How to Build a Digital Coworking Community Before You Open

TL;DR

• Building a digital community before opening your coworking space helps attract members, validate your concept, and refine your target audience.
• Tools like Optix make it easy to capture leads, automate communication, and foster engagement through features like Web Widgets, 1:1 messaging, and a Community Feed.
• A strong online community lays the foundation for a vibrant in-person experience by creating early connections, excitement, and a sense of ownership. 

In a recent Optix poll, 26% of coworking space operators and community managers said their top community building challenge was engaging their digital community.

It’s true that creating an engaged online community can feel daunting. However, after working with hundreds of coworking space owners and operators over the years, we’ve seen that the best way to grow your in-person community is to grow an engaged online community first.

In fact, you can start growing your digital community before you ever open your doors. Here’s how.

How does building a digital community support the growth of your coworking space?

Getting clients for your coworking space is one of the biggest challenges for new coworking space operators.

Building a community of like-minded people before you open your doors is a way of ensuring you have members waiting to fill your empty hot and dedicated desks. We’ve found the best way to do this is through cultivating a digital community first.

Launching a digital community can help you:

• Build brand awareness: a thriving digital community is a great way of getting your brand out there and can serve as a form of top-of-funnel marketing
• Grow your membership base (and revenue!): the obvious advantage of starting an online community is it can help you grow your analogue membership base once your space opens
• Obtain partnerships with local businesses: you may be able to leverage your online community to obtain valuable partnerships with local businesses that can benefit you and your members
• Validate your ideas: is there really a need for coworking in your area? Launching a successful digital community can help you validate your ideas
• Refine your target customer: perhaps a specific demographic is drawn to your space. You can use this information to refine the customer profile you’re targeting

By building an online community, you’re essentially creating a physical space for your existing community, rather than the other way around.

Check out the webinar below to learn more about building community in a coworking space.

When should you start building a digital community for your coworking space?

It’s never too early to start building your coworking community.

We’ve heard of people starting their community up to a year in advance of their opening date. With that being said, here are some markers that indicate you may be ready to collect leads and engage your community digitally:

• You have signed a lease or management agreement for your new space
• You’ve decided on a name and branding for your space
• You have a website and coworking software in place
• You have a target opening date

Having some of these details sorted out can help guide your community building efforts.

How can coworking software help in the digital community building process?

Coworking software like Optix will become your best friend as a coworking operator. You want a system that will be able to support you throughout the entirety of your coworking journey, including before you open your physical space.

You can use Optix as:

• A selling tool: capture leads on your website using web widgets and target them through personalized automated messages

• A centralized place for communication: engage members with a best-in-class messaging system that centralizes all of your communication needs
• A value add prior to opening your doors: market the opportunity of connecting with others and being a part of a community right off the bat

With Optix’s community building features, plus a powerful built-in automation engine, you can create a more engaged community earlier in your coworking journey than ever before.

How to build your digital coworking community with Optix 

Build a community before your space opens by launching it digitally. Then create ways to give these members true ownership over the physical space.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Set yourself up with the right tools

You’ll need the right tools to successfully create a digital community. This includes:

• A website: to capture leads for future retargeting and communications
• Coworking software (Optix): for CRM capabilities, digital communication, and time-savings automation

Evaluating and selecting the best coworking software for your community well in advance of your launch date will give you ample time to get onboarded and get it working for you.

Typically we see the most success with selecting a tool 3-6 months out from your target launch date.

2. Collect sign-ups via Web Widgets

Once you’ve sorted out your onboarding experience, you can use Optix Web Widgets to help people sign up to your space.

Web widgets are customizable forms for things like drop-in bookings, tours, and general inquiries that can be embedded onto your website. They are:

• Plug-and-play
• Fully customizable, from font to color
• Linked to your Optix admin dashboard so all information is shared between them
• Completely modular and able to collect whatever information you need

Once someone interacts with a Web Widget, their information will be shared with Optix. You can then remarket to that person via automated email nurture sequences directly in Optix, streamlining the entire lead process.

Check out the video below to learn more about how to capture users and convert them with Optix.

3. Develop your communication strategy

Once you have your tools in place and sign-ups are coming in, think about how you will communicate with members once they join. Will they receive an email? How will you use the Community Feed in Optix to keep members engaged?

There are two primary communication strategies to think through: onboarding and ongoing engagement.

Onboarding

This is your members first initial touch-point with your brand. It sets the tone for everything to come. While you may not have a space to give a tour of, guiding people through your digital community is just as important.

Here is one suggestion of effective virtual onboarding via email. These emails can be set up in Optix using Automations so that they are automatically sent out after a new user joins your community.

• Email #1, upon sign up: overview of the community, how it works, what they can expect, invitation to join the app
• Immediately in the Optix app: Welcome new member publicly via the Community Feed, send them a private message welcoming them into the community
• Email #2, 3 days later: share deeper information on the virtual community, invite them to add their name on the Directory, automatically add them to a Public Group Conversation to get members talking to one another
• In the Optix app, 6 days later: send a direct message asking how they’re finding the community, if you can answer any questions

Ongoing Engagement

New communities don’t start themselves. It will often take some effort on your part to get your members communicating with one another on a regular basis. For that reason, it’s best to have an ongoing engagement strategy, especially in the beginning. This could include initiatives like:

• Posting daily ice-breaker discussion questions in your Public Group Conversation general chat
• Automatically sending out messages to check-in with members once every 2-3 weeks
• Holding monthly contests or giveaways via email newsletter
• Giving frequent updates and sharing images on the status of the physical space via the Community Feed

You may also want to consider engaging your members by sharing access to member perks that you’ve aligned on with local businesses including discounts to cafes or yoga studios.

4. Create value for your digital community

Your members have onboarded, you’re posting regularly in public group chats, and they’re beginning to reach out to one another via direct messaging to build relationships. Now what?

Continue to think of ways in which you can add value to your online community. One successful tactic we see is by holding virtual events.

You can make your virtual events into whatever you like, from a simple Zoom hangout to a scheduled keynote speaker. The Events app in Optix can help you advertise this event by:

• Promoting upcoming events on the homepage of the app
• Linking your event from an external source (Facebook, Eventbrite, etc.)
• Allowing users to RSVP or sign-up for the event from the platform you’ve chosen to host your event in

The key to creating an engaged digital community in the absence of a physical space is to continue to add value for those who are there. Lean in to the information they want and care about and ensure you’re always putting their needs first.

How to engage your digital coworking community in real life

Take your community building efforts one step further by bringing your digital community together in real life. This can be a fantastic way to make connections amongst members and give them ownership over the space, so they feel like it’s really theirs.

Here are some ideas to bring your digital community to life and engage them before your space opens:

• Paint a mural together on one of the walls
• Have a re-planting or gardening party
• Hold an “empty space” party before you bring in the furniture
• Organize an in-person meeting at a local coffee shop or cafe

For operators who want community to be baked into every aspect of their space, having members be involved in designing the space itself can be a big win.

Start growing your digital community with Optix

A strong digital community is the secret weapon behind every thriving coworking space.

It gives future members a reason to care, a place to connect, and a sense of belonging—before they’ve even set foot in your space.

Tools like Optix make it easy to capture interest, start conversations, and keep the momentum going. The earlier you start, the more powerful your launch becomes.

Your community is already out there—go meet them.