--- title: "The Value of the First Reply, and Other Online Community Metrics" id: "25281" type: "post" slug: "the-value-of-the-first-reply-and-other-online-community-metrics" published_at: "2014-10-01T11:58:43+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T12:47:11+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/10/01/the-value-of-the-first-reply-and-other-online-community-metrics/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/10/01/the-value-of-the-first-reply-and-other-online-community-metrics.md" excerpt: "A provider of online community software dug into the data for about 250 of its client associations. Here's what it says about how members are engaging in those communities." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Member Engagement" - "Membership" - "metrics" - "online communities" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Director" - "Manager" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » The Value of the First Reply, and Other Online Community Metrics I’m beginning to think that, if I were an online community manager for an association, there’s one metric I’d track above all else: The percent of discussion threads with zero replies. Here’s why: [http://associationsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/replieschart.png](http://associationsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/replieschart.png) The chart above is derived from data shared by Andy Steggles, president and chief customer officer at Higher Logic, at the company’s [user group “Super Forum” (opens in a new tab)](http://hug.higherlogic.com/sf/home/) last week. He and his colleagues looked at 2013 activity data from the online member communities of more than 250 Higher Logic client organizations—comprising about 1.8 million enrolled users and 238,000 discussion threads. > When there is a response, the response is great. Across all discussions, the average number of replies (to the group or privately to the sender) per discussion thread was less than two, but that number is a mushy one, because it includes the 61 percent of messages that got zero group replies. Among the 39 percent that got at least one group reply, the average number of responses to the group or sender was 4.4. In other words, as Steggles put it, “When there is a response, the response is great.” No one wants to hear virtual crickets when they post to a community. That’s a bad experience that turns people away. But even in bustling online discussion forums, it can be hard to guarantee that every post will be seen by the right people, at the right time, and that those people will be comfortable responding. This is where the community manager can be a catalyst. For example, Kelly Flowers, principal of GrowthVine consulting and manager of the online community for the American Academy of Periodontology, shared in a Learning Lab at the 2014 ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo that she has enlisted a team of engaged AAP members that she can reach out to whenever a post goes unanswered, to ask someone to respond. As the Higher Logic data shows, that small action can have a snowball effect, as at least one reply visible to the group correlates to even more replies. And so, the percentage of threads with no replies looks to be a useful indicator of a community’s health. You likely could never get it down to zero, but, like golf and cholesterol, the lower the better. ### Other Findings Steggles shared a few other findings from the study. First, though, a disclosure and sidenote: Higher Logic provides the platform that ASAE’s [Collaborate (opens in a new tab)](http://collaborate.asaecenter.org/home/) forum runs on. And, while it’s worth keeping in mind that this analysis is based on the communities built on one specific software platform, the big-picture themes may apply in other platforms as well. Or, at the very least, they should provide some ideas for data you should try to get for your association’s community, in whatever platform you’re on. **Small associations have greater participation among members in their online communities than large associations do.**Steggles broke down some of the data by association size. Small associations enroll more members into their online communities (some associations auto-enroll members and some don’t, while others may allow nonmembers in, so Higher Logic calls enrolled users “subscribers”), and a higher percentage of those users write posts (“contributors”). [http://associationsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/sizecomparisoncharts.png](http://associationsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/sizecomparisoncharts.png) (Click image to enlarge.) **A completed user biography is a stronger indicator of engagement than a profile photo.**Community users who have filled out the bio info on their profiles are 22 percent more likely than the average user to post a discussion message, while those who have uploaded a profile picture are 5 percent more likely than average to do so. **Real-time email messages from community discussions have a higher open rate than daily-digest emails.** For subscribers who opt to receive an email for every new message posted to a discussion, the open rate is 34.13 percent. Among daily-digest recipients, 26.9 percent. **Associations with active online communities appear to have higher overall membership renewal rates.** Higher Logic partnered with Marketing General, Inc., to examine the renewal rates for its client associations that participated in MGI’s [Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report (opens in a new tab)](http://www.marketinggeneral.com/resources/benchmark-report/) . Erik Schonher, vice president at MGI, stressed that the sample size was too small to be confident in the statistical significance of the findings, but they indicated a 5-point boost in retention rates among associations with active communities compared to all associations in the MGI study. Even if that’s not a concrete correlation, it should at least encourage you to compare renewal rates among your members who are active in your online community with those who aren’t. How do these findings align (or not) with the activity in your association’s online member community? What other data do you measure and find particularly valuable? Please share in the comments. (iStock/Thinkstock) [Joe Rominiecki](https://associationsnow.com/author/joe-rominiecki/) Joe Rominiecki is a contributing editor to Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/joe-rominiecki/) Tags: [#Member Engagement](https://associationsnow.com/tag/member-engagement/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) [#metrics](https://associationsnow.com/tag/metrics/) [#online communities](https://associationsnow.com/tag/online-communities/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [ArticleMeasuring Community Success: What Metrics Matter (and Why)August 6, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/08/06/measuring-community-success-what-metrics-matter-and-why/) - [TemplateMembers onlyMember Onboarding ToolkitNovember 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/11/05/member-onboarding-toolkit/) - [ArticleReport: Job Boards, Emails Bolster Online CommunitiesOctober 8, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/10/08/report-job-boards-emails-bolster-online-communities/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2014%2F10%2F01%2Fthe-value-of-the-first-reply-and-other-online-community-metrics%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !