or industry. This engages users while providing insights into their knowledge and preferences.
- Ask me anything (AMA) events: Host live AMA sessions with key team members, allowing members to ask questions about your brand, products, or future plans.
Conduct focus groups.
Conducting focus groups on Discord empowers you to gain direct and authentic feedback from your community, leading to a customer-centric marketing approach and more successful campaigns.
To hold your own focus group, follow the same steps you would for the live Q&A we discussed above. Some additional notes to keep in mind:
- Pre-screen participants. Select participants who represent your target audience and have relevant insights to share. Consider their demographics, interests, and engagement level within your community.
- Record the session. With participants’ permission, record the focus group session. This allows you to review the discussion later and capture key insights accurately.
- Analyze the data. Transcribe and analyze the focus group data to identify trends, patterns, and valuable feedback.
And after all, don’t forget to utilizing Analytics and Metrics:
Measuring the success and growth of a Discord community is essential for making informed decisions, you should utilize analytics and metrics to track key performance indicators, such as active members, message activity, and engagement rates. These insights help businesses understand their community dynamics, identify areas for improvement, and refine their community management strategies.
Term
For those who haven’t accessed Discord before, here are some terms related to this platform. Hope that it’s helpful
Servers
Discord servers are virtual communities in the Discord platform where people can gather, chat, and collaborate. Each server operates as an independent space, offering specific channels for related topics or activities. These servers provide a wide range of interests, from gaming, technology to art, any fields that forks concern.
Text channels
In Discord servers, there are text channels operating as chat rooms . Each text channel is dedicated to a specific topic or discussion area. Members are allowed to send messages, links, images, and files and interact in real time.
Voice channels
Discord voice channels are spaces within Discord servers where users can have real-time voice conversations.
Direct messaging
Direct messaging on Discord allows users to send private text messages to each other. It enables one-on-one communication. Users can also make voice and video call options within direct messages.
Bots
Discord bots are automated programs that run on Discord servers, providing various functionalities and enhancing user experiences. Bots can perform tasks like moderating chats, playing music, providing server information, managing roles, and executing commands. Developers can create custom bots using Discord’s API or use existing ones from the Discord Bot List.
Rules and permissions
Rules can be established by server administrators to control user conduct, content sharing, and general behavior. These guidelines might address issues like politeness, appropriate language, and prohibited content. Users’ ability to send messages, manage channels, ban members, and perform other server-side operations is governed by their permissions. For servers to remain secure and well-organized, Discord rules and permissions are essential