Every forum owner loves their veteran members. These are the long-time member with big posts counts and typically years of experience on your forum.
However, after years (and sometimes decades) of membership, many of these veteran forum members vanish without a trace. It’s usually because they’ve lost interest in the community and simply drifted away.
I’m here to tell you that you can take steps necessary to keep veteran forum members from losing interest. You might have to make some changes to the forum and respect the history they’re used to. You’ll definitely need to keep them engaged and we’ll get more into that further in this article.
Sometimes they leave because life forces them to leave. There might be a career change, a family crisis, health situations, or some kind of thing that reduces their internet time. This is hard to counter and often one of the impossible situations to fix.
Sometimes forum members burn out from simply participating too much on the forum. After you post 1,000+ times on a forum, sometimes you’ve had enough of it. It happens to the best of us.
However, a big reason veteran forum members drift away is often from the culture changing within the community. New waves and generations of members often result in different beliefs and cultures. It can feel alien to some people when it doesn’t feel like what they’re used to.
Invite veteran forum members into mentoring and leadership roles. Ask them to become moderators, community managers, or even mentors for new members. Let them help you make changes to the forum and make them feel like they have some ownership.
Highlight their contributions when it’s appropriate. Create a Hall of Fame for threads and members. Giveaway anniversary trophies and badges and recognize them in newsletters and forum news topics.
Create fresh challenges and events to give veteran members something new. Do competitions, trivia, and seasonal events on your forum. Ask your veteran members for ideas for these challenges and events to keep them involved.
If possible, encourage off-forum meetups with veteran members. Do a Zoom call with them one on one. Meet them in person if applicable and you could even have a veteran member in-person party if that is possible.
Don’t alienate your veteran members with new content. Sure, you can add new content and trends to help evolve your forum and you should. However, make sure to keep old-school discussions alive and ongoing to keep old-school members involved.
Try to network members. Back when I ran a paid community, networking was the BIGGEST reason we retained membership. Network old members with new and get them started in developing their new friendships.
Don’t ignore veteran member feedback. Don’t ignore any feedback from any member. Welcome feedback and do something with it because feedback is an opportunity to improve your forum.
Don’t just cater to veteran members. The last thing you want to do is form cliques on your forum and create a toxic environment. Doing that will scare off new members.
I would love to see other ways you keep veteran forum members active on your forum without burning out. Reply and tell us what you’re doing for this sort of thing.
However, after years (and sometimes decades) of membership, many of these veteran forum members vanish without a trace. It’s usually because they’ve lost interest in the community and simply drifted away.
I’m here to tell you that you can take steps necessary to keep veteran forum members from losing interest. You might have to make some changes to the forum and respect the history they’re used to. You’ll definitely need to keep them engaged and we’ll get more into that further in this article.
Why Veteran Forum Members Drift Away
Many of them drift away and lose interest in your forum because they’ve seen it all before. The discussions are the same and the questions are the same. The content lacks creativity and novelty and it becomes boring.Sometimes they leave because life forces them to leave. There might be a career change, a family crisis, health situations, or some kind of thing that reduces their internet time. This is hard to counter and often one of the impossible situations to fix.
Sometimes forum members burn out from simply participating too much on the forum. After you post 1,000+ times on a forum, sometimes you’ve had enough of it. It happens to the best of us.
However, a big reason veteran forum members drift away is often from the culture changing within the community. New waves and generations of members often result in different beliefs and cultures. It can feel alien to some people when it doesn’t feel like what they’re used to.
Strategies to Reignite their Interest
You need to take care of your veteran forum members. Give them exclusive perks by inviting them to a special member group made for them. They can get a private sub-board, early access to new features, and special member titles.Invite veteran forum members into mentoring and leadership roles. Ask them to become moderators, community managers, or even mentors for new members. Let them help you make changes to the forum and make them feel like they have some ownership.
Highlight their contributions when it’s appropriate. Create a Hall of Fame for threads and members. Giveaway anniversary trophies and badges and recognize them in newsletters and forum news topics.
Create fresh challenges and events to give veteran members something new. Do competitions, trivia, and seasonal events on your forum. Ask your veteran members for ideas for these challenges and events to keep them involved.
If possible, encourage off-forum meetups with veteran members. Do a Zoom call with them one on one. Meet them in person if applicable and you could even have a veteran member in-person party if that is possible.
Balancing Nostalgia with Freshness
Create “Remember when…” topics to relive some of your forum’s golden years. This will let veteran members enjoy some of the old things they’re used to on your forum. It will still welcome new content while also catering to older loved content.Don’t alienate your veteran members with new content. Sure, you can add new content and trends to help evolve your forum and you should. However, make sure to keep old-school discussions alive and ongoing to keep old-school members involved.
Try to network members. Back when I ran a paid community, networking was the BIGGEST reason we retained membership. Network old members with new and get them started in developing their new friendships.
What to Avoid
Don’t overburden your veteran forum members with too much responsibility. Don’t try to force them to become a moderator or mentor. Don’t expect them to post more content than others.Don’t ignore veteran member feedback. Don’t ignore any feedback from any member. Welcome feedback and do something with it because feedback is an opportunity to improve your forum.
Don’t just cater to veteran members. The last thing you want to do is form cliques on your forum and create a toxic environment. Doing that will scare off new members.
Final Thoughts
Your veteran forum members are pillars to your community. You definitely want to do your best to keep them around. Keeping them engaged is going to be your biggest asset and remember to respect the history they have on your forum.I would love to see other ways you keep veteran forum members active on your forum without burning out. Reply and tell us what you’re doing for this sort of thing.