A lot of companies say they’re “building community”… but are they really?
Slack channels go quiet, events feel transactional, and engagement slows to a crawl. The issue? Most communities are built as marketing channels, not a living, breathing community.
When you build your community the right way, it becomes your strongest competitive advantage. Here’s how you do it.
ICP Targeted Invites
A community only works when the people inside it recognize each other as peers. That means being particular about who gets invited, especially early on.
When the invites are ICP-targeted:
- Conversations stay relevant
- Members feel safe and understood
- People show up knowing they can learn from each other
When the invites aren’t targeted and specific, no one feels engaged, and the value is lost. Great communities aren’t an audience, they’re a room full of engaged, curious, similar people.
Let Members Do the Talking
Setting up your community as a brand stage is a fast way to kill it.
Communities don’t thrive on simply thought leadership; they thrive on shared experience and connection. Your role isn’t to talk at them, but to create the conditions for meaningful conversations to flourish.
This includes:
- Asking good questions over giving good answers
- Creating a space where everybody feels like they can contribute
- Resisting the urge for you to play the role of “teacher”
The moment that members feel comfortable enough to start responding to one another, the whole thing shifts. Trust is built, and the community becomes an invaluable resource for all members.
Reuse the Content
The community acts as a living piece of customer research right at your fingertips. The insights that surface within the community meetings can lead to some of the most valuable content. The key is to make sure you’re repurposing with care.
Community-driven content:
- Reflects what your ICP really cares about
- Uses the language your customers relate to
- Feels grounded in reality
Think blog posts, lessons learned, or even co-authored pieces with members. Not everything needs to be transferred into more content, just the highlights. Keep the conversations close and the impact vast.
The Wrong Way to Build a Community
Although a community can be successful, there are many ways it can fall through.
Here’s what not to do:
- Don’t turn it into an opportunity to pitch your company: This is the quickest way to cause members to leave. Don’t hard pitch members; allow them to express their frustrations and build trust before pitching a reasonable solution on a 1:1 basis.
- Don’t record the whole meeting: Communities allow members to feel safe. Recording the meeting can lead to censoring and a lack of trust. Just record the important information, such as presentations.
- Don’t prioritize higher member numbers over ICP-fit: More isn’t always better. Keeping the quality of members consistent is more important than increasing numbers.
The Real Advantage
A trusted community compounds over time. It’s a space for members (your ICP) to show up, speak out, and keep coming back.
If you build it right, your community doesn’t just support your business. It becomes part of why people choose you in the first place.