Online Communities are the swiss army knife of an organization. If the community is built correctly, has a nurturing and growth strategy, and cultivates super users, an online community is a force multiplier for almost every part of the organization.

Communities grow (often organically) out of shared interest in the real world and online. People are always looking for ways to connect, share, complain, help each other, show off, receive praise, etc. The common interest can be anything – an interest, product, cause, need, passion, proximity or ideology.

For our customers, and for the business, your owned community is bringing people together over the shared experience of our products. We’re creating a space for them to learn how to use the platforms, level up their knowledge, and find other people in the same boat.

There are different customer journeys:

• Prospect: Sees the community in action, gets the social proof that other people are also a part of our ecosystem
• New Customer: Dives into documentation, asks questions, gets peer-to-peer support
• Seasoned Member: Adds nuance to discussion, shares expertise, gets recognized
• Recognized MVP: Officially recognized as a pillar of the community, creates immense value through contributions, moderation, and cultural signaling

While the community (at the enterprise level) is hosted, funded, and nurtured by the company, the customer has to take center stage. If communities think they’re being advertised to or sold to in an overt way, it will kill the vibe and undermine the trust.

People trust other people - not salespeople. Any marketing or sales-intentioned behavior has to be very light and thoughtful.

Our best practice: Community Health (meeting the needs of the customers) creates Community Success (meeting the needs of the business)

How could Marketing interact with/benefit from Community?

Marketing Gets

• Sales clincher: A successful and active community is a great thing to dangle in front of customers. Not only “we do this and it works” but also “other real people are in here and they love it” and also “with an entire community built, we’re going to be a long-term partner.”
• Data-driven marketing decisions: the discussions, concerns, and dialogue that comes from a community will tell us what matters to our customers. There’s “natural voice” at play - not a survey answer or a focus group. Just people talking about the real deal. That should get fed back into the marketing machine.
• Long-tail loyalty and affinity: People are much less likely to switch platforms if they have a community element attached to their experience. Shifting away from your community means shifting away from their contributed knowledge, shared experience, and network.

Marketing Gives

• Content: Provided it feels natural, content from product marketing can work. Blogs or content siderails can’t “feel” like marketing speak and should always come from the WIIFM of the customer.
• Inclusion: Including the existence of community, great threads, awesome customers, or other community-forward in Marketing campaigns or materials helps grow the community. This should include social efforts.