Comments on: Sending welcome messages to new members

By: Ken Longbridge

Ken Longbridge — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:14:02 +0000

I am in the process of adding a thank you message for comments.
Once I got one and I was a bit surprised. It was different and still I haven’t got it again. For me it is not very common as for others.

I am not sure if comment relish is the right tool, as I want only one time notification no matter how many comments have been submitted.

I think it is really a nice move and can give a positive memory about making a comment for the person. It all depends on the text and notion.

Once people abuse it with spam like messages it will have no effect anymore and it will be time to stop.

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:48:32 +0000

Crystal – You know, I agree with every word you have just said! Thanks for the great comment

By: Crystal Williams

Crystal Williams — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:12:30 +0000

Sending personalized welcome notes to all new users via their message boards, IM or e-mail is a critical first step in building a community. Community managers should thank new members/contributors for joining the community and encourage them to participate more. In addition, sending periodic notes of appreciation, hellos and what not is a great way to get to know members/contributors on a one-to-one basis. Knowing a little bit about them creates a connection. Welcome messages should be part of an overall plan for nurturing your community.

Crystal Williams
Online Community Expert

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:24:07 +0000

Greg – Ha! Yup, I agree with you – as long as it is a courteous, one-off message then it cannot in any way be construed as spam. I love your analogy of being ignored by the host of an offline party!

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:23:42 +0000

SPAMMED BY OWNERS?????? You must be kidding! How is a welcome message spam… Isn’t it a friendly note? After all first impressions count! If you join a community, it’s to be part of something. You don’t go to a party just to lurk around. You talk, introduce yourself and if you are WELCOMED BY THE HOST you wouldn’t consider it intrusive would you?

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:43:56 +0000

koromyst – I agree with you; nothing beats a personal message. It immediately shows your new member that you value them, are interested in them and want to get to know them. Sometimes, it is impossible to send a personal message to every new member. In this case you should at least customise the system generated welcome message so it is unique to your community.

By: koromyst

koromyst — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:15:45 +0000

IMHO, I would rather prefer to receive an informal type of thank you message/email after signing up.

Something like ” Thanks for joining! Hope to see you active and chilling in the forums. We shall be awaiting your heavenly presence! ^O^ ”

Reasons:
[1] It’s cheerful
[2] You’re definitely sure it’s a human writing that
[3] You can’t tell if it’s the same message being copy-pasted to other new sign-ups
[4] It has a friendly tone that attracts

Rather than …
“Thank you for joining. We hope to see you active in the forums. We shall be seeing you there.” —> this, to me, is an automated email/message with no sense of human touch whatsoever. In fact, it’s rather bot-like.

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:33:00 +0000

Frank – I completely agree with you. As long as you offer a personal welcome, I truly cannot see how anyone could object. Thank you for your comment.

By: FullMedia

FullMedia — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 03:36:01 +0000

Hello all,

A welcome message may be construed as an invasion by some, but I’ve found that far more people appreciate it. It is a form of personal feedback in what quite frankly is an impersonal environment.

It seems that if people are joining a community, they are expressing a desire to interact socially with that community. As such, just as most of us would welcome a newcomer to our home or club or function, a welcome message from a site you’ve chosen to join is not such a bad idea.

Frank

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 02:29:58 +0000

Whitney – I don’t think a one-off message is an invasion of privacy; most people would expect a standard welcome email once they join a new website anyway. Surely making this email a little more personal can only be a good thing? Just make sure the message is a one-off, and NEVER add them to a mailing list or repeatedly email them without explicit permission.