8
20 Comments

Something better than Slack for a community MVP?

I love Slack. I'm just curious.

Not all of my potential customers/community (life coaches) are familiar with Slack and therefore see it as a chore. Would something like Tribe be a better choice? Or something else?

(OR am I just experiencing a market research issue?)
Thanks guys!

  1. 3

    I've seen a lot of people have success with Facebook groups. I think there's a lot of value in using tools your community is already familiar with, and just about everyone has a Facebook, so that might be a better option for you.

    1. 3

      Lemlist has had a lot of success with their Facebook Group.

      You can find a TL;DR summary of how they leveraged on their community to grow their business.

      More over at Growthunt

      Cheers!

      1. 1

        I'll check it out, thanks.

        Cheers to YOU!

    2. 2

      FB Groups has been recommended several times so that's where I'll pour more time and energy. I despise using social media but it looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and try to leverage something that everyone uses already.

      Thanks for the great advice!

    3. 1

      I second using the tools your community are familiar with.

      Also, consider the types of conversations that will realistically be happening. You can go a decent distance with email + blog/comments.

      There are other types of tools like Geneva that might be worth looking at.

  2. 2

    It has it's pros and cons, but community I'm building, I went with LinkedIn.

    Background: The community is called Designer Hired and it's for job-seeking/gig-hunting designers looking for their next opportunity.

    1. 1

      Tried looking up for this, couldn't find. Can you point me to the Linkedin group link?

  3. 2

    I have a slack community and yes... most users find it a hassle but email follow up with benefits seems to help allow them understand how it works... I give them 2 options for web access and download app.

    What is the most annoying objective your customers are finding?

    1. 1

      Curious to know what your community is about to understand better the context of 'most users finding it a hassle to use'

      Can you also share which's their preferred way to use it web access or mobile app?

      I'm building a mobile first private community app, would love your thoughts on above.

    2. 1

      It doesn't seem like people are annoyed, just not engaging. I think I'll do a poll or something else which helps me gauge how they view Slack, and if they would prefer something else.

  4. 2

    Hi @DillanTaylor. I wrote an IH piece about this a while ago. https://bit.ly/3mDcJqX

    We tested out around 12 different tools, and ultimately reverted back to slack for the immediate term. The biggest issue I found, especially with small / early stage communities is friction. Most community tools require users to create a post in a forum style environment, which is high friction for early users.

    Slack allows for a much more seamless flow of chat for small groups and communities. I definitely see us upgrading to something more robust in future, but until we reach a larger scale, Slack it is!

    1. 1

      That's a feature I didn't even realize existed. You're so right.

      Forum style--while that is what I want in the LONG run--does feel like people have to "take the stage" when they contribute, while Slack and Discord feel much more like friends who are just messaging one another. Way less pressure.

      This is huge and I'll keep it in mind AND I'll read your piece. Thanks so much!

      1. 1

        Ironically, Facebook groups make you take the stage even more because there's just the top message, no sub-channels.

  5. 2

    Facebook group and Discord are other good choices. Facebook group is familiar with almost everyone while Discord has voice communication so that feature may fit your community of life coaches. Both of them have a low learning curve.

    Do you consider letting your community to vote?

    1. 2

      Posting a poll is a great idea! Thank you so much.

      It seems FB Groups is a popular alternative. I saw that coming but was hoping to avoid it because I hate using social media. Looks like I'll probably have to just get over that.

      Thanks so much for your response!

      1. 2

        I feel you. Making it easy for our customers is all we are about. Tbh, I prefer Discord because you are less likely to be distracted by other social media posts. If you hate FB Groups that much, you may consider asking them their unspoken needs (like what experiences/features that they love about FB groups). Then do a few demos for the platform you prefer (e.g. Slack or Discord).

  6. 1

    I would discourage using Slack (because it's overwhelming/hard to keep track of the interactions) but more a forum-like platform: Discourse or Circle.

  7. 1

    Man, I miss the days of Usenet.

    If it's a small community consider a Whatsapp group.

  8. 1

    Mighty Networks is another one - I haven't used personally but it seems like a great set of features and case studies (https://www.mightynetworks.com/case-studies)

  9. 1

    Apart from Tribe and Slack. You might also want to consider Circle, Commsor and Discord.

    If you need more online community solutions, check out virtualmojito.com

  10. 1

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 49 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 28 comments My Top 20 Free Tools That I Use Everyday as an Indie Hacker 15 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments