The times when full-featured online communities where only affordable for larger associations with deep pockets are now behind us. New modern platforms are emerging whose products deliver slick and powerful functionality at the cost of a Silver Diner dinner for two. While there are several platforms that I will list at the end of this post, will take a quick look at my current favorite: Taptiq.com.
What functionality can you expect? See the gallery of screenshots below:
How much effort does it take to spin up a fully-featured community? 15 minutes. I tried. I built one for the DC area road cycling community. And it is cheap enough that I am paying for it out of my own pocket.
What makes it so easy and so attractive?
The community app is not really an app, but a Progressive Web App (PWA) which I will cover in a greater detail in my next blog post. All we need to know for now, is that it is just a Web Page that you can pin to your phone just like an app, that functions like an app, but does not require installations from the app stores. PWAs are fast, lightweight, function the same way on the phone and in the Web browser, yet allow for push notifications and icon badges, just like regular apps.
Do I need any technical knowledge or expertise?
None. If you were able to navigate to this page and read this article - you have all the skills you need to build a fully featured online community for your constituents.
How can I learn more?
I have recently led a follow-along hands-on webinar as part of the UST Education series where we discussed Best-of-breed approach to building technology ecosystems for small associations. As part of the webinar attendees followed my lead and built online communities for their orgs in real time. You can access the full webinar recording on the UST Education site. The hands-on part starts around minute 19 of the recording.
You can also download the PDF with basic overview of the platform capabilities or reach out to me directly for a deeper dive into the product and to assess the degree to which it meets your requirements.
How does everything fits together and what are the Taptiq alternatives?
Please download the presentation I used for the webinar which expands on some key concepts and lists a variety of Taptiq alternatives:
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