4 Reasons to Build Online Communities on Slack

With a thriving community in your corner, you can meet the expectation of your customers precisely. But to do that, you need a community platform that suits your requirements.

Enter-Slack.

Originally developed for empowering workforce communication, Slack has been taking the community industry by storm. Slack comes with a wide array of community-oriented features like sub-threads, instant chat, channels, etc. Having said that, community builders are now leveraging this platform to create intuitive, vibrant communities with minimal effort.

Let’s take a look at why and why not Slack makes the perfect solution to build your online community.

What is Slack?

Slack is a real-time messaging app for teams. With the useful features it offers for collaboration, communication, and building camaraderie, it’s quite popular among professionals. Originally built for enterprises, Slack is moving beyond the employee group. Individual consumers and organizations are also flocking to the platform. Thus, it now acts as an external communication forum, making it an ideal choice for building a community.

4 Key Features of Slack

Transparent communication is one of the most essential features of Slack. Thus, Slack enables communities with better and more efficient engagement.

Here are some key features of Slack that make it an ideal choice for community building-

1. Familiar UI: Slack was originally designed as a communication channel for IT professionals. That is why it has been a part of the routine workflow for over 10 million professionals. It means more than 10 million people have it installed on their desktop or mobile devices. Thus, community builders have the benefit of a familiar user interface. All they have to do is create a workplace, send an invite, and keep their members engaged. Even if a certain member has never worked on Slack before, the intuitive interface makes it easy to follow.

2. Useful Community Building Features: Slack offers all essential features to build an entry-level community. In its free, basic version you can get features like channels, real-time chat, threads, and more. The ‘channels’ feature of Slack is like a sub-topic that enables you to create a dedicated space for a specific topic. For instance, you can create a ‘resources’ channel for sharing knowledgeable links and study material.

3. Effortless Member Acquisition: People on the web are interested in a more private place to hang out and discuss that isn’t necessarily Twitter. With Slack, you can attract the right people to join your community. For instance, if you are creating a channel for the ‘HR’ profession, use the relevant hashtag to get users interested through social media. Take the example of Buffer Community on Slack and how they use a Typeform to get people to join their community-

4. Easy to Follow Communication Structure: Slack is known for offering a number of ways to connect and network with community members. Firstly, it offers an easy-to-follow discussion structure with sub-threads. This way, members can keep track of the discussions and contribute their bit (by asking questions, sharing ideas or wisdom, etc.). Moreover, the instant chat option allows them to directly connect with other members to form personal bonds with fellow members.

Packed with convenient, user-friendly features, Slack is an ideal platform to start a community without risking anything. It is the most cost-efficient option to test the idea and see the traction. Moreover, it helps you spread the word about your community and build a stronger online presence for your business. And that’s exactly the reason most community builders opt for Slack for building their first community.

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