Hi, I let DeepL translate my Dutch language newsletter in English. About the power of the Glide community.
#Handpicked | The power of a community around a product or company
By Fast Moving Targets - Issue #831
It’s been 12 years since I published Handbook Communities, about the power of social networks. It has been just as long that I have been confirmed in my belief that companies and organisations make poor use of their ‘communities’. That can be making poor use of an organisation’s internal thinking and clout, as well as that of its customers and users.
Read how Glide does just that.
About Glide
Glide is a no-code tool that allows you to create apps and (business) tools without technical knowledge. Ideal for improving processes, internal or otherwise, building prototypes and making online products. I am a big fan of it.
For instance, the community of users helps Glide …
Glide’s customers are part of the helpdesk
Glide has an online community environment, a forum, where users help each other with answers to questions and solutions to problems. Glide staff are also there, but the most active members of the forum are users who enjoy sharing knowledge and helping other people. The forum increases user engagement, but at the same time is cost-saving for Glide on a helpdesk.
Glide’s customers are its ambassadors
Because Glide’s users feel involved in the forum, among other things - it really is a bit ‘their’ tool - they behave outwardly as ambassadors. Whenever there are people on social media who ask a question or want suggestions for tools, there is invariably a Glide user who suggests their favorite service. And a user recommending a tool is obviously much more valuable than a staff member doing the same. Marketing by the customer works best.
Glide’s customers are helping make the sales
The same goes for sales. If a customer explains to an interested party how Glide has helped him or her, chances are that they will look at it and start using it. But the same is true if Glide’s users - who themselves often build apps for others - put their customers on the trail of the service. If they build an app, the customer usually has to take a Glide subscription for it. It is not Glide’s only sales, of course, but it is important sales that ensure the tool spreads like an oil slick. Partly thanks to the fact that there is an affiliate percentage attached to it.
Glide’s customers help with product development
In addition to the open forum, there is a Slack environment that only certain active users can access. With a section for ambassadors and experts. I may count myself in the latter category and that makes us experts feel special. That’s what good communities do. They make users or customers feel taken seriously and special. And that creates a strong bond. And that makes you enjoy doing something for the company or service.
For instance, as avid Glide users, we like the fact that we are close to the makers of Glide. That we can be the first to test new features and provide feedback. That we can ask questions and make suggestions. And that the answers to these overwhelmingly find their way into new versions of Glide.
The power of communities
As the Glide example shows, the power of communities is that, as a company or organisation, you can use them to achieve engagement that ensures customer retention, that provides marketing and sales, that provides great customer knowledge and that mobilizes customer brainpower. A strong community thus increases revenue and reduces costs.
So …
Do you also want to do something with Glide or communities? In both cases, you’ve come to the right place! As a Glide expert, I will gladly build an app for you or teach you how to do it yourself. And as a community specialist, I would love to help you create your own community around your company or product.
Simply click the reply button!
Greetings,
Erwin Blom
Translated with DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator (free version)