The first step is to design and create your Discord server. Now, it’s time to get users to join your community! But how can you get people to join your Discord server when you are just getting started with community building?
One of the fundamental things to keep in mind is that your members are the best advocates for your community. So apart from promoting your server on social media, adding it to server lists, and posting it on Unita’s directory, it’s essential to keep your Discord members engaged. And build an emotional bond with them so that they recommend your server to their acquaintances.
Tips to Get Your Discord Server Popular in No Time
#1: Find Your Niche
For others to want to be part of your group, you should be sure about which topics you’ll address and have a community culture. These are some of the questions you can ask yourself to get started 👇
What’s the value of your community?
What makes it unique and different from other Discord servers?
Why do users choose it?
Why would they recommend it to others?
#2: Create Engaging Content
Creating valuable and engaging content is one of the best ways of getting people to join your server. When Internet users join a community, they’re looking for two main things. Connecting with like-minded people, and getting unique content about the niche they’re interested in.
So the more valuable information a community provides, the more people will wish to join the group! If your server addresses complex topics, it is essential to bring complicated terms down to earth for everyone to understand.
#3: Have a Customized & Branded Server
Customizing and branding your server is a must to create the best experience for your members! That way, you’ll build a friendly community that serves as a safe space for users where they can discuss specific topics. And feel identified with the server’s vibe.
To customize the server, you’ll have to go to “Server Settings”. It’s worth going through every option and deciding what you want to modify from default.
One of the benefits of having a community server is that you’ll have access to extra customization options. These include a welcome screen that will appear to new users when they join. Its purpose is to tell them a little about the server. And what channels they can use to get started.
#4: Focus On Your Onboarding Process
When building a Discord server, having a welcoming onboarding process is essential. New members are usually very excited to join a group of people with similar interests. So it’s fundamental to leverage this initial motivation.
The onboarding process should suggest some first steps new members can take to integrate into the community. Also, the onboarding process usually includes basic information about the community (mission and goals). Additionally, you could add login and membership details.
Related 👉 Discord vs Discourse: Features, Pricing, and Community Platform Comparison
During this process, it’s essential to be authentic and let your community values and core beliefs shine through. Also, remember that new members most likely joined because they are aligned with these. So you can reinforce their decision to join by showing new members how the community may help them reach their goals.
#5: Set Your Core Values & Beliefs
As we mentioned earlier, it’s essential to set your community’s values and core beliefs. One of the first things to do is to set basic guidelines to ensure high-quality conversations between your server’s members. This will help you nurture real engagement within your community.
👉 Check out our template of General Rules for Discord Servers you can copy and paste to your community.
If the group is full of spam and unrelated discussions, it will probably not be long before you end up with an inactive group.
#6: Add Bots & Moderators
Bots make your life easier as a Discord server administrator, as they perform different functions automatically. That way, they help your members be more engaged. In addition, you can add them to your server to help you moderate the community and make it unique.
#7: Identify Key Stakeholders
When building a community, it’s essential to have a community manager. However, you can also count on moderators that will help you offer a better experience for your members.
Through a clear set of rules and guidelines, moderators will make sure that the community stays chaos-free, creating a safe and friendly space. Also, having a well-chosen moderator will help your community be more ordered. They should also offer users helpful explanations, tips, and advice. Therefore, new members will be attracted to your Discord server.
👉 Keep reading 5 Discord Moderation Bots You Should Try
#8: Host Events
Hosting events might be a sure bet to cultivate community habits. And get more people to join your Discord server. Communities usually organize virtual or hybrid events such as webinars or interviews with experts. Additionally, you could explore some in-person options. Such as regular local chapters and breakfasts/dinners!
#9: Be an Active Community Manager
For your Discord server to grow, it’s fundamental to listen to your community members. You can achieve that by facilitating channels in your Discord server for users to express their thoughts and opinions. In addition, you can read their reviews, comments, feedback, and experiences.
Interaction is also essential. While you as a community builder might be active behind the scenes, it’s also important to act or have someone who works as a community manager! You can’t just propose an activity and wait for others to participate without any incentive. Be participative for others to be active too.
#10: Harvest Your Audience
Harvesting your audience consists mainly of building relationships on a daily basis. And creating connections with your community members.
Where to Promote Your Discord Server
Promoting your Discord server’s vital for people to find you and join the community. However, before you start, it’s fundamental to have an invitation link that people can click to join.
To create an invitation link, hover over any text or voice channels and click “Create Instant Invite”. By default, these invitations expire after a day. You can click on the gear icon to change how long the link expires (and even set the link to never expire!).
Since Discord doesn’t have a feed or ads, you’ll have to recruit members from server lists, social media, or Reddit’s Discord server directory.
Related 👉 Is Your Community a Safe Place?
Discord-server lists help users search for particular servers based on their interests, allowing them to find yours. Some of the most popular lists are top.gg/servers, disboard.org, discords.com, discord.st, and discord.me/servers.
Another good way to grow your community is to promote your server on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. There you can share your server’s link, add the server’s link to your bio, or in your videos’ descriptions on platforms such as YouTube. You can also list your Discord server in Unita by clicking on the “Add Your Community” button that’s located at the top left on the home page.
Last but not least, you can promote your Discord server by sharing it in Reddit’s Discord server directory. It’s called r/discordservers. This subreddit is really popular and it has over 115,000 members.
Is Buying Discord Members a Good Strategy?
The answer to this question is certainly not. Buying Discord members –or even followers on social media– is unethical and makes your group lose the value of community.
Instead, you’ll have to focus on doing things that might make your server scale slowly but surely. These include engaging with other builders, consuming large doses of content to get new ideas, and replying to comments from your members.
💡 Online communities are great places for community builders to reach out to like-minded colleagues
Orbit is a platform that helps community builders with insights, exclusive resources, and community building support. Join the Orbit community ⋙
Another option is joining Late Checkout. It’s a design agency, studio, and fund that focuses on building community. You can meet other members on their free Discord server.
Most importantly, you’ll have to create valuable content. Quality content is key to keeping members engaged. And getting more people to join your Discord server.
To offer this kind of content, try to ask yourself: what topics should I address in my community? What content will I share regularly?
💡 Pro tip
When you’ve decided what kind of content you’ll be sharing, it’s essential to focus on frequency and consistency. Planning will help you save time, organize yourself and your content, and have foresight.
Growing a Discord community organically isn’t an easy task. Many community builders have abandoned their online groups after finding obstacles to getting people to join their Discord server. But if you stay consistent with your strategy and offer true value, you are on the right way 👉 Keep reading 6 Strategies to Improve Member Retention & Engagement
