{"id":1715,"date":"2021-04-27T12:01:45","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T12:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/?p=1715"},"modified":"2021-11-29T18:41:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T18:41:37","slug":"how-to-grow-a-community-of-engaged-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/how-to-grow-a-community-of-engaged-students\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Grow a Community of Engaged Students"},"content":{"rendered":"<pre><\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building an engaged online community can have a domino effect on your brand and service offerings. As an instructor, building and nurturing your customers can positively impact a wide range of business outcomes: from driving more leads to improving brand loyalty to increasing user retention. As a student, being a part of a community feels empowering. In fact, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.higherlogic.com\/blog\/online-communities-key-facts-statistics-2020\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">57% of people involved in an online community<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> report feeling seen frequently or all of the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1716\" src=\"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"733\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021.jpg 936w, https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 733px) 100vw, 733px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cCommunity engagement supports every member\u2019s success by giving them access to the knowledge and value of the entire community. By supporting them in their work, it inspires their loyalty. It exposes people to new ideas, prompts product and service use, and rapidly surfaces shifting needs.\u201d \u2013 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/communityroundtable.com\/what-we-do\/research\/the-state-of-community-management\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The State of Community Management Report 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balance provides fitness and wellness instructors the opportunity and tools to build a strong online community. This post outlines 7 steps to grow a community of engaged members or students.<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Identify Key Stakeholders:<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are a fitness or wellness instructor, your key stakeholders will be anyone who takes your classes. It goes without saying that as students spend more time with you, the more they will feel connected and a part of your community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bonus Tip:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Show your students you <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/3-tips-for-building-a-thriving-online-community\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">value their interaction and engagement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by finding ways to reward and celebrate them, like shoutouts or progress badges.\u00a0<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Define the Purpose and a Goal<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your community doesn\u2019t have a purpose, people may not understand why they should join. Maybe your goal is to provide a safe space for students to practice or improve their skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You provide your community value, so remember that value is key.<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Build A Member Avatar Profile<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The big question to ask yourself is, \u201cWho do I want my community to serve?\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have your ideal member pinpointed, ask yourself:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What can my community give them that they didn\u2019t have before?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do I want them to feel before and after joining?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do these members gain by choosing me (instead of competition)?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding your ideal member will help you create content that connects.\u00a0<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Develop Rules and Norms For Your Members<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just because you are building a community to serve your students doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">their<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> community. If you have rules or norms, make them known, so members know what they have to abide by to be in your community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some communities don\u2019t have rules or norms, but if there are things that you know you are not willing to tolerate, that is perfectly acceptable. For example, rules and norms can include not allowing members to speak negatively to each other or use profanity.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Set Up Your Community<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have established the purpose of your community, member persona, and rules, it is time to bring your community to life! The next step is to set up on your platform of choice.\u00a0<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Utilize Balance to Engage Your Community<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Balance provides instructors an all-in-one workflow management platform to manage their wellness offerings to serve students anywhere, any time! Balance allows instructors to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">communicate and stay in touch with their clients, followers and leads from one convenient place. To learn more about utilizing Balance to manage your community, please visit: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.balance-withus.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.balance-withus.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1717\" src=\"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021-Pic-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"936\" height=\"662\" srcset=\"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021-Pic-2.png 936w, https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021-Pic-2-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pic-for-Blog-Apr-2021-Pic-2-768x543.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building an engaged online community can have a domino effect on your brand and service offerings. As an instructor, building and nurturing your customers can positively impact a wide range of business outcomes: from driving more leads to improving brand loyalty to increasing user retention. As a student, being a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52],"tags":[36,35,42,43,33,34,39],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Grow a Community of Engaged Students - Balancely<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/balancely.co\/blog\/how-to-grow-a-community-of-engaged-students\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Grow a Community of Engaged Students - Balancely\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Building an engaged online community can have a domino effect on your brand and service offerings. As an instructor, building and nurturing your customers can positively impact a wide range of business outcomes: from driving more leads to improving brand loyalty to increasing user retention. 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