Ep 17: Why Engagement Isn’t The Goal

Jun 14

If you're running an online community, chances are you are focused on the wrong goal. The question I get asked the most is, “how do I create more engagement in my community?” But I'm going to let you in on a secret. Engagement isn't the goal, and in this episode I'm going to tell you why, and I'm going to tell you what you should be focused on instead.

No matter what other people tell you, I want you to get this in your head that your goal as a community leader or a business owner is not to create more engagement. Now, let me give you some context. When people are asking me about this, they are typically talking about engagement inside of their discussion forum, their Facebook group, Circle community, Mighty Networks or whatever platform they use. They're not talking about engagement in the true sense of the word, which is how you're engaging with every aspect of your course, membership or coaching program.

The kind of engagement that people are asking me for, which is more engagement inside of their group or forum, I want you to realize that that should not be your focus. No matter how fun having high engagement in your group may seem. No matter how many people like to tout about their engagement metrics inside of their group, it's not the goal.

Now, does that mean that you don't track it? No, I track it with all of my clients. It's an important indicator metric for us. But in and of itself, engagement shouldn't be our focus. And I'm going to give you three reasons why engagement is not the goal. And then I'm going to tell you what it is. So let's start with reason number one.

Engagement Isn't Always Positive

The first reason that engagement isn't the goal for your community is because engagement isn't always positive. Now, if you run any type of community, whether that be a Facebook group, a membership community or whatever it might be, you know that high engagement doesn't always mean that good things are happening in your group.

If you have walked through a season of difficulty where people were questioning a change in the community, or someone posted something political or religious. That is what we would call a bomb in the community and generated a whole lot of discussion. Maybe somebody posted a picture of their cat that was mangled by a dog that got a lot of engagement. It may have been completely unrelated to the topic at hand, or it may have even been something negative and divisive that was causing problems and conflict in your community. So when that happens, does your engagement go up in your group? Yes, it does. But is that an indicator of a healthy community? No, it's not.

So, remember that engagement isn't the goal because engagement isn't always positive. When you see your engagement stats go up in your community, I want you to ask the question why? What is causing an increase in engagement? Because it's not always the sign of something good.

Engagement Doesn't Always Lead to Progress

The second reason that engagement isn't the goal is because engagement doesn't always lead to progress. I'm going to be honest with you, I've been a part of a lot of communities that I've engaged in over time. I've spent my days chatting away, making friends, answering polls, posting gifs, and I wasn’t making any progress in that community whatsoever. I call this procrastiworking. It's a beautiful way of doing work inside of a community that makes me feel like I'm working on my business or making progress, but I'm not actually doing the hard work that requires my brain to think, for me to get strategic and for me to get messy and for me to test things and do new things.

Most of us in our programs, we're having people stretch what they think is possible for them, or we're teaching them a new skill. You may have an entertainment-based community, but for most of us, we're trying to help them make progress in one way or the other. Being in your community alone is usually not how people are going to make progress.

So what does that mean? That means that focusing on having an engaging community can steer you and your team in the wrong direction when it comes to the kinds of content you're posting inside of your community. A lot of people out there who are Facebook group strategists or community strategists will give you a list of posts that you need to be doing in your community. They'll say,” these are your engagement posts”, or these are posts that you can do to get conversation going.

Well, I can post about how cute my kids are, and that's not actually going to help you make any progress in the community. Now, I'm not saying you don't want to post about those things. They are great ways to create connection from you to your community, and for your community to connect with each other. There are lots of great ways to do that around posts inside of your community, but is that helping people make more progress? It's not. So engagement doesn't always lead to more progress. And if we focus on the goal being engagement, we can lose sight of the fact that some of the posts that get the most engagement don't actually help people move forward.

If you were to look at your stats from your community over the last month and you identified maybe the top four or five posts that got the most engagement, and you said, “Hey, these are really engaging posts. Our goal is to increase the engagement in this group. Let's do more posts like this”, then you are not looking at it through the lens of progress. You're doing “let's show our pets that we work with” because it gets a lot of engagement. Now, again, those things are not wrong, but that shouldn't be the sole focus.

Engagement shouldn't be the metric that we're focused on because then we can lose sight of the purpose of that community. And the purpose of your community is not just to create connections. It's not just to have engagement. It's to support people in getting to the destination that you're promising that your program is going to take them to.

Engagement Can be a Distraction

The third reason, engagement can be a distraction. Creating engagement can be a distraction in your community because social media platforms and discussion forums are designed to provide quick dopamine hits and a sense of belonging. These platforms are created to make users feel good every time they receive a like or a comment, triggering a sense of validation and connection. However, if community members spend most of their time engaging in social interactions without seeing tangible progress towards their goals, it can become a hindrance rather than a catalyst for growth.

Think about it. If your community members are spending hours each day chatting, liking posts, and participating in discussions, but they aren't actually making any substantial progress towards their desired transformation, then the purpose of your community is being diluted. Your community should be a space where individuals come together with a common purpose and actively work towards achieving their goals.

It's important to avoid creating a community that revolves solely around socializing and engagement without focusing on the results and progress your members seek. While creating connections and fostering a sense of belonging are important aspects of community building, they should not overshadow the main goal of helping members achieve tangible outcomes.

Make Progress Your Community's Goal

When community members evaluate the value of their membership, they will consider the progress they have made rather than simply the level of engagement they experienced. If they realize that they have spent a significant amount of time in your community without actually moving closer to their goals, it raises doubts about the effectiveness of your program. Ultimately, your community's purpose should be to provide a supportive environment where members actively consume and utilize the resources, knowledge, and guidance you provide to make significant strides forward.

By shifting your focus from engagement to progress, you can ensure that your community is designed to support and facilitate the transformation your members seek. Emphasize metrics and indicators that measure progress, such as completion rates, active participation in specific activities, or tangible results achieved by members. This allows you to align your content, interactions, and resources in a way that drives meaningful progress and creates a community centered around growth and success.

Remember, engagement should still be monitored as an important indicator. It can provide valuable insights and highlight potential issues within your community. However, progress should always be the ultimate goal. By prioritizing progress and actively supporting your members' journeys towards their desired outcomes, you create a community that delivers true value and keeps members engaged in a way that creates progress.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this perspective. Share your insights and experiences in the comments below or send a DM to @shanaspeaks. Let's have a discussion about the true purpose of online communities and the importance of progress.