Creating an Online Community with Jenna Redfield

Finding a community of people with similar interests or experiences is one of the reasons that nearly 4 billion people are on social media. On Facebook alone 1.4 billion users, around half of their 2.4 billion users, are active in a group at least once a month (1). On LinkedIn, there are over 2 million groups with around 8,000 being added every week (2). Finding, creating, and participating in online communities is one of the best ways to get value from social media, but often finding a place to start can be difficult. 

Jenna Redfield, the founder of Twin Cities Collective and Collective Social Media, has first-hand experience creating and maintaining a thriving online community. Jenna started the Twin Cities Collective in 2017 as a way to connect with local creatives. Now, four years later, that group had over 4.5k members on Facebook. Jenna has grown her brand beyond the Twin Cities with Collective Social Media with online workshops, classes, a YouTube channel, a podcast, and more. Jenna answer took the time to answer some of the most common questions about building an online community.

Why did you decide to start the Twin Cities Collective? 

I started Twin Cities Collective as a way for local people to connect with each other. As I hadn't found something myself that I wanted. That was similar. Originally it was started off as a blogging group, and I wanted it to expand to all creatives and small businesses, the Facebook group was there from the beginning, it was basically the core of our community aspect with our Instagram being more of a way to promote. Facebook groups are really effective at connecting people, as most people are on the app.

How did you grow the group? 

I grew the group, in many ways. First, was obviously having to find people on social and invite them to join. I also did a lot through networking at in-person events, through our Instagram account people found out about that way as well as through our podcast, and I also found that word of mouth was really helpful for people inviting their friends. Our best of awards which happens every December is a huge influx as well, of new members. It's been a very consistent growth, and a lot of people like to stay in the group because it's very active and we have a lot of people that are connected through there.

How do you keep people actively participating? 

People stay active because they are reacting to threads that are helping them. Many small businesses do Facebook are wrong, where it's basically all about the company when really the goal should be to be able to help people promote themselves. Offering support is helpful but unless people get to actually share what they're doing. People don't really care.

In what ways has the group changed over the years?

It's definitely shifted more from bloggers to small businesses, but we still encompass all types of people who are growing an online platform of any kind. I definitely have found that certain platforms have come up, and I've done a lot more videos and things. The Facebook group has stayed very consistent over the years.

Why do you think online communities are important? 

Especially during the pandemic, we've seen it's a way to connect as well as learn from each other. It's a very lonely job to be an entrepreneur. So having support and people that aren't going to judge you is really, really powerful.

What are mistakes you’ve seen other online communities make? 

Some other mistakes I've seen online communities make is making it all about them, to the point where people don't want to follow anymore. Obviously, letting things go in terms of people talking in the group, without any type of rules, and it's getting very chaotic, and even violent in terms of the words used. Another one is obviously people just not caring after a while, they've just stopped putting any effort in. So the groups die.

Are online communities “real” communities? 

Yes, 100%, online communities are real, especially ours because it's local, people get to actually meet each other in real life, and it's kind of its own ecosystem.

What are some other online communities you belong to? 

I personally belong to a lot of different groups in the business world, as well as specific apps that I use, or software. I also am in ones for my ADHD, as well as some local groups for people that I know.

Where do you find online communities? 

I usually find them through word of mouth, or through search, if I'm looking for a specific type of group. That's how I'll find it. But if somebody tells me about their group I also join it if it interests me. 

How does an online community, like a Facebook or LinkedIn group, fit into a larger social media strategy?

A Facebook group is only useful if the person that's running it actually cares about it and wants to grow it. A lot of people start Facebook groups and don't do anything with them. So I think the first strategy you have to have a goal and you also have to have a long-term plan for it because otherwise it will die and your interests will die.

1 -  Sprout Social 2 - SmartBug