Building a community of users for your marketing resource management (MRM) system is simpler than you may think. Users are often looking for ways to be included and be heard. You just need to give them the means to do so. If you’re looking to build a community around your system, consider these ideas to engage with your users.
Discover who is a super user or product champion
Those who frequently use the system are most likely to get involved and encourage others to do so as well. Because they are most familiar with the system, leverage their knowledge to help facilitate discussions and answer questions.
Give users a means to have open dialog
Consider channels in which your users can communicate with one another to discuss best practices, ask questions, and learn from the success of others. This could be in the form of focus groups, webinars, or online forums.
Create a working knowledge base
Enable your super users to add items to a knowledge database that others can easily access and find answers. Depending on the amount of content, you may want to consider breaking it into subgroups for specific topics or features.
Understand your users
Make a point to frequently check in with your users via surveys, polls, or discussion groups. Understanding the voice of the user is vital to providing a smooth and consistent user experience.
Create events that bring users together
Depending on the size of your user base, it may be reasonable to facilitate face-to-face events that allow users personal interaction to discuss best practices and training, while also giving them ample time to network with their peers.
Encourage contributions to a blog
A blog specific to your user base and system may be a great way to communicate and engage users. Urge users to contribute content, comment on other blogs, and provide recommendations for what articles they’d be most interested in reading.
With an active user community you can achieve many things that will contribute to the success of the MRM system and, ultimately, your business goals. Engaging users can make them feel empowered and valued. Their feedback and participation in various user-focused initiatives also provides you valuable insight into product improvements or system enhancements that you can communicate to your vendor.
Looking for more ways to enhance the user experience? Read Discover Ways to Gather User Feedback and Take Action and Tips for Writing Effective Product Descriptions in Your MRM System – just two of the articles in our 12-part blog series on MRM best practices.
