Community Growth Mastery: How to Build a Successful Community from 0 — Tips from a Community Growth Lead
Community Growth Mastery: Building a Robust and Interconnected Community from 0.
Crafting a compelling narrative, establishing rituals, and intentional events are just some of the critical elements in ensuring the growth and vibrancy of your community.
As an experienced growth and community lead with experience growing multiple communities from 0–40,000+ members, here are some refined tips to elevate your community-building efforts:
First, let’s start with the types of community members you’ll encounter. Generally, all of your community members will fit into one of these categories:
Champions: These members tend to be your ambassadors, good samaritans, and brand cheerleaders. You might even find Champions creating content, blog posts, and actively recruiting newbies to join. You’ll find Champions at community events and often engaging with your content on social media.
Active: These members occasionally attend community events, engage with content on social media, and are active within the community.
Passive: These members consume information but tend to not to interact or make impressions. You’ll find them at a few community events.
Newbies: Generally inquisitive and interested, but can be quiet characters initially.
Now that we’ve covered the general layout of a community, here’s a checklist for creating a strong and vibrant community:
1. Craft a Compelling Narrative:
Define the essence of your community. Ask yourself who your ideal community member is. Clearly articulate the community's purpose and values to attract ideal members. A well-defined narrative ensures you draw in members who resonate with your community’s mission.
2. Establish Rituals and Community Culture:
Infuse your community with rituals, traditions, and a distinct culture. Just as a well-decorated restaurant enhances the dining experience, a cohesive community atmosphere elevates engagement. Consistent events, like themed events and weekly speaker panels, create a sense of routine and belonging. Community members can identify quintessential events and grow to expect those events regularly.
3. Move Members to the “Active Player” Category:
Transform passive members into active contributors as frequently and as soon as possible.
Community members fit into these categories:
Newbie → Passive → Active → Champions
A community member only moves to the “Active” category when:
1. The community aligns with their identity
2. They know how and are encouraged to participate
3. There is a reward (intrinsic or extrinsic) for their participation
Ensure it’s clear to new and existing community members how to participate and get rewarded for participation.
4. Prioritize Quality Over Quantity:
Thoughtfully curate your initial members as they will shape the community’s tone and standards. Quality members set the foundation for a thriving community. Focus on those who align closely with your community’s values rather than pursuing sheer numbers.
Why does this matter so much? At the start of new communities, programs, or initiatives — new members or “newbies” will observe existing structures and how current members interact and usually model their community interactions with this in mind. Keeping the quality high or [X desirable community trait] ensures this gets passed down to new members.
5. Create Active Opportunities for Meaningful Connections:
Design intentional events that facilitate connections among community members. Strong interpersonal relationships within the community contribute to its overall strength. Emphasize the quality of interactions over sheer quantity.
Not seeing immediate participation? Don’t worry interactions might not happen organically at first. You might have to make interactions happen to get the flywheel going. Reddit made up fake users until interaction happened organically. eBay bought and sold its own products. Take action to set an example for your members so they know where to connect once they’re ready.
6. Collect and Act on Feedback:
Regularly assess the pulse of your community by collecting feedback. Understanding what works and what doesn’t provides valuable insights for refining your strategy. Actively seek input, making members feel valued and engaged in shaping the community’s direction.
We are at the forefront of a transformation where communities are becoming more important now than ever. As Corinne Marie Riley states in her article on Community-Led Growth, “Community-Led Growth acts as a multiplier on top of product-led growth. By actively facilitating user interactions, and providing value past the product itself, Community-Led Growth allows a company to have a stronger pulse on their customer pipeline, feature requests, and real-time support, all while enabling users to get the most out of their product. These users in turn become champions, creating a flywheel of active members strengthening the community.” It’s advantageous for any brand or company to build a community because that’s where some of your strongest marketers and ambassadors are born.
Mastering community growth involves a combination of strategic narrative crafting, fostering a unique culture, encouraging active participation, prioritizing quality members, facilitating meaningful connections, and maintaining an open feedback loop. By implementing these strategies, you’ll be well on your way to building a strong, vibrant, and interconnected community.
