How to ‘good nudge’ your community members to the top
Benefit-driven persuasion tactics and herd mentality can change how your community operates.
Imagine you were in town trying to find somewhere to eat.
You pass a quiet restaurant with empty tables and desperate staff trying to herd you in. The restaurant also has a flashing sign outside saying, ‘World’s best fish and chips!’.
Unless you’ve been here before and know the quality of the food is top-notch, you’re more than likely going to put your head down and keep walking.
Now, imagine you walk by another restaurant with loads of people in the window booths, laughing and enjoying their food.
Beside the front door, there’s a QR code that takes you to their Google reviews. You can see thousands of reviews and an average of 4.3 stars.
This is automatically a more appealing situation, and you might decide to try it out.
But why? What’s the difference between these two restaurants?
Two things: Good nudging and social proof.
Good nudging
Good nudging is about helping your customers make a positive change or decision without feeling forced.
The overly-keen staff and flashing bold statement at the first restaurant are signs of poor nudging.
Both of these situations don’t convince potential customers that they’ll receive something positive if they walk through the doors.
However, the busy restaurant speaks for itself.
Happy customers and a lively environment are naturally welcoming, without the need for flashy signs.
And yet, for all we know, those few customers could be the only ones there!
The staff may have strategically put these customers at the window booths to give the impression of a busy restaurant.
The customer placement has gently nudged us into thinking that the entire restaurant is busy, and herd mentality encourages us to go wherever other people go.
This is a sign of good nudging, where it feels like our own decision.
How do I implement this in my community?
When you think of good nudging in your online community, it could be something as simple as adding a small level of personalisation to the member’s experience.
Instead of sending an automated message to tell new members to get involved, you could:
Personalise the message with their name
Suggest forums or discussions based on their interests
Tailor the message with other members’ names that you think would be good connections
This shifts the tone from
‘Do this now!’
to
‘Here are some ways you could make the most of our community’.
This form of good nudging also helps community members move up the participation ladder by placing them in discussions where they can excel and be active.
What about social proofing?
The best way to ensure your good nudging works is to back it up.
Say you’re asking members for in-depth feedback on recent changes in the community. You need to tell them why completing the feedback would be beneficial for them.
For example, you might explain that one of your ‘top voices’ regularly provides feedback and has been promoted to a community ambassador as a result.
This helps your members see the incentive behind helping you.
Just like the second restaurant highlighted happy customers in the window, they also backed up the premise of satisfied customers with a QR code to their reviews.
They’re showing potential customers the benefit of choosing their restaurant, and you need to show the benefit of engagement in your community.
Practise what your preach
As a community manager, make sure you always model what you’re saying.
When you actively engage and welcome people to the community, you encourage others to do the same.
Your actions help your community members build connections and confidence quicker, and show them the value of consistent participation.
Remember that behaviour change starts at the top.
Because regardless of how much good nudging and social proofing is done, you still wouldn’t eat at a restaurant where its very own staff wouldn’t.