Community

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Maximizing Engagement: Hybrid Community Strategies for Modern Businesses

Discover the advantages of hybrid communities for businesses. Explore real-world applications, implementation strategies, and how to balance online and offline engagement effectively.

Written by

Duncan Elder

Last updated

December 6, 2024

BettermodeHQ

Table of contents

Hybrid communities consist of both private and public spaces. Find out how Bettermode can help you create a hybrid community.

Communities today aren’t just physical spaces anymore. Hybrid communities are changing the way we connect, combining both in-person and online interactions.

Such an approach allows people to engage in everyday life through both a physical location and a community engagement platform, while also making the internal community stronger.

In this article, we’ll explore how hybrid communities are shaping the future by using modern technologies to bring people together in new and exciting ways.

What is a hybrid community?

A hybrid community is a new way of bringing people together by combining physical spaces and digital networks. It uses traditional approaches of in-person interactions alongside modern tools like cloud computing to improve online community engagement and collaboration. This approach helps communities grow and connect, whether they are in urban spaces or online in digital spaces.

Refresher: Private vs. public community

‍A private community and a public community are designed for different purposes and offer unique benefits based on what their members need. Here’s an overview of what sets private and public communities apart:

Private Community

Access: Only approved members can join, often using private cloud infrastructure or hybrid cloud systems for secure data processing and control.
Visibility: Content and discussions are hidden from other users. Members participate in small groups or attend hybrid meetings in a secure physical space or digital space.
Engagement: Members feel comfortable sharing openly, leading to deeper, more in-depth conversations and building trust and social capital.
Purpose: Perfect for sensitive discussions, decision-making and supporting self-organization in areas like urban spaces or business settings.
Benefit: Offers privacy and security, making it an efficient way to manage sensitive data while being cost-effective.
Technology: Uses tools like QR codes, mobile devices and other digital technology to make participation easy and organized.

Public Community

Access: Open to anyone, often using public cloud platforms to reach large digital spaces.
Visibility: Content is available to new users and the general public, helping to create spaces that encourage open participation.
Engagement: Works well for hybrid living, where in-person and online interactions bring together large groups.
Purpose: Great for brand-building, sharing resources or engaging with a broad audience in physical locations or online.
Benefit: Maximizes reach and visibility, making it easier to serve demand, attract new members and reduce costs with scalable systems.
Technology: Relies on digital networks and mobile phones to enable real-time updates and interactions.

Comparison table: Private vs. Public Community in Hybrid Spaces

Feature	Private community	Public community
Access	Limited to specific members via private cloud	Open to anyone via public cloud
Visibility	Hidden from non-members	Content accessible to all
Engagement	Deeper, more personalized discussions	Broad, casual interactions
Purpose	Secure, focused collaboration	Wide-reaching visibility and outreach
Technology	Hybrid cloud, QR codes, mobile devices	Public cloud, digital networks, apps
Spaces	Combines private space with digital spaces	Combines public spaces with urban spaces
Key benefit	Privacy, security, in-depth collaboration	Visibility, scalability, cost-effective reach

What are the benefits of a hybrid community

By combining two types of communities, hybrid communities provide the benefits of both public and private spaces.

These include:

Easier community growth

Private communities can be hard to grow because they don't have any outward-facing content. New members face challenges in finding these communities, and you can't take advantage of features like indexing your content on search engines or sharing posts on social media.

Hybrid communities solve this problem by combining a public-facing community with a private one. You can use the public community to get the space in front of as many people as possible while keeping parts of it hidden.

Better security

Anyone can see the content published in a public community. This means members may be uncomfortable discussing sensitive topics, which can reduce the value of community discussions.

Hybrid communities remove this issue by including a hidden space to enable private communication. Members can discuss general topics with a wide range of people in the public community, and then turn to private spaces for sensitive topics.

More monetization opportunities

You can use a hybrid community to grow a paid community. Use the open part of the community to grow your audience and then convert members to the paid community. Only paid members can access and contribute to the private space.

Five use cases for hybrid communities

Brand communities

Brands typically want their communities to be relatively open. This is because communities are powerful marketing channels, and brands can use them to help as many users as possible.

But, companies can also use private spaces to offer extra benefits to a specific group of loyal users. Here are some examples.

These benefits could include:

Access to VIP support
Early product updates
Specialized educational materials
Access to events
The ability to request features

Example: WebinarNinja

WebinarNinja built a brand community of entrepreneurs who are WebinarNinja's customers. All of their customers can view the content and join the community. The community also has a private space for research and beta-testing, which superusers from different countries can access to try out the tool's latest features.

Paid communities

People who run paid communities benefit immensely from the hybrid community model. They use the public part of the community to generate leads and give customers a taste of the type of content in the paid community. Then they use the private space as an exclusive paid community.

Example: The MoPros

‍The MoPros is a paid community for marketing operations professionals. The team behind the paid community also runs a free Slack group that anyone can join. This free space gives people a taste of the type of content in the paid community and helps them increase the audience size beyond paid members.

Enterprise Social Network

Enterprise Social Networks (ESN) can benefit from hybrid communities. Organizations can make the majority of the network open so that all employees can access important information and announcements. They can also include private spaces for different departments, roles, or projects.

Masterminds

Masterminds are groups of peers who share knowledge and resources and give each other advice. People who run or organize masterminds often have a relatively open Community of Practice style community that anyone in the group can contribute to, as well as several smaller closed off masterminds that are private to the people in the groups.

Example: Kit

‍The Kit community is free for any customer to join—even those on the free plan. The community also has private mastermind spaces that customers can join to learn about specific topics, such as writing or building landing pages.

Online courses

People who run online learning courses can use hybrid communities in much the same way as people who use paid communities.

They use the public-facing part of the community as a lead generation tool where people can discuss topics related to the course. They can then create private spaces for each course where students can discuss the things they are learning.

Two ways to create a hybrid community

There are two main ways to create a private community. You can either create two separate communities under the same brand name or you can add private spaces to an existing community.

Separate public and private communities under the same name

This is when you create two completely separate communities with the same branding, one that is private and one that is public. You can then invite relevant members of the public community into the private community.

Going down this route keeps both communities completely separate. This is good if joining the private community removes the need to be part of the public community.

Private spaces within a single community

This is a more streamlined way to organize a hybrid community. Both public and private communities are hosted within the same platform, but the private spaces are closed off from the public ones.

For this to work, you need a way to:

Create a space that is private from the rest of the community
Grant individual members access to the private spaces

The benefit of this is that members don't need to access two separate communities. Instead, they can access both public and private spaces with the same login. This encourages them to continue to be involved in both communities.

Meanwhile, admins don't need to worry about managing two separate communities. And they can see all analytics within the same platform.

How Bettermode can help community builders create hybrid communities

Bettermode is an excellent platform for building hybrid communities, offering features that support both public and private spaces effectively:

Customizable spaces: With Bettermode's "Spaces" feature, community builders can create distinct areas for different types of interactions, making sure that private discussions remain confidential while still allowing for public engagement.
User management: The platform provides robust tools for community management, enabling admins to easily grant or restrict access to private spaces based on member roles or other criteria.
Analytics integration: Bettermode allows community managers to track engagement metrics across both public and private areas, providing valuable insights into member behavior and preferences.
Templates: Bettermode provides customizable templates like Cloud Project and DevApp, making it easy to quickly create community spaces that suit your needs. These templates help give your community a consistent look and feel, while also offering key features to manage and engage with members effectively.
No-code customization: Users can customize their community's appearance and functionality without needing technical skills, making it accessible for anyone looking to create a unique online space.

Conclusion

Hybrid communities are revolutionizing the way we connect with each other by blending public and private spaces for richer and safer interactions. Bettermode is the perfect choice for building and managing these communities, offering customizable spaces, seamless user management and powerful analytics all in one platform.

With its code-free features and easy setup, Bettermode helps you create engaging, scalable communities that grow with your needs. Are you ready to build a successful hybrid community? Try Bettermode today!

This article was originally published on September 12th, 2022, and was updated on December 6th, 2024.

FAQ

What is a hybrid community?

A hybrid community is a way for people to come together that combines physical spaces and digital networks to encourage more participation. This hybrid approach lets users join in-person or through digital technology, making it easier for everyone to get involved. By using cloud infrastructure, communities can gather feedback in real-time and help connect small focus groups or larger audiences

What is the difference between public private and hybrid community?

Public community: This type of community is open to everyone and usually found in public spaces. It encourages broad participation and uses digital networks and digital technology to connect with many users, helping to build social connections in a cost-effective way.

Private community: A private community is only for specific groups of people. It focuses on control and security, often using private cloud infrastructure to protect sensitive data. While this creates a trusted environment, it limits participation compared to public communities.

Hybrid community: Hybrid communities combine both public and private elements. They mix physical spaces with digital spaces, allowing users to join in-person or online. This hybrid approach makes it easier for more people to participate while still managing data effectively.

What is hybrid engagement?

Hybrid engagement is a modern approach to connecting with people that combines both in-person and hybrid spaces. This method allows communities and organizations to reach a wider audience by offering multiple ways for individuals to engage, whether they are in the same physical space or joining from digital spaces.

What is a virtual community platform?

A virtual community platform is a dedicated online space where people come together to connect, share and engage based on shared interests or goals. These platforms enable members to communicate and collaborate, often using various digital tools. Virtual community platforms make active participation easier through features like forums, chat rooms and even hybrid meetings, where members can join both online and in-person.