How to Build a Web3 Community
By Dušanka Seratlić & Denise Schaefer
Web3 is developing under the premise of a free, equitable, and decentralized internet. Web3 natives and newcomers alike prefer to work, learn, and grow as communities with shared visions and guiding principles.
Web2 marketing strategies are becoming less than effective in this new space. We’re shifting the paradigm: rather than talk at an audience, brands and organizations are now talking with their communities.
Since Surge’s inception in October 2021, we’ve built a community of 25k+ people who are excited about the technical capabilities of Web3.
In this article, we break down our approach to community-building, with some valuable tips that have come from our experience. Let’s dive in!
Launching a New Community: How to Get Started
Communities come together around shared interests. If you want people to join your community, you need to give them a clear vision to rally around.
Defining your values
Here are some questions that will help you understand the vision and mission that will attract your community:
What are your core values?
What value do you want to deliver to your community?
How do you ensure your project is as accessible and inclusive as possible?
Who is your ideal community member?
Why is your project needed? What makes it different?
What type of community are you trying to create?
What Web3 technology is the best vehicle to deliver the value you’re creating?
Defining your goals and values in advance helps you set a strong foundation for the type of community you want to build.
Reach out to friends and mentors in the space
So, you know what you want your community to look like… But, the initial launch can be intimidating.
The people closest to you will be your strongest allies early on. Reach out to friends, family, Web3 mentors, and communities you love.
This initial push is what will help you get the word out. After that, it’s all a matter of momentum and network effect. You want to be active, involved, and welcoming. Web3 isn’t about racking up follower numbers - it’s about getting to know your community and forming lasting relationships.
The 7 Golden Rules of Community-Building in Web3
There are certain principles that most people in Web3 expect to see in their communities. These seven ‘rules’ will help you steer the boat so you can build a healthy, sustainable community.
1. Build in public and be transparent
Web3 is all about open source content: education, code, strategies, research. Transparency stands in contrast to Web2 practices, where users don’t really know what’s going on behind the scenes.
In Web3, you’re constantly engaging with your community, answering questions, sharing updates, and listening to feedback. For your community members to feel involved, you need to be transparent about your goals and activities. Manage expectations and be upfront from the very beginning.
Building in public is also key to establishing trust in your project. Open-source your code. Write guides explaining your reasoning when developing the project. Share helpful tips and experiences on what you’ve learned.
2. Give ownership and listen to feedback
Whether you’re running a DAO or an NFT project, the community will be just as invested in you in its success. As a DAO, there are different ways you can implement governance and share ownership.
But, even if you don’t have a token, it’s important to remember that people often feel invested in projects when they’re actively involved in their development.
Make sure you’re constantly listening for feedback and suggestions. We also recommend going a step further: actively seeking the community’s input before making decisions big and small.
Providing the latest updates is a must. You can also run surveys or Q&A sessions. As great as your strategy might be, it will be even better if you amend it to include real issues your community is facing.
When you incorporate your community’s feedback, you’re giving them ownership in the project.
3. Be involved on a personal level
You can and should have moderators and ambassadors, but if the core team is not showing up and sharing, the community will take note. Be active on your platforms. Share your experience and build relationships based on trust and reciprocity.
This doesn’t mean you should get involved in every single conversation. In fact, as the community evolves, the role of the core team becomes more about stewardship and mentorship rather than direct involvement. There’s no better feeling than seeing people organically become friends in your community.
4. Keep accessibility and inclusion top of mind
Crypto is still a male-dominated space. Surge and other communities are working to make the space more inclusive. But, even if your project is not primarily focused on inclusion, you can still make it a point to create a safe and diverse space.
It can be as small as ensuring your code of conduct reflects values of accessibility and inclusivity. You can also take a mindful approach to moderation and ensure the whole community knows where you stand on inclusion. If you can, translate your content and have channels for languages other than English (Surge has a thriving Spanish community).
There are plenty of actions you can take and a lot of communities you can learn from in this regard. Just remember, a homogenous community is definitely less fun than a diverse, vibrant group of people from all over the world.
5. Be consistent and clear with rules
Having a clearly defined set of rules for Discord and Twitter behavior is a must. In applying the rules, be consistent, clear, and don’t make exceptions. What goes for one goes for all - the community needs to know you play fair.
Your team needs to lead by example. Make sure the rules reflect your inner circle culture as well.
And of course, building a community is a long-term process with its ups and downs. Have the patience to be there even when times are tough. Reassure your community and build with the big picture in mind.
6. Reward your community and show appreciation
Everyone likes to feel appreciated for their enthusiasm and effort. Show your community that you care by putting them first.
Your early members will appreciate being the first to have access to your initiatives. You can also run community-only giveaways. Provide perks and opportunities when you can. Even having special roles in Discord for those early members is exciting for the community.
Appreciation doesn’t have to be expressed in gifts only. Be creative and remember that we all want to feel special, included, and appreciated.
7. Collaborate with other communities
Web3 is a relatively small space. It’s estimated that there are only around 300k NFT owners globally. The number may well be higher, especially including DAOs and DeFi participants, but the space is still growing.
Considering that, it’s important to reach out and make friends with other communities. Whether it’s hosting joint events or leading initiatives together, the connections we form in the space are valuable for everyone. Web3 is not about competition - we’re all here to work together.
The Practical Side of Community-Building in Web3
As stewards of the community, it’s on you and your team to ensure everything is running smoothly. Keep your goals and Web3 principles in mind, but don’t forget that running a community is more than just making friends.
Here’s a checklist that will keep you on track:
Hire an amazing community manager
Look for moderators and brand ambassadors in the community
Handle bad actors with a polite but firm hand
Make your Discord security air-tight
Share best security practices with the community
Host regular Twitter Spaces and Discord community calls
Do as many IRL meetups as you can
Finally, you will make mistakes. When you’re building fast and innovating, mistakes are a given. Your community will stand by you, but only if you’re honest and take accountability.
How to Set Up Your Discord
Most Web3 communities hang out in Discord. We knew we wanted our community base to be there, but we also knew most newcomers had probably never used Discord.
So, the first thing we did was write a detailed How to Use Discord Guide for those who were new to the platform. Once there, we set up channels that guided newcomers through our server (#newbies-start-here, #official-links, #pick-your-role). We also set up a channel called #introduce-yourself with a team member always there to onboard new people and make them feel welcome.
When you’re structuring your Discord server, make sure it’s reflective of your mission. We have a lot of education channels and a channel where people can ask any crypto questions they want.
Remember, your job is to provide a venue, not mandate conversation topics. The whole game lies in guiding conversations, being there to answer questions, and letting community members form 1-to-1 relationships.
PRO TIP: Don’t forget other social media platforms and communications channels. As a community focused on onboarding newcomers, we made sure we were also active on Instagram. Additionally, we started a weekly newsletter. Discord is important, but you don’t want to miss out on great people who hang out on other platforms.
Conclusion
In Web3, we’re rewriting the rules and creating new structures as we go. It’s an opportunity to innovate and an invitation to define what the future of communities will look like.
Have fun experimenting and building a great community. Be honest, provide value, and never forget: relationships are the foundation of every successful project.
Have any questions? Want to hang out with the Surge community? Join us in Discord or on Twitter and subscribe to the newsletter below.
