In This Guide:
1. Why Active Chats Matter
2. Start Strong: Your First Message
3. Sustain the Momentum: Daily & Weekly Chat Habits
4. Use These Locals Features to Drive Engagement
5. Re-Activate a Quiet Chat
1. Why Active Chats Matter
Chats are the heart of your community. They’re where relationships form, questions get answered, and value is delivered in real time.
Engaged club chats help you:
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Set the tone of your community from day one — casual, warm, inspiring, expert, or all of the above.
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Build trust and habit through regular check-ins and updates, making your club a daily habit for members.
- Drive discovery and conversions — the more active your club is, the more visible it becomes, and the more likely members are to RSVP to events, upgrade their membership, or invite friends.
2. Start Strong: Your First Message
Your first message sets the tone for everything that follows. It’s your chance to create a warm, inclusive atmosphere and make your new members feel seen from the start.
What to include:
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👋 A friendly welcome: Make it feel personal, not formal.
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💬 An easy intro prompt: Encourage participation with a low-barrier question.
- ✍️ Your tone of voice: Reflect your club’s vibe (fun, chill, professional, inspiring).
Tip: Pin your welcome message so new members always see it at the top of the chat.
This keeps your club vibe front and center.
3. Sustain the Momentum: Daily & Weekly Chat Habits
After your welcome message is live, it’s time to shift focus to keeping ongoing connection. A thriving community needs intentional presence, not constant noise.
Consistent, low-effort messages build trust, increase participation, and help your community feel alive — even between events.
✅ Drop a message every few days
Even one quick check-in can:
- Remind members that the space is active
- Make it easy for everyone to join the conversation
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Keep your club visible on the home feed
Try prompts like:
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“What’s one thing you're looking forward to this week?”
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“Random question: Cold plunge or hot yoga?”
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“Drop a photo of your weekend highlight 👇”
🔊 Use voice notes or audio reminders
These feel more intimate and less formal — great for:
- Pre-event reminders
- Mid-week check-ins
- Quick encouragements
Keep them under 30 seconds and drop emojis or text for context.
📊 Create a quick poll to get replies
Use built-in polls to boost participation with minimal effort:
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Vote on next event format (“In-person or online?”)
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Choose topics (“What should we do next month?”)
- Fun polls
People who vote are more likely to show up — use that momentum.
🙋♀️ Tag members for direct replies
Mention members by name to show you notice them:
“@Chris your idea last time was 🔥 — any thoughts on this one?”
This helps create person-to-person interactions — the heart of a real community.
4. Use These Locals Features to Drive Engagement
Locals offers unique tools that go beyond basic chat. From push alerts to emoji-tagged threads, these features are designed to make your club chats easier to discover, more fun to navigate, and more active with less effort.
🆕 Push Notifications + Main Chat Alerts for New Chats
Whenever you create a new themed chat (like "Book Recs 📚" or "Move of the Week🧘♀️"), Locals automatically helps spread the word.
Here’s what members receive:
- A push notification
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An automated message in your Main Chat (visible to everyone)
Why this matters:
It ensures no one misses new conversation threads — even quieter members get looped in effortlessly.
💬 Emoji-picker Chats
Emojis make chat spaces feel more approachable and organized — especially when your club hosts multiple discussion threads.
Why this works:
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Helps members visually scan and find chats that match their interest
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Makes your club feel more expressive and thematic
How to use it:
- When you create a new chat, tap the emoji picker
- Choose a symbol that fits your theme (e.g., 🎨 for art, 🧘 for wellness, 🍝 for recipes)
- The emoji will appear next to the chat title in your club’s chat list
- For existing chats without an emoji, we’ll automatically assign a default one: 💬
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The main chat remains unchanged - no emoji in title
📲 Add to Home Screen your Club Logo
To help new members stay connected, Locals shows a pop-up prompt inviting them to add your club icon to their home screen right after they join.
Why this helps:
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Reduces drop-off by giving direct access to your club
- Makes your community feel like a go-to app
🎯 Targeted Chats & Audience Segments
Not all members have the same needs — and that’s the point. Whether you're running mixed-skill workshops, splitting by location, or offering VIP perks, Locals makes it easy to create chats that speak directly to the right group.
With Locals’ Targeted Chats feature, you can:
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🎯 Choose who can join a chat
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💬 Choose who can send messages in that chat
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👥 Create custom audience segments for even more control
🛠 How it Works
When creating a new chat, tap "Who can join" to target a specific group:
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All Club Members – Open chat, visible and joinable by everyone
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Specific Club Segments – Only visible/joinable by selected groups (e.g., “Basic,” “Advanced,” “VIP”)
- Co-creators and Admins – Internal-only space
You can also control who can message in the chat — great for things like announcement boards or expert Q&As.
🧩 Create Audience Segments
Inside your Club settings, you can create audience segments based on:
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Membership tier (e.g., Basic, Advanced, VIP)
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Interests (e.g., “Outdoor Runners,” “Pilates Parents,” “Writers Circle”)
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Location (e.g., “South London Crew”)
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Skill level (e.g., “Beginner Flow,” “Intermediate Series,” “Advanced Training”)
Segments can be public or private, and are visible to the admin team for easy targeting.
📣 Why This Matters
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Clarity for members – They know which conversations are for them
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Better engagement – More relevant chats = higher participation
- Value for paid tiers – Deliver exclusive content to subscribers
5. Re-Activate a Quiet Chat
Even the most vibrant chats can slow down — and that’s okay. What matters is knowing how to bring them back to life without burning yourself out.
Here’s how to gently re-spark conversation using tools built right into Locals:
🔁 Try a Quick Re-Engagement Prompt
Light, open-ended questions are perfect for reigniting energy without pressure.
Examples:
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“How’s your week going?”
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“What’s one small win you’re proud of this month?”
- “Anyone try something new lately — recipe, podcast, yoga pose?”
📊 Post a Poll to Get the Vibe
Polls are great low-effort engagement tools. You could ask:
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“What topic should we explore next?”
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“Should we do a morning or evening session this weekend?”
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“Who’s around for a quick Q&A?”
🛠 Use the + icon in your Club chat to drop a poll in seconds.
🎥 Share Behind-the-Scenes Content
People love peeks behind the curtain. Try posting:
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A video from your day
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A voice update on what you’re working on
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A funny blooper or candid moment
Tip: Voice and video messages feel personal and help reset the tone of a quiet space.
📣 Make a Friendly Announcement
If it’s been a while since anyone posted, a casual update or announcement (e.g., “here’s what’s coming up this week”) is a simple way to break the silence and remind members they’re in an active space.
Use pinned messages and tag a few members to pull them back in.
🧠 Create a New Chat if Needed
Sometimes the topic just isn’t clicking anymore — and that’s okay. Start fresh with a themed chat (e.g., “📚 Book Recs” or “🧘 Morning Habits”) and invite people to join.
With Locals, members will automatically get:
- A push notification
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A message in the main chat about the new group
Reminder: You don’t need to carry the conversation — your role is to spark it, not to lead every exchange
Consistency, creativity, and small nudges go a long way toward reactivating quiet spaces — and building a resilient community that can keep itself alive. ✨
Quick Recap:
✅ Start with a warm welcome
✅ Keep things active with small, regular messages
✅ Use Locals features like polls, chat segmentation, and audio updates
✅ Don’t be afraid to reset the vibe if chats go quiet
💬 Need Help?
If you’d like support, inspiration, or just someone to bounce ideas with, reach out to us in the chat or book a call with our Customer Success team. We’re here to help your community thrive.
Happy building!
— The Locals Team 💛