Best practices to recruit members in your community

Launching a community is not always enough to attract members. You need to find them where they already are, and give them a clear reason to join.

Before you start

Before choosing your recruitment channels, ask yourself one simple question: where are your future members already? Social media, CRM database, field teams, search engines,...

Every brand has a different starting point. The goal is to identify the most relevant channels for you, then build your strategy around them.

Depending on your community type (consumer or influencer community), here are our recruitment best practices: 

Consumer community

A consumer community is generally an open community: anyone can sign up freely, without manual validation. This means recruitment relies entirely on your ability to make people want to join and to promote it on the right channels.

The more touchpoints you create, the better your chances of attracting qualified and engaged members from day one.

CRM and newsletters

Your existing customers are your best candidates. Use your CRM communications to highlight what they will experience by joining the community, not just what it is.

Highlight: 

• The exclusive experience
• Access to product testing
• Participation in surveys or workshops to influence your future collections
• Exclusive benefits reserved for members

Visibility on your website

Add a link to your community on your website: homepage, footer, customer account, loyalty space,... This link should be placed strategically and paired with a benefits-oriented message. 

Social media

The goal on social media is to spark curiosity and show the value of the community even before sign-up.

Recommended formats: 

• Teaser stories ("Want to test our next product launch?")
• Posts highlighting member benefits
• Members-only contests to encourage sign-ups

Sales teams

If your brand has a sales force or teams in direct contact with your customers (advisors, sales reps, customer service), they can play a key role in community recruitment.

Train them to present the community in a few words and provide them with a sign-up link or a simple resource to share.

Existing members

Once you have started recruiting members and animating your community, you can use this new recruitment lever. Identify your most engaged members and highlight them publicly: quote their reviews, share their product feedback, showcase their participation.

This serves two purposes: retaining active members and showing non-members that the community is active and rewarding.

Influencer community

An influencer community is generally a closed community: creators go through a dedicated recruitment page, fill in the application form and must wait to be accepted by an admin. To learn more about application management for closed communities, read this article.

CRM: activating an existing creator base

If you already have a list of influencers (current ambassadors, past contacts, partners,...), launch a targeted email campaign as soon as the community goes live. The goal is to highlight the concrete and exclusive benefits they will get by joining.

Highlight: 

• Priority access to campaigns
• Free products to test
• Exclusive collaborations with the brand
• The opportunity to co-create with the brand
• Rewards linked to their content creation

Social media: attracting new creators

Your social media channels are a natural way to recruit and attract the right influencer profiles who don't know you yet.

Recommended formats: 

• Stories and carousel posts highlighting benefits and advantages
• Reels or lives to show behind-the-scenes of collaborations and the community
• Featuring creators who are already members (social proof)
• Open call for applications around a product or a limited campaign

Identifying creators who already mention you

Look for people who are already talking about your brand on social media: tags, mentions, spontaneous reviews. These are natural candidates, already convinced by your products.

Reach out to them directly with a personalized message that acknowledges their existing content and presents the community as an opportunity made for them.

Optimizing the landing page and application form

The landing page is the first point of contact with your future creators. It needs to convince them in just a few seconds. Include on this page: 

• A clear presentation of the community and its objectives
• The key activities creators can take part in, as well as the benefits and rewards
• Video or visual content created by existing members (optional but recommended)
• One or more call-to-action buttons (CTA) linking to the application form

Regarding the application form: the longer it is, the higher the drop-off rate. Only ask for essential information at the first step (name, email, link to their main social profile). You can collect additional information once the creator has been accepted into the community.