Engagement is a cornerstone of any social media strategy, whether your network is public or reserved for members of your organization. However, increasing engagement is easier said than done.

With circumstances as they currently stand, organizations and associations are mostly interacting in virtual spaces, including via their private social network. In light of that situation, if your association members aren’t engaging with your organization and one another on this type of platform, it’s likely they’re not engaging with your organization much in general.

Tools for Increasing User Engagement

Building a loyal, engaged member base for your association’s private social network takes time and adjustment as you figure out the particular user habits of your group. However, there are a few strategies and tools that can help you deliver the type of user experience your association members will positively respond to. Here are a few ways to boost engagement via your private social app:

1. Provide Valuable Content

It’s important that your association members are not simply signing up for your private social network, but actually using it to communicate with one another, participate in meaningful group discussion, and share information and ideas.

To accomplish that goal, keep in mind that your social network is an extension of your organization’s community and culture and it should deliver benefits and value similar to what association members expect in other ways. Preemptively evaluate what sort of unique and shared content is most likely to strike a chord with your audience and motivate their engagement. However, don’t simply leave it at that. You should actually track the engagement and other analytics to inform your decisions and help you tailor future content to your association members’ particular tastes and preferences.

You can even occasionally use polls and ask questions to get more feedback to ensure you’re satisfying the needs of different segments of your member base. Be responsive to user feedback and try new ideas. Additionally, make sure your social network is an integral aspect of your overall communication strategy, which gives members a reason to check in regularly for updates.

2. Make Interaction Easier

Not every association member wants to download another app, but they want to stay connected to what’s going on with the group in regards to news updates or events. Making sure your platform is compatible to varying levels of interest and access is the ideal way of empowering your association members and making them feel involved. For example, Go2s Open Access is a unique community engagement social network interface that allows you to establish groups with simple email lists. Other users can have limited interaction—receiving posts via email, commenting back, downloading files, answering polls, seeing events, submitting RSVPs, and signing up for tasks—even without downloading the app or opening an account.

This benefits you as the network administrator, because you can post items in one place—your private social network—and ensure the content is still reaching association members who haven’t downloaded the app. Additionally, it enables users to participate at the level of engagement and access that’s comfortable to them. Once people become familiar with the mailing lists and participating that way, they may be more likely to open their own account in the future to further collaborate, communicate and connect with the organization.

3. Enhance Privacy

Part of the reason people are hesitant to engage, interact, and share much information over social media is because of privacy concerns. When you’re worried about companies collecting and selling your data, you’re less likely to indulge in sharing information. That’s why it’s critical you adopt a private social network that is genuinely secure, private and non-intrusive.

Go2s was designed with this issue in mind, which is why it is focused on delivering what users want: a networking app with no unwanted ads, no data collection, and no fees. Your association members are able to enjoy flexibility, accessibility, and seamless engagement without worrying that Go2s is collecting their data to sell to advertisers.

Get Started with a New Private Social Network

While creating and executing a smart communications strategy is critical to increasing user engagement on your social network, success starts with choosing the right platform with the features and functionality to support your goals. Go2s offers many of the desirable features of other popular social media sites along with several unique attributes and tools to make sharing information and participating in the virtual community more comfortable and secure. Try it out for yourself, today!