Kicking off with an interview with Rebecca Marshburn, Head of Community at Common Room.

(Interested in community? Check out our 101 playbook or the article on the Community-Led Growth)

Dive in!

Rebecca Marshburn is the Head of Community at Common Room. She stewards and hosts channels and interactions wherever their customers, champions, prospects, creators, fans, or anyone interested in GTM strategy and community strategy intersect and engage, whether it’s in their digital channels like their Slack, LinkedIn, or Twitter, or at IRL events, meetups, and conferences.I had the opportunity to chat with her and asked her about their new GTM Creator Playbook.

Common Room GTM Creator Playbook

Rebecca: [Common Room] works with individuals who are making incredible contributions to their own communities and audiences in the GTM space.

They know their audiences best and they know their communities best. When we work together with them, we see those creators as our GTM Partners, and as conduits and advocates to their own communities.

When I think about the playbook for our GTM Partners—its foundational tenet is really very basic. How do we tell the truth? How do we make this a win-win-win—a win for our creator, a win for their audience, and a win for Common Room. How do we keep it authentic to our creator and their audience, and be relevant to the work they’re doing?

We give them autonomy to create as they choose based on what they’re learning at the time and what the right content is for their community at the time. We don’t give them scripts.

What I give to them is feedback and transparency about where our thinking is as a company—where our positioning is, where we’re going next as a product and our product vision, what’s launching and when…but that info is not meant to supersede the authenticity of the creator and their audience.

Finding the Right Fit for the Program

Jared: How do you go to find the right fit for this program?

Rebecca: So there’s two things:

1. Creators within the persona we are trying to reach –  We’re all about intelligent GTM. We’re all about building our customer intelligence platform and helping others understand the defining pillars of a customer intelligence platform. And so, from there, there are personas that specifically would get the most value out of a tool like Common Room. And that’s going to be that full GTM squad, right? So it’s going to be marketing people, sales people, ops people, marketing ops people, revops people, success people, obviously community and DevRel people. And so with all of those personas together, that’s where we start.
2. Creators that are genuinely excited about Common Room.  I want to find creators that want to work with Common Room and dive into the product. They’ve got to believe in Common Room. They’ve got to have wanted to spend the time and be like, “oh, oh, yes”, I see how the people that are interacting with me would get value out of this. That totally changes the relationship not only between us and our creators, but between creators and the product, and then how creators are able to show up when their audience and community members ask real questions—they can be like, “oh, I actually know this”, or “this is how I would use it”, or “this is why I would recommend it in this moment”.

Something I love about the creators we work with is how actionable and straightforward their posts are. Like, here’s the 1-2-3 of how I craft my first cold outreach.

Measuring ROI

Jared: How do you measure the success of the program and how is ROI?

Rebecca: Measuring success:

1. We measure it by having creators that love being a part of the program and want to keep creating unique content for us. If they continue to opt in, that’s a great sign.
2. Outcomes-wise, we look at number of comments, engagements, and ICP showing up in the posts (if they’re posts on social), as well as—
3. How well our SDRs can outbound off comments and generate a higher conversion rate to meetings (we see a lift in sequences that reference creator posts and engagement), and
4. Number of inbounds that drop specific creators by name as referrals or list LinkedIn or other social channels as how they heard about us.

ROI:

• Been super positive – we piloted the program as an experiment to see if it made sense for everyone and decided to keep going based on outcomes
• We started with 5 creators in December (including me, Nick Bennett, Mark Huber, Mark Kilens, Peter Ahn) and have expanded to 9 consistently and around 13 total on a month-to-month basis in the last 4 months
• More than 2-3x’d referrals mentioning LinkedIn since we started the program—that’s a testament to work of our creators/partners and the credibility they’ve built with their audiences

What’s also pretty amazing is that a lot of these GTM creators have huge devoted audiences, but there’s actually not a ton of overlap between their readers.

Everyone speaks to their own community and has a natural niche. No two people are exactly the same—we don’t want to fatigue audiences so our creators and I have ongoing conversations around protecting their people from that.

B2B Companies That Inspire

Jared: What companies out there are you getting inspiration from? And the question I said last time is, good artists borrow. Great artists steal. Who are you borrowing or stealing plays from that you really love and want to shout out?

Rebecca: I always get inspiration from Airbnb, but let’s focus on some of the B2B companies that I’m super proud to share a vision with in terms of intelligent GTM, and the role and importance of signals as the new standard in how to go-to-market intelligently, folks like: Warmly, Champify, Koala, Cabal, Discourse, Gradual, Aligned, Hightouch, Toplyne, Bevy, Discourse, DEV…so many!

