The most trendy buzzword at the moment are NFTs.
NFTs which literally means Non -fungible tokens ,are digital ownership certificates with property rights enforced by blockchain technology.
With the prevalent rise of digital art ownership, as the first derivatives of NFT projects, also comes a need for building communities that support these projects.
The heart beat of an NFT project is the community - a group of people with common interest and mindset working towards achieving a common goal.
Community building is the most critical part of any NFT related project. Many great projects have been developed over the years and half the number of times ,we see a systematic trajectory fail before majority of them even hit the light of the day.
Clear factors for these failing projects are lack of communities or support groups.
With thriving communities, the future of an NFT project can be sustained, maintained and even transformed into diverse forms. Successful NFT projects, require strong communities that places her members as core participants and decision makers, not just as customers who mint a token.
Connecting NFT project and communities
There is a high spike in NFT projects, hence the need to create a community around each project. Every NFT community has a persona, it addresses. Knowing your key audience before launching out a project helps you tailor your objective to the key needs of your members. The best communities are where her members derive lots of value from being a part of it.
Community members should have a part in making decisions that affects them as members.People feel more important when they are involved in key decision making processes.
Create an environment that allows members to willingly participate,(not out of compulsion) in building projects and taking on task. A practical example, can be creating a simple suggestion/feedback channel on your discord server, it goes a long way in passing a subtle message to members that their opinions are valued and welcomed.
The right community culture
Community Culture is a set of guiding principles that binds members of a group. The culture created by an NFT community sets the atmosphere and generally precedes the flow of relationships amongst members.
A clear analysis of how NFT communities have been structured in time past shows a sloping downward curve. From the awareness stage, we need to clearly understand what is the determinate factor for getting loyal community members.
For most NFT communities, there is systematic approach that freebies brings in the members. Communities offer freebies and giveaways for a chance to win a whitelist or a free token to her members. Members in these community setting, are mostly grinding for a prize.
A forced show of loyalty with an intention to win a prize and when the prize isn't forth coming the community begins to loose its savour.
A Twitter User who is bullish about NFTs communities made a tweet that went viral with other NFT community members stating their views and opinions
The above tweet clearly shows how dissatisfied people are with communities that make them or have not found the right strategy to building thriving NFT communities. In the next paragraph, we would be discussing effective strategies for building NFT communities
Proven community building strategies that works
These are some of the community strategies that has proved over time to be a better approach to building NFT communities
1.Define your target audience: Art is great, NFTs are amazing but you have to understand that not everyone would love your art your story and approach and it is totally fine.
From the initial stage when you launch out your project, start by defining your target audience, it helps you connect with the right tribe and get people who believe and key into the project.
2.Offer Value : There are several NFT projects and communities springing up by the second. Offering value is the only way to stay afloat. Think of creative ways that your community will add value to her members.
3.Show a clear road map : To have people fully believe in a vision and a project, they have to picture it. Show the long term goals for the project. Drop teasers, show a road map for future plans, give community members something to brag about
4.Treat members as stakeholders: You have to understand that once you decide to build a community around your NFT project, you become answerable to the people. Involve your community members in the decision making process, seek suggestions and opinions from them.
5.Learn to delegate responsibilities: Involving people in task gives them a sense of belonging. Learn to delegate task, just like any other organisations, NFT communities should have roles. Assign these roles to community members and offer a reward.
6.Don’t Force People to Grind : Stop with the pyramid invite scheme. Stop with the excessive giveaways and freebies. Allow people to join the community because they really love the project not because they are being offered a freebie or Whitelist position.
In Conclusion
The lifespan of an NFT project is determined by the value the founders place on community building. Building a community can be a long shot, but when the right strategies are implemented, it becomes a walk in the park. Founders should always seek feedback from community members and improve the community measures they have put in place.