Jordan Miller

The Invision Community platform is capable of integrating with other powerful services, creating a unified system of connections with the click of a button. One of the greatest benefits of integrating with Invision Community is instant expanded functionality. This is often done through an API (application programming interface), which allows our platform to seamlessly communicate with third-party developed software like Google, Zapier and SendGrid. We also use webhooks to integrate. Webhooks allow other services and applications to stay in sync with your community data or to perform an action after a specific event occurs in your community. Read more about them here. I had a chat with one of our developers, @Daniel F, who walks us through webhooks, explains why they’re useful and shows us an example (see the video above). In the example he uses, we would... Here are a few integrations we want to put on your radar: Zapier What is it? Zapier is a service that allows you to connect over 3,000 web apps. The Invision and Zapier integration can communicate with some of the Internet’s most wide-reaching platforms, including Google Docs, Twitter, Facebook, Slack, Trello, Facebook Ads, ActiveCampaign, Zendesk, Asana, Salesforce, Hubspot, Discord, Stripe and more. Read our Zapier blog for more details (it’s worth your undivided attention!). An example: When a moderator posts a topic in a news forum, share it on Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms. MapBox What is it? MapBox shares dynamic, performant, and customizable maps that can connect and visibly show where your members are around the world. An example: Create events that link to specific locations and specify where they’re taking place. Google Tag Manager What is it? Google Tag Manager is a tag management system that allows you to add and update your own tags (snippets of code like a tracking pixel) onto your website for conversion tracking, site analytics, remarketing, and more. Tags that can be incorporated include link clicks for events, scroll tracking, contact form abandonment, commerce shopping cart abandonment and more. Expect to see more functionality with Google Tag Manager in our platform later this year such as quantifying total amount of reactions in a post. An example: Tracking when a member clicks the ‘start new topic’ button. Google Analytics What is it? Google Analytics is a web analytics platform that shares statistics and basic analytical tools for SEO and marketing initiatives. Understanding your website’s data, including who is visiting, how often, for how long, device usage and more can better help you optimize your community. An example: Tracking unique visitors over the course of a year, then comparing that data to the previous year. Whether there’s an upward or downward trend, analyzing the data can help you create a plan of how to proceed, as well as understand what is (and isn’t) working. SendGrid What is it? Sendgrid is a cloud-based email delivery system. It’s a vehicle for your community to send emails to your members. An example: Sending a monthly newsletter using the Bulk Mail function in the admin control panel. Integrations are an efficient way to take your Invision Community platform to the next level. There’s even more in your ACP that we didn’t discuss in this blog. If you have an integration in place that you’d like to share with us, or have an idea, drop us a line in the comments and let us know. Related:

