Most customers use Forum to engage their audience asynchronously on topics or prompts and to crowdsource input & information from one another. The most effective Forums use Boards to organize posts by topic so members can more easily find and source information and discussions, and focus their time on the platform.
Most engaging use case
Forum is a great avenue for members to post and prompt informal discussion. Posts that see the most activity are ones where members can be friendly, carefree, and authentically themselves. ‘Introduce yourself’ posts, or ones that prompt the group to answer a question or provide advice are the most active and engaging.
Here is an example of an engaging post from CustomerX Pros' community:
Unique use case
A unique use case is a job board or call for interns to work for an organization. Communities can post a job board where members post openings, offer warm introductions, and answer questions from potential candidates. Forum is also a safe place for people to post that they’re looking for an opportunity or seeking advice on a career move. Posting jobs and internships in a trusted community allows members to see more opportunities in their field that are honest and true, and more focused than other avenues. They can also connect with the poster or commenter one-on-one, and receive feedback and advice from others in a trusted environment of peers.
Here is an example of a call for internships in Dscoop’s community:
Here is an example of a job board in CustomerX Pros’ community:
Future updates requested
The most requested features for the Forum are more notifications that alert members when their post receives comments, upvotes, etc. via email and the ability to tag members in posts and comments. These requests stem from the need and want for customers to drive their members to be in their community (in Gradual) more regularly, and have it become the platform they visit and engage with often.
These features will also help the Forum to stay more vibrant and alive, as people will be more inclined to comment, post and engage with the discussions when they're reminded to visit the community's Forum.
