Connecting Traders, Enhancing Knowledge: The Success Story of FXStreet Premium’s Discord Community
Embarking on the journey to become a user-centric company is no walk in the park, and here at FXStreet, we’re fully on board, but we’ve still got some ways to go. It’s been two years with all sorts of initiatives to get closer to our users. We’re talking interviews, surveys, deep-diving into data analytics — you name it. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned, especially from pros like Teresa Torres and Melissa Perri, it is to talk to your customer. Watching our community engage, debate, and grow together? That’s where the magic happens. It’s unfiltered, raw, and tells us more about our users than we imagined.
FXS Premium a brief history
In 2019, at FXS, we faced a pivotal moment. Our business relied heavily on B2B transactions, primarily selling advertising spaces and trading tools. Recognizing the need for diversification, we embarked on an ambitious project: leveraging our extensive knowledge to create a product for our traders, which we named FXS Premium.
Our initial offering included technical tools designed to provide trading insights. However, we soon realized that we needed to go beyond the norm to stand out. Therefore, we focused on delivering top-tier actionable information with these trading insights. This strategic pivot marked a significant evolution for FXS Premium.
Yet, despite this progress, we sensed that our product could offer even more. We wanted to inform our traders and engage with them on a deeper level, fostering a community where knowledge and experience could be shared freely.
Telegram, our first try
Our initial version of the product faced a fundamental challenge: it was a one-way street. We provided information, and our traders absorbed it. This format, while informative, needed a crucial element — interactive engagement with our traders.
We decided to foster direct dialogue between our traders and experts to bridge this gap. We envisioned a platform where traders could ask market-related questions and receive personalized advice. Additionally, this interaction would serve a dual purpose, allowing us to gather real-time feedback on new features or improvements directly from our users.
To test this concept, we established a Telegram group. The response was immediate and overwhelming. We were inundated with questions daily, confirming our belief in the need for interactive communication. However, as the volume of interactions grew, we recognized that Telegram, while effective for an initial trial, had limitations in managing large-scale, dynamic conversations.
This experience was invaluable. It taught us that while Telegram was a suitable platform to test our hypothesis for scaling and enhancing user interaction, we needed a more robust and versatile solution. This insight was crucial in guiding us toward better platforms that could meet the evolving needs of our traders and experts.
Overcoming Obstacles: Evolving Beyond Telegram
The initial excitement surrounding our Telegram group soon gave way to significant challenges. We grappled with moderation issues and faced the problem of unauthorized channels replicating our content. These issues were so severe that we made the tough decision to transition our Telegram group into a one-way communication channel. To maintain interaction, we allowed users to email their questions directly to our experts, but this approach needed to have the dynamism and immediacy of our previous platform.
Our breakthrough came with the discovery of Discord. Discord offered everything we felt was missing in Telegram and more. It was a supercharged version of Telegram.
Discord’s strengths were immediately apparent:
- Simplified Moderation. Roles, kicks, bans make easy to maintain the server.
- Versatile Channel Structure: Discord allowed us to create various channels within a single server, some for unidirectional communication and others for interactive discussions. This flexibility was perfectly aligned with our diverse needs.
3. User and Contributor-Friendly Design: Not only did the Discord app function flawlessly, but its desktop version also provided an enhanced productivity experience for our experts.
With the introduction of Discord, we also observed a substantial improvement in community engagement. Information became more organized, and the platform’s user-friendly interface made it easier for our experts to promptly and efficiently address user inquiries. Discord didn’t just replace our previous communication tools; it transformed how our community interacted and shared knowledge within FXS.
Since the introduction of Discord, we have seen the following advantages from a business point of view:
- Help to grow both in users and interactions
- Get fantastic feedback in Trustpilot.
- Retention metric improved.
- Helped us find a new employee among the most prominent users.
- We saved tons of money with an out-of-shef solution.
Conclusion
While testing and launching new products and features, the interaction with your user/customer is crucial. Our efforts towards being a user-centric company have the first positive outcome with the FXS Premium Community. A community built with an out-of-the-box solution that costs nearly zero on the technical side. So my advice is: “Get feedback from your customer ASAP, and don’t over-engineer.”
