10 proven ways to increase online community engagement

Online community engagement refers to the level of participation, connection, and interaction taking place within your digital space. It's more than just members showing up — true engagement happens when people contribute, connect with others, and return regularly because they find value in the experience.

Successful online engagement doesn't happen by chance. It requires a thoughtful approach and consistent effort to create an environment where members feel heard and involved.

To increase community engagement, start by looking at how people currently interact within your space. Focus on three key areas:

• How members engage with your brand – Are they asking questions, providing feedback, or joining brand-led initiatives?
  

• How members engage with each other – Are there ongoing conversations, support threads, or peer-to-peer exchanges?
  

• How members engage with your content – Are they liking, commenting on, or contributing to posts and online community engagement activities?

Evaluating these areas can reveal engagement gaps and help you shape more effective online community engagement activities that deepen relationships and drive long-term loyalty.

A branded online community with consistent, meaningful interaction can unlock advantages that traditional marketing channels often can’t. Here are some of the key benefits of online community engagement:

• Stronger relationships: Online community engagement fosters stronger connections between a brand and its customers, building a sense of community and trust.

• Customer loyalty: Actively engaging with customers online enhances customer loyalty to your brand by creating a more personalized and interactive experience, and loyal customers mean repeat business and increased revenue.

• Informed decision-making: With online communities, brands can gather customer insights to make informed decisions based on customer feedback and preferences.

• Tackle misinformation and debunk myths: A wonderful feature of online communities is the ability to create and share your own resources, allowing you to address misinformation, correct inaccuracies, and dispel myths effectively.

• Identify real issues: An online community can help a brand identify and address genuine concerns, which also allows for timely solutions through monitoring interactions.

• Generate new leads: Active participation in online spaces can attract potential customers, expand the brand’s reach and generate new leads.

• Increase customer retention: By maintaining a consistent and positive online presence, brands can enhance customer satisfaction, increasing retention rates.

Depending on where you’d like to increase engagement in your online community, some tactics may work better than others for specific situations. Here are ten online community engagement strategies to boost member activity:

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the customer who understands all of the features of your product or service is more likely to use it, recommend it to others, and spend more money on your products in the future. Forbes recommends educating your customers instead of marketing to them: “The more informed and empowered customers are, the more satisfied and confident they are with their choices.” Fortunately, online communities provide an excellent space for education about your products or services, including topics related to them.

Sharing resources such as webinars, ebooks, or blog articles can offer customers a way to learn about your product or service benefits them. You can also do this by simply responding to customer questions about how to use your offerings, such as in the example below where a user in the Microsoft Community asks about which features to enable to maximize performance on their device:

Focusing on education rather than marketing builds trust and invites deeper online engagement—keeping members curious, confident, and coming back for more.

When members feel recognized, they’re more likely to stick around. Increase community engagement by celebrating wins, spotlighting contributors, and making each member feel seen. Gamification encourages members to share more frequently, increasing overall engagement with your brand. It’s also a critical step in building an online community your customers will love.

Here are a few ways you can make your community members feel special:

• Implement automated gamification tactics for everyday actions, like awarding badges the first time an online community member posts, replies to a post, or gives kudos on another member’s post.

• Create a new member experience to make them feel welcome right away.

• Celebrate your active members and reward them for their contributions. This can be as simple as a personalized message from the community manager or something unique like the Top Helpful Author leaderboard in HP’s online community.

User-generated content is one of the most effective online community engagement activities. Customers trust user-generated content over branded content and are more likely to engage with it. Take your strategy to the next level and boost your online community engagement by creating a vibrant social hub of user-generated content.

Ask your superfans to share video testimonials about how they use your products and how your product makes their lives easier and then share this content within the community. Make sure to also reward your superusers and advocates when they create content such as short-form videos or in-depth how-to articles that provide free support.

Getting inactive users to be involved in the community is a difficult task. But there are tactics that can help these users to re-engage. It’s important to first understand your inactive audience, so you can reach out when the timing is appropriate. Utilizing branded community software can help you spot disengaged members and get more insight.

Use community platform tools to identify inactive members, then trigger re-engagement campaigns. Personalized outreach, small calls to action (like polls or “intro yourself” threads), or welcoming them into smaller subgroups can gently draw them back in.

Feedback is crucial for online community success, and there is no better source of feedback and ideas for improvement than the criticism of your customers. Online communities provide an opportunity to monitor and listen to your customers, helping you identify issues or discover what you’re doing well. Constantly asking for feedback — and acting on it — can turn passive members into active participants.

Do this by continuously soliciting questions and comments and encouraging them to tell you what they dislike and love.

Listening also means knowing when to sit on your hands and wait to respond. When customers have negative comments, it is exponentially more powerful to have their peers to defend your brand rather than your customer service team. If you’ve followed the steps to build stronger relationships through community engagement above, your customers will become your greatest brand advocates.

As simple as this might sound, focusing on question-based content in your community unlocks community engagement. Asking your members what they think instead of always creating content to tell them what you think will prompt great conversations while providing insight for your brand.

Craft discussion prompts that provoke thought and elicit personal experiences, encouraging members to share their perspectives. For instance, in a cooking community, you might ask, “What’s your go-to comfort food, and what memories does it evoke?” This not only sparks conversation but also allows community members to bond over shared culinary experiences.

Also consider incorporating polls or surveys to gather opinions on relevant topics, making members feel their input is valued. And don’t forget to actively participate in discussions sparked by these questions. Respond to any comments with follow-up queries to strengthen individual connections and the community atmosphere.

Content creation on social media can be limited to one type of content such as only sharing short-form videos. But in an online community, you can mix it up with different forms of content such as:

• Discussion boards

• Photos

• Short-form videos

• Livestreaming

• Polls

• Q&As

• Articles

• All member chats

• Online courses

• Member success stories

• Challenges for members to contribute content

For example, Visa’s Developer Community features Webinars and Blogs in addition to the traditional forum-style content that most people associate with an online community.

This is a great community engagement strategy because not everyone learns in the same way. You can tap into the different interests of your community members by trying out other forms of content. This variety keeps your community fresh, supports different learning styles, and gives members more reasons to stay engaged.

Organizing your community into focused spaces gives members a home base for their interests — boosting online engagement and encouraging repeat visits. This segmentation allows members to find and engage with content that aligns with their preferences.

You can implement discussion threads, forums, or channels that focus on niche subjects like interest or even spaces related to specific products and services. Fitbit does a great job of this, with dedicated spaces for each of their products:

Ensure these spaces are moderated to maintain a positive and inclusive environment, encouraging healthy discussions and collaboration among community members.

Integrating live streaming into your online community strategy provides real-time interaction — an instant boost in engagement. A great first step to jumping into live video is to identify your top FAQs and answer them in a weekly video series. Live video is a powerful way to humanize your brand and increase real-time community engagement.

Host live Q&A sessions, discussions, or behind-the-scenes glimpses to make members feel more connected. Utilize platforms that support live comments, enabling immediate engagement and feedback. You can also promote live events in advance to build anticipation and attract a larger audience.

Organize virtual events your community members can join, such as workshops, webinars, or even scheduled “talk time.” During the events, encourage participation through polls, discussions, or group activities. Hosting regular events not only strengthens community connections but also attracts new members looking for engaging experiences.

Scheduled events help build anticipation and drive recurring traffic to your community. By creating a reliable cadence of events, you give members something to look forward to — turning one-time visitors into regular participants. You can choose a specific discussion topic, invite guest speakers, or prepare a presentation. It’s a fun and easy way to boost engagement.

Learn more about strengthening relationships with your customers with our Digital Customer Care Playbook, or discover the potential value of your community with the calculator featured below.

Increasing community engagement is a critical but complex challenge. However, with the right community management software, you can streamline and accelerate the process. Khoros Communities offers advanced features designed to drive deeper engagement — from customizable community spaces where your customers can connect and collaborate, to robust automation tools that keep members engaged and reduce manual work for your team.

With real-time analytics, you’ll gain valuable insights into your community’s activity, helping you identify trends, measure performance, and optimize engagement strategies. Khoros also empowers you to monitor conversations, moderate content effectively, and communicate with your members at scale, creating a more positive and interactive environment.

Ready to unlock the full potential of your online community? Request a demo today and see firsthand how Khoros Communities can help you turn your online space into a thriving, engaged hub.