Getting people to feel part of your Marketplace is not easy. Companies all over the world love the idea of making their customers “brand ambassadors” but that doesn’t come out of nowhere.
In our article on how to turn your Marketplace into a community, we explain the benefits of that step more in the relationship between platform and user. It should be noted that greater trust translates into more word-of-mouth advertising, which ends up generating more sales. In addition, being in continuous contact with users allows you to listen to them and improve the platform with their recommendations.
Among the many ways, you can turn a list of anonymous users into a proactive community are promotional events. And we are not referring to sending four deliverers with pamphlets from our website to the street, but actions like the following, in which users are invited to participate. Feeling part of the event will also make them explain the experience to friends, family, and co-workers, encouraging them to participate in the Marketplace.
Conferences and seminars
Inviting your Marketplace users to attend conferences and seminars is a great idea if you’re looking to organize a formal event. The speakers or interviewees and the topics covered must be related to what can be bought and sold in the Marketplace.
Knowing who is behind the Marketplace can be interesting if it is well known. For example, a chat with the creator of Airbnb in which those with more than 20 ratings on the platform (regular users) were invited.
On the other hand, if the platform is not very well known, it is better to choose to attract users with a star guest. A Marketplace for buying and selling motorcycles that brings Marc Márquez is guaranteed to be a success.
Workshops
The workshops are a very good option to encourage community participation. Small classes or demonstrations about things that have to do with the Marketplace stay in the minds of the participants.
If you have a platform aimed at young children, craft workshops, theatre workshops or sports initiation workshops are always attractive. Another example could be cooking workshops on a food platform or painting on an antique website.
Festivals
Being invited to a party is always synonymous with joy. And one where you already have a topic to talk about and that unites the participants (the Marketplace) always makes it friendlier.
So that guests don’t get lazy, make it attractive. Choosing an emblematic place of the city that is usually quite select or a public place of passage for many people are two habitual practices. To feel VIP is to everyone’s liking and if there is free food or drink, let’s not even talk about it.
Competitions and prizes
Organizing a contest for social networks or the website can be done in many ways. One of the most attractive is to turn the award ceremony into a private event.
To value the effort that has been behind that distinction, with guests to share the prize, catering, and a show to surround it is ideal. And if you announce how the event is going to be during the competition, more people will be encouraged to participate.
Finally, remember that the method of payment you offer your users will also determine whether they can trust you or not. And to get you totally reliable, there’s no more secure payment method than escrow. The payment is deposited in a separate account until the product has reached its destination or the service has been successfully performed. Then the money is transferred to the seller, never before.
If you are interested in knowing more about how to implement escrow in your Marketplace, contact us without obligation. We will gladly solve all your doubts.