1 page.title=Build Community 2 page.metaDescription=Build a loyal following with great support and communication. 3 page.tags="users, growth, community" 4 5 @jd:body 6 7 <div id="qv-wrapper"> 8 <div id="qv"> 9 <h2> 10 Contents 11 </h2> 12 13 <ol> 14 <li> 15 <a href="#starting-your-community">Starting Your Community</a> 16 </li> 17 18 <li> 19 <a href="#tools-to-build-your-community">Tools to Build Your Community</a> 20 </li> 21 22 <li> 23 <a href="#managing-your-community">Managing Your Community</a> 24 </li> 25 <li> 26 <a href="#related-resources">Related Resources</a> 27 </li> 28 </ol> 29 </div> 30 </div> 31 32 <p> 33 Fans of your apps love to help others, turn newer users into fans, and bring 34 you more users as they talk about your app. Building a community can help you 35 tap into those influencers to help you improve your app and provide support 36 to others. 37 </p> 38 39 <p> 40 Building your own community can help you bring content that will delight 41 users and get them talking about your apps to friends, family and others in 42 their social network. 43 </p> 44 45 <div class="headerLine"> 46 <h2 id="starting-your-community"> 47 Starting Your Community 48 </h2> 49 50 51 </div> 52 53 <p> 54 In conjunction with your apps design and development, you should start 55 defining and building your community infrastructure. Theres no one approach 56 that fits all, and the approach for each of your apps may need to be a little 57 different. You should start by thinking about your potential users and asking 58 questions such as: 59 </p> 60 61 <ul> 62 <li> 63 <p> 64 How will my users prefer to interact? Game users may prefer a modern feed 65 style community, users of a financial management app a more traditional 66 discussion forum. 67 </p> 68 </li> 69 70 <li> 71 <p> 72 Should I have a community for all my apps or should each app have its 73 own? Will users be turned off if the community isnt just about the app 74 that interests them or can I make it a way to turn them onto my other 75 apps? 76 </p> 77 </li> 78 79 <li> 80 <p> 81 Will different countries or territories, or speakers of particular 82 languages need separate forums? How will I handle feedback in languages I 83 dont know? 84 </p> 85 </li> 86 87 <li> 88 <p> 89 Do I need any additional policies beyond those governing the tool used to 90 host the community? 91 </p> 92 </li> 93 </ul> 94 95 <p> 96 Any way you do it, starting your community early helps you build momentum as 97 you turn happy users into influencers. 98 </p> 99 100 <p> 101 Consider inviting your existing users through a rich notification or an 102 opt-in on your website. Dont overlook inviting your critics too. If you have 103 been able to address their earlier issues you may convert them into 104 supporters its not unknown for your harshest critics to become your most 105 enthusiastic fans if you address their concerns. 106 </p> 107 108 <p> 109 When you use the <a href= 110 "{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html#alpha-beta">beta-testing 111 feature</a> in Google Play, youll create a testers group through a <a href= 112 "https://support.google.com/groups/answer/46601">Google Group</a> or <a href= 113 "https://support.google.com/plus/topic/2888488">Google+ Community</a> to 114 define who gets your software for testing. Consider managing these groups as 115 communities in their own right. 116 </p> 117 118 <div class="headerLine"> 119 <h2 id="tools-to-build-your-community"> 120 Tools to Build Your Community 121 </h2> 122 123 124 </div> 125 126 <p> 127 There are many tools you can use to build your community. Before you launch, 128 inviting <a href="http://www.google.com/+/business/">Google+</a> users or 129 <a href="https://support.google.com/groups/answer/46601?hl=en">Google 130 Groups</a> to <a href= 131 "{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html#alpha-beta">beta-test</a> 132 your app can help you kickstart your community while you listen to and 133 respond to your user feedback. 134 </p> 135 136 <p> 137 Once youve launched, your Google+ or other social media presence can help 138 you continue to gather feedback, answer questions, and get input on updates. 139 Use social media to get the conversation started. Post updates to your 140 followers, announce new apps, and host contests. Ask followers to re-post so 141 that they bring new users into the conversation. Fans love to profess their 142 passion for great apps, so be sure to give them plenty of reason to do so. 143 </p> 144 145 <p> 146 Forums like <a href= 147 "https://support.google.com/groups/answer/46601?hl=en">Google Groups</a> are 148 particularly well suited to help you and your users provide support to 149 others. By helping out your community, youre building your fan base who will 150 share their experiences with other prospective customers. 151 </p> 152 153 <p> 154 Respond to comments and reviews on both your product details page on Google 155 Play and <a href="http://youtube.com">YouTube</a> pages. Prospective 156 customers are influenced by reviews and comments, so be sure to manage your 157 brand in every channel you can. 158 </p> 159 160 <div class="headerLine"> 161 <h2 id="managing-your-community"> 162 Managing Your Community 163 </h2> 164 165 166 </div> 167 168 <div class="figure"> 169 <img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-community-0.png"> 170 </div> 171 172 <p> 173 Engaged users want you to succeed. Let them know youre listening! Responding 174 to posts, comments, and other social media mentions improves your ratings by 175 letting users know you care. 176 </p> 177 178 <p> 179 Update the product based on user feedback and announce new releases. Users 180 often change their original star ratings after feeling heard, inspiring more 181 users to install your apps. 182 </p> 183 184 <p> 185 There are many ways to make your community feel special. Consider polls to 186 let users influence product updates. Use competitions to inspire and reward 187 your community. Giving a special <em>member of the week</em> badge is an easy 188 way to recognize those that help others. Or get users involved in testing new 189 versions or new apps to make them feel special. 190 </p> 191 192 <div class="headerLine"> 193 <h2 id="related-resources"> 194 Related Resources 195 </h2> 196 197 </div> 198 <div class="resource-widget resource-flow-layout col-13" 199 data-query="collection:distribute/users/buildcommunity" 200 data-sortOrder="-timestamp" 201 data-cardSizes="9x3" 202 data-maxResults="6"></div>