I was also extremely inspired by Clay from your issue of the Collab last week! And then there’s the OG’s we can always learn from, like Asana and Salesforce—their communities and ambassador programs pretty much set the bar for peer-to-peer learning and growth, and I think today’s Creator programs borrow (or steal!) a lot from their playbooks.

The post RevGenius & The Collab: Common Room’s GTM Creator Playbook appeared first on RevGenius.

We’ve just dropped the list of the Next 50 Creators — you can check it out here.

Next is RevGenius’ curated list of emerging creators in SaaS Go-to-Market.

Inspired by redundancy, lack of diversity and connection to the masses  in the demand-generation-hopeful lists created by SaaS brands, RevGenius went out to create something different. Something that featured the ‘Next’ top talent in SaaS GTM.

‘Next 50 Creators’ is the first release and unveils on Feb 21, 2024. Following that, RevGenius will be creating the Next 50 Startups list featuring the ability to vote for who makes the list. Again, this pushes against the ‘pay to play’ norms that SaaS companies traditionally have to do to get exposure and leans on the people to lift the brands they support.

RevGenius is a brand dedicated to a new generation of GTM pioneers. Our mission is create trusted spaces for curious revenue leaders who are collaborating on the future of b2b GTM.  Always ahead of the curve, RevGenius is dedicated to discovering what’s next.

Vote for your fav RevTech brands here! 

The post RevGenius Announces Next 50 Creators List, Featuring Emerging Creators in SaaS GTM appeared first on RevGenius.

Monica’s a pro with over 13 years in tech, shaping community teams at Canva, Yelp, and Pexels. She’s all about making global community programs that not only engage but also drive growth.

Daniel a marketing expert, leading the community team at Apollo. Before, he was at Chili Piper, ramping up their brand through events, content, video, social media, and more. His “Mechanism to amplify our everything” snagged 1-3 million organic impressions monthly – talk about impact!

They recently sat down with RevGenius CEO Jared Robin, and the audience loved it! If you’re curious, you can dive into the full conversation here. 

But if you’re short on time, check out the quick recap.

Building a Community with Impact

Daniel brings Apollo’s unique approach in nurturing the community that not only boosts brand awareness but also defines it. By curating a space for free knowledge exchange, Apollo has created a loyal base of advocates organically promoting the brand.

Monica highlights Canva’s decentralized community strategy, bridging connections across diverse platforms. By focusing on continual value-addition for users, Canva’s built a community based on genuine interaction rather than just transactions, separating support from direct money talks.

Community as a Growth Engine

Monica talked about Canva’s decentralized approach to fostering a community, aiming to turn brand love into a powerful flywheel of awareness, loyalty, and advocacy. This, in turn, generates leads and revenue almost organically, proving the power of genuine community support.

The Value of Advocacy and Relationship Building

Relationships are everything in the community-centric culture of both Apollo and Canva. Monica outlines how Canva’s advocacy programs transform casual users into product champions, supporting end-to-end user growth – from awareness and loyalty to advocacy. 

We’re actively trying to grow our network of advocates. So when we look at our community flywheel, we have awareness, loyalty and advocacy. And each one fuels the next one. 

Similarly, Daniel explains how engaging with advocates across digital spaces solidifies Apollo’s brand narrative, turning endorsements into content that continue to persuade and engage.

Where does the community live? It’s kind of everywhere.

Dan continues: We do have our own Slack group with about 2000 members. That’s for account executives that want to be better about sales and using Apollo. But I’d say a lot of the juiciest community stuff happens on LinkedIn.

Community Success Metrics and Strategies at Canva and Apollo

Dan’s focus on key performance indicators like user-generated content, web traffic, and reduced customer service inquiries shows how to quantify community success. Meanwhile, Monica discusses Canva’s goal of ensuring international coverage through connecting with a global audience in their language and context. The main metric is the growth of Monthly Active Users. 

We focus so much of our efforts on the MAU metric and not on the revenue metric. But, even with the MAU, when you’ve got 170,000,000 people using the product every month, it’s very challenging to say this effort led to this one little thing that we are trying.

Executive Engagement and Visibility

Stressing the significance of executive involvement, Daniel shares how executive presence within community initiatives amplifies brand authenticity and drives awareness. Apollo’s strategic inclusion of executives in community dialogues not only humanizes the brand but also reinforces trust and credibility.

2024 Community Success at Canva?

“Success to me in 2024 is feeling like we’ve become a truly local product across all of our priority markets, and that we’re properly servicing our users. In 2024, we want to be doubling down on our content creators and specifically ensuring that we’re supporting all of the audiences that we speak to today.”

Cool facts:

• Canva utilizes an advocacy program that includes roles like “experts” and “canvassadors,” where users actively advocate for the product, helping to create “aha” moments for new users.
• Despite the complexity of tracking social media impact, a single post by a community member on LinkedIn was able to drive substantial web traffic and pipeline growth for Apollo, showcasing the power of individual contributions to brand success.

Our fav quotes:

“Community is the swath of different use cases that we nurture and make sure that we’re speaking to the folks in a way that we can advance the product to suit their needs. And for us, it’s very much like word of mouth marketing at its finest. 

The power of the community

“The community has largely propelled Canva’s impressive growth over the last ten plus years that the product has been out.” (Monica)

The definition of the “community” 

“Community is a space where people who aren’t explicitly paid to do so freely exchange knowledge and information.Community is something that you don’t control, but you can kind of guide and you can be there and support people” (Dan)

“Community is the swath of different use cases that we nurture and make sure that we’re speaking to the folks in a way that we can advance the product to suit their needs. And for us, it’s very much like word of mouth marketing at its finest.” (Monica) 

On the role of the modern community manager

“The modern community manager is just to ensure that those people are heard, are listened to, feel valued, and then learn as much as possible from them.” (Dan)

Here are some resources to learn more about the community: our Community 101 Guide and the RevCon session with community leaders from Calendly, Common Room, Gartner Peer Community and HubSpot. Also, make sure to check out our upcoming events on all-things-GTM!

The post Community Power: Apollo and Canva’s Winning Strategies appeared first on RevGenius.

We’re witnessing this first-hand: the B2B industry is turning its eyes on communities and big names like Figma, Atlassian or Notion have successfully implemented community-led growth models.   

In this 101 guide, we’ll explore the foundations of building and sustaining communities. Treat it as your go-to-cheatsheet. Let’s go! 

Community: Getting started with a bang

A long-sustaining community requires a strong foundation.

Defining Your Purpose and Goals

Before embarking on creating or participating in a community, clearly understanding your purpose and goals is crucial. Your objectives will serve as the foundation upon which the community is built. Here’s why this step is vital:

• Alignment

Ensure that the community’s purpose aligns with your goals. If you want to network and share professional insights, make this a foundation of your community project. 

• Focus 

Clearly defined objectives help in maintaining focus and direction. This prevents the community from becoming a hodgepodge of unrelated topics and ensures members know what to expect. 

• Measurable Success 

Having specific goals allows you to measure the success of your community. For instance, if your objective is to offer support, you can measure success by tracking the number of members helped.

Selecting the Right Platform

The choice of platform plays a significant role in the success and sustainability of your community. Here are considerations when selecting a platform:

• Nature of Community 

The platform should align with the nature of your community. For example, a professional network might thrive on LinkedIn, while a hobbyist group could work well on a specialized forum.

• Accessibility

Ensure that the platform is accessible to your target audience. Consider factors like geographical reach, language, and device compatibility.

• Scalability

Choose a platform that can accommodate your community’s growth. You want to avoid outgrowing the platform and facing migration issues later.

• Features

Evaluate the available features. Different platforms offer various tools like discussion boards, chat functionality, event management, and analytics. Pick the ones that best suit your community’s needs.

But then remember – community is “everywhere your members are”

Community transcends platform. What I mean by this is community doesn’t just live in a private Slack or Discord. Community is everywhere your members are. 

(if you want to learn more about building communities in the B2B space, subscribe to Jared Robin’s newsletter here.)

Building a welcoming and inclusive environment

Creating a culture of inclusivity and respect is fundamental to the success of any community. 

Here’s why it matters:

• Safety 

Setting clear guidelines and expectations for member behavior ensures that the community remains safe for all participants. This promotes healthy interactions and minimizes the risk of harassment or toxicity.

• Engagement 

A welcoming environment encourages members to participate and contribute actively. When members feel valued and respected, they are more likely to share their knowledge and insights.

• Longevity 

Communities that foster inclusivity and open communication tend to be more sustainable. Members are more likely to stick around and continue contributing when they feel a sense of belonging.

• Diverse Perspectives

Inclusive communities attract a diverse range of participants, which can lead to a richer exchange of ideas and perspectives. This diversity can benefit your community’s goals and objectives.

Provide Value to Members

To provide value to your community members, consider offering:

• Expert Interviews 

Arrange interviews or Q&A sessions with industry experts or thought leaders to share valuable insights and knowledge.

• Exclusive Content

Share content that is not available elsewhere, such as in-depth reports, whitepapers, or exclusive articles. Curation in every sense of the word is at the key of the community. 

• Educational Materials 

Provide resources like webinars, workshops, or courses that help members enhance their skills or knowledge.

• Networking Opportunities 

Facilitate connections within the community by organizing networking events, virtual meetups, or conferences.

• Something extra 

Get creative. Hybrid events, unique experiences merging digital & IRL, unexpected collaborations. 

Encourage Member Contribution

Empower members to actively participate by:

• Asking Questions 

Encourage members to ask questions, seek advice, and share their challenges within the community.

• Sharing Experiences 

Encourage members to share their success stories, case studies, or lessons learned.

• Offering Solutions

Promote the sharing of solutions to common problems, which can benefit others facing similar challenges.

• Recognition

Highlight and celebrate member contributions through features like member spotlights, awards, or public acknowledgments.

Foster Networking and Relationships:

Build connections among members by:

• Networking Events

Organize virtual or in-person networking events, mixers, or meet-and-greets to facilitate introductions.

• Mentorship Programs: 

Create mentorship opportunities within your community, pairing experienced members with newcomers.

• Peer-to-Peer Introductions: 

Encourage members to introduce each other based on shared interests or goals.

Listen Actively to Feedback

Prioritize member feedback by:

• Feedback Channels: 

Create channels for members to submit suggestions, report issues, or provide feedback.

• Response and Action: 

Acknowledge feedback promptly and, when possible, implement changes or improvements based on member input.

Implement Data Analytics

Use data analytics to:

• Track Engagement: 

Monitor community engagement metrics, such as member activity, discussion participation, and content popularity.

• Member Growth: 

Analyze member growth trends and demographics to understand your audience better.

• Measure Success: 

Assess the impact of your community initiatives and use data to make informed decisions on strategy adjustments.

• Look at the data from different angles

Treat data as the starting point to tell a bigger story. Get granular to see trends and track sentiment. 

In 2024 and beyond, community pros who embrace creativity, accessibility, measurement, and partnerships will gain influence. We forge progress through customer empathy and strategic vision.

Read more about 2024 Communtiy trends in Chris Detzel’ s article: Unlocking Community’s Potential: Trends for 2024 and Beyond

Promote Transparency

Foster trust and reduce uncertainty by:

• Communication: 

Clearly communicate community decisions, policy changes, and upcoming events or initiatives.

• Open Discussions: 

Encourage open discussions within the community about important topics or changes.

Diversify Content and Activities

Keep the community dynamic by offering:

• Webinars: 

Host webinars on relevant topics featuring guest speakers or experts.

• AMAs (Ask Me Anything): 

Arrange Q&A sessions with community leaders, industry professionals, or notable figures.

• Challenges: 

Create challenges or contests that encourage member participation and creativity.

• Polls and Surveys: 

Gather member opinions and insights on community-related matters.

Recognize and Reward Contributions

Acknowledge and reward active contributors with:

• Badges and Recognition: 

Assign badges or titles to members who consistently contribute or reach certain milestones.

• Featured Spotlights: 

Highlight outstanding member contributions through featured content or profiles.

• Tangible Rewards: 

Offer tangible rewards such as discounts, exclusive access, or physical merchandise for exceptional contributions.

Maintain a Long-Term Perspective

Understand that building a thriving community takes time, and be committed to:

• Consistent Efforts: 

Continuously nurture and grow the community over the long term.

• Adaptation: 

Adjust strategies and activities as the community evolves to meet changing needs.

Evaluate and Iterate

Regularly assess community performance by:

• Feedback Analysis: 

Review feedback from members and identify areas for improvement.

• Metrics Review: 

Analyze engagement and growth metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your strategies.

• Adjustment: 

Make improvements and adjustments to your community strategies based on the insights gained from the evaluation.

Stay Authentic and Human-Centric

Foster a sense of belonging and trust by:

• Authentic Interactions: 

Be genuine and approachable in your interactions with community members.

• Empathy: 

Show empathy and understanding toward members’ challenges and experiences.

Scale Responsibly

If your community experiences rapid growth:

• Resource Allocation: 

Ensure you have the necessary resources to maintain quality and integrity, including moderators and technical infrastructure.

• Community Guidelines: 

Update guidelines and processes to accommodate a larger and more diverse member base.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Be aware of and adhere to legal and ethical responsibilities, such as:

• Data Privacy: 

Ensure compliance with data protection regulations and handle member data securely.

• Platform Rules: 

Abide by the rules and terms of service of the platform hosting your community.

By implementing these practices, you can create a vibrant, engaged, and sustainable community that provides true value to its members. If you have any questions about building communities and including them in your marketing plan, get in touch. 

The post Community 101: Guide to Building, Nurturing, and Sustaining Community appeared first on RevGenius.

Brands that recognize the potential of cultivating vibrant and engaged communities around their products or services can unlock increased customer loyalty and advocacy, invaluable feedback loops and insights. 

However, embarking on this journey requires careful consideration and strategic planning. In this article we’ve gathered insights from our inspiring conversation with Jared Robin, Co-Founder of RevGenius, Jillian Bejtlich, Community Lead at Calendly and Rebecca Marshburn, Head of Community at Common Room.  

You can watch their webinar here. 

Dive in to uncover the transformative impact that communities can have on your brand’s success and the steps necessary to harness their full potential. (And if you’re interested in the story of Syncari, who generated $1M in the pipeline with the community, check it out here). 

Key Takeaways: 

1. Understanding the role of communities as a powerful driver of business growth. 
2. When is the right moment to engage? 
3. Successful examples of companies that effectively integrate communities across the customer journey. 
4. Does the community contribute to revenue?

Debunking the Myths about Building Community 

Myth #1: “Communities are self-sustaining”

Many hold the misconception that once a community gains momentum, it will effortlessly maintain its vitality. While it’s true that flourishing communities exhibit members who actively engage and support one another, the notion that such communities can simply run on autopilot is far from accurate. A sustained and vibrant community necessitates ongoing effort and commitment.

Healthy communities comprise diverse members who collaboratively address challenges, offering mutual assistance and guidance. Yet, for a community to continuously deliver value, it requires dedicated individuals who steer its course, comprehend its members’ evolving needs, and assess its strategies’ effectiveness.

Consider aspects like the channel and content types, the benefits extended to members, and the methods employed for fostering connections. Without a vigilant host or moderator overseeing these facets, the community’s survival and growth prospects become grim.

It’s easy to assume that establishing a community is a “set it and forget it” affair, but this couldn’t be further from reality.

A successful community thrives on consistent attention, adaptation, and facilitation. 

Without proactive management, even the most promising community can wither away.

Myth #2: “We don’t need any community team” 

This misconception undermines the importance of having a dedicated community team within an online or offline community. While it’s true that users can provide valuable peer-to-peer support and engage in helping each other with challenges, this does not negate the necessity of maintaining a core community team. It serves various essential functions that users cannot fulfill alone. They act as the backbone of the community, ensuring its stability, growth, and positive atmosphere.

Firstly, a community team provides consistency and organization. 

They establish and enforce community guidelines, maintain order, and ensure discussions stay on-topic. This consistency is vital for preventing chaos within the community and maintaining a welcoming environment. 

Secondly, a main community team often includes experts or individuals with deep knowledge of the community’s subject matter or the products/services it revolves around. This expertise is invaluable for offering accurate information, addressing complex queries, and guiding users effectively. 

Users may not always possess the same level of knowledge, making the community team indispensable for specialized support. While user interactions are crucial for community engagement, having a dedicated community team complements these interactions and ensures the community remains healthy, organized, and reliable. Therefore, dissolving the community team would harm the community’s overall well-being and effectiveness.

Myth #3: “I can “do” community and work on other things too”

It is a misconception that underestimates the depth and complexity of community management. Building and maintaining a thriving community requires dedicated effort and a genuine intention to improve it continuously, making it challenging to relegate to a secondary role.

Managing a community demands full-time attention. Effective community management involves moderating discussions and resolving conflicts, actively engaging with members, organizing events, and ensuring the community adheres to its guidelines. This level of commitment ensures that the community remains active, vibrant, and responsive to the needs of its members.

Secondly, the intention to improve is at the core of successful community building. A full-time community manager can invest their time in understanding the evolving needs and expectations of the community, gathering feedback, and implementing strategies for enhancement. They can stay abreast of industry trends and best practices, fostering an environment that remains relevant and valuable to its members.

Understanding the role of communities 

Communities are potent business growth drivers. 

When businesses cultivate vibrant communities, they create spaces where customers, users, or stakeholders can connