Here's a 5 Step Engagement Formula That Works

We have seen online community newsletters increase traffic by as much as 100% which is a great way to improve community engagement. However, if the content in the newsletter isn't relevant, valuable, and delivered in a consistent way, you won't be able to sustain that level of traffic increase over time. So, the question becomes do you have an engagement formula for your newsletter that works?

We work mostly with high tech companies so let's go outside of high tech online communities to find a hero and inspiration. PD 360 is an online community for teachers that combines professional development training with peer to peer discussions. They developed a 5 step engagement formula that works extremely well for their community "Strategy of the Week" email. Their 5 step engagement formula is the following:

1. Make the subject of email concise, relevant, and consistent week to week
2. Share a laser focused strategy in 3 sentences or less
3. Recommend 2 valuable video links to show the strategy being used in the classroom
4. Offer a link to 'share it with a friend'
5. Provide a link to the relevant discussion thread to encourage collaboration with others

Here is an example of one of their recent Strategy of the Week emails.

Subject: Strategy of the Week: Knowing the Learner

Strategy of the Week: Knowing the Learner from Differentiating Instruction for All Students For teachers to successfully differentiate instruction, they must know the learners in their classroom. Having a clear picture of who each student is and how he or she learns enables teachers to effectively meet and respond to varied learning needs. To learn more about how to know the learners in your classroom, watch the following PD 360 segments. To view these video segments, click on the link or copy and paste the link into your browser. Use your PD 360 login and password to access the segments. Elementary segment - http://www.pd360.com/index.cfm?ContentId=151 Secondary segment - http://www.pd360.com/index.cfm?ContentId=161 Forward to a friend > Discuss with Others Want to learn more? Visit the PD 360 Learning Community at http://www.pd360.com/index.cfm?loc=9&locType=3&thread=69 to collaborate with educators across North America.

The video link from above takes you to the video I have displayed below. When playing the video below, notice how relevant and valuable the video is.


The key to online community engagement is to deliver relevance and value consistently in ways that members can easily digest. The above "Strategy of the Week" email is an excellent example of a newletter that is built upon a successful engagement formula that can be repeated week to week.

Contact Lauren directly at ldelong@InnerCircleCommunities.com or 207.752.7298 to discuss your social media or online community needs. We look forward to hearing from you.

Share This Content