Branded communities mobilize your impassioned fans and customers. If you’re even a little familiar with community building, you’ve probably seen marketing jargon about why owning your own community (and not exclusively relying on social media) is absolutely imperative for growth. Relying on social media is a gamble. At any given time the social media giants can take away your platform and following you had spent years building. Meaningful ongoing conversations aren’t really a thing. No customization; your social account won’t have different functionality than everyone else (there’s a few exceptions with Instagram, but it’s based on follower count). With a community, you can grant your members far more flexibility and power. Companies that thrive know of social media’s limitations. They opt to also include a community component to their brand because it’s a serious advantage. They use social media as a tool to drive traffic to their community and get to know their clients/customers on a deeper level. Owning your own branded community... Strengthens brand identity. Duh, but not really. I’d say most companies fail to establish a real look and feel. This is done by evoking an emotion in the customer through an intentional balance of visuals (colors, logos, fonts) alongside experiences the company, along with the community, creates together. Builds trust with the consumer. Getting digital face time with your customers, sharing content and offering value on a consistent basis are the building blocks of trust between company and consumer. Gain this, and become an authority in your industry. Provides a deeper understanding of customers' needs. Save money on market research. Tap into your audience's needs free of charge. Encourages an open dialogue. Customers want to feel heard! Create an environment that's a two-way street so their thoughts and feelings don't fall into the Internet abyss. Creates visibility. At the heart of any business are the customers. Show them your true colors. Your brand’s look & feel matters Now that we’ve nailed down the ‘why,’ let’s touch on the nuts and bolts, err… colors and fonts. Don’t underestimate the power of a cohesive and imaginative visual associated with your brand. When you think of McDonald’s, does your brain fire off a pair of golden arches and a ketchup red color combo? When thinking about Coca Cola, maybe a cursive font bubbles up. Apple is internationally admired for their visuals and product presentation. These aren’t accidents. Companies spend millions of dollars on marketing to perfect the brand’s look and feel. Your community should aim to feel as immersive as possible through its branding. Your community, powered by Invision Community, was designed with that in mind. In the admin control panel, community leaders can design their own theme, including colors, fonts, headers, footers and logo. Take a look at how some of our clients transformed their communities into something extra special: Squarespace Fiverr Corsair Those communities enlist our enterprise services. However, if you don’t have the marketing budget just yet to create a totally custom look and feel, we have a new option at your disposal starting today. We just launched a theme service available for all Invision Community clients on our standard plans. We’ll create you a theme based on certain criteria and keep it updated throughout future platform updates. If that’s something of interest, please visit this new page on our website and reach out to us to get started. Design your new theme today. Owning a branded community doesn’t need to be complicated. If your idea is solid, and your intentions are to unite and connect like-minded people, then you’re golden. Are you interested in a branded community? Do you have a community that could use some extra attention? Are you ready to launch a new community but don’t know where to start? Drop us a line in the comments and we’ll respond to you.

2021 was a big year for Invision Community. 🎉 We launched no-code automation with our Zapier integration, added web push notifications, offline support, stock replies and new reporting metrics. We also improved spam management, SEO crawl efficiency, Clubs, Activity Streams and introduced a native gamification system named Achievements. Not to mention the team grew! 👋 @Matt Finger @Marshall Slemp (and me 🙋🏼‍♂️). We have lots to look forward to in the new year, but before we reveal more let's take a trip down memory lane. 2021 was one of our best-performing years ever! Here are some highlights: Community Activity 2021 We saw an influx of members contributing to our community support forum. 3,832 members submitted new content, followed something, or reacted to something in the community. Points earned: Thanks to the introduction of the Achievements system, members had the opportunity to earn points for contributing to the support community. In total, the community racked up 361,363 points. 📈 Topics created: Members fired off more than 4000 topics, including questions, feature suggestions and community management tips. 😳 New posts: Inside those topics included an array of replies. 31,488 posts to be exact. 😱 Top 10 members with the most amount of Reactions given: Members also engaged with the community using our Reputation system (think of it as our "likes" 👍 system). Here are the top 10 members who gave the most Reactions. @sobrenome @Jordan Miller @SeNioR- @Linux-Is-Best @OptimusBain @Matt @Adriano Faria @Davyc @Marc Stridgen @Unienc Top 10 members with the most amount of Reactions received: If a member's topic or reply is well received, it earns Reputation using our Reactions system. Here are the top 10 members who received the most love. ❤️ @Matt @Adriano Faria @Nathan Explosion @CoffeeCake @opentype @Marc Stridgen @Daniel F @Davyc @Jimi Wikman Members who earned the most badges: Participating in the community also earns members special badges. You get a badge and you get a badge! ✅ @CoffeeCake @TAMAN @opentype @PPlanet @SUBRTX @Sonya* @Afrodude Top Marketplace contributors: Shout-out to our crazy talented third-party developers who take time out of their busy schedules to innovate and create downloads for other Invision Community clients to use! Here are the top Marketplace contributes: @Nathan Explosion @Michael.J @Miss_B @IBTheme @Kirill Gromov @ReyDev @Adriano Faria @shahed Most active forum: You have questions and we have answers. Our support system shifted to our help & support forum and it paid off big time! Thanks to everyone who contributed to making Invision Community a better place. Whether you're an active poster in our community support forums, or a customer who lives to learn and absorb, we greatly appreciate you. Cheers to the exciting ventures on the way in 2022! 🎉