How to bring more people to Hive?
Seems like this has been a topic for discussion for as long as I have been part of this community, which is going on 7 1/2 years.
Marketing can offer many benefits when used appropriately, but it doesn't do much if you don't have clear and well defined plan and objective.
Sometimes I sit back and think about what sort of marketing might have caught my eye and brought me to Hive... and I frankly can't think of any. I can't think of a pitch or tagline that would have caught my attention... "Old style social blogging" might have piqued my interest, but that's a super-niche approach.
Of course, I didn't end up here as a result of marketing, I ended up here because someone shared a link to an article with me.
That article had nothing to do with Hive, wasn't about blockchain, wasn't about crypto, and had nothing to do with being paid for content.
Which leads me to the title of this post... and its potential importance in drawing new people to Hive.
In a very vague sort of way, I have previously talked about the topic of external publishing, meaning creating content that isn't for "Hive member consumption" but for niche audiences that are completely outside Hive.
Of course, many will realize that it's a bit of a double-edged sword because in writing about "other stuff" you likely have to give up some of your potential rewards here.
Or do you?
Perhaps part of what is holding Hive back is the fact that the majority of people on the platform have grown so used to "writing for the internal audience" that very little of the content created here actually end up in the search results of people outside the community.
Let's face it, someone sitting on front of a search engine is unlikely to magically be looking for "Hive Power Up Day," right? Yes, that's an extreme example, but I'm just illustrating a point here.
Just how much of the content created here is actually consumable to an external audience?
My guess is that it would not be a huge percentage.
The importance of our communities cannot be overstated in this context.
People are far more likely to end up browsing Hive as a result of looking for gardening tips than than someone complaining about their declining rewards.
Just saying...
There are huge markets out there — that actually involve reading and consuming content — that seem virtually untapped here... like psychology and self-development and spirituality and alternative health and more.
I think sometimes we tend to forget that we need to appeal to niches that are not here, not those that have already committed to be here!
Anyway, I am returning to the idea of writing some content that is primarily relevant to some of the old niche groups and communities I belonged to long before there was Hive.
Sometimes getting people to join a new venue isn't about telling people about the new venue, but simply sharing the new venue IN USE.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
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Created at 2024-07-09 00:28 PDT
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Hmm
We need more niche and maybe more fun that may sound appealing to people so they’d love to join
We’re getting there
I’m even seeing lot of people who are now using the 3Speak shorts and a lot of people love short videos
We’re getting there
Agreed. I've long thought there is so much focus on things like contests, regular challenges, prompts, which are not interesting to people outside those challenges, which is why I don't often do them. But it's not like I have many readers anyway. :)
Very good article. Sharing good blog posts on Twitter / X.com and Nostr works.
A large portion of my content is about Japan, haiku, or some related topic, so I definitely do my part in what you suggest. Hive could help this along by making it easier to share content (yes, there is a "share" button in Peakd that gives reddit/linkedln/copy URL links, but that share button is hidden and I'd bet most Hive users are unaware it's even there). As distasteful as Facebook may be to many of us, as one of the most popular platforms on the internet, there should be a one-click button to share a hive post there. An obvious button, not one that is buried under a menu.
Of course there is also the incredible difficulty of signing-up for Hive which probably chases away most of the people we do organically get. But that's a separate issue, I suppose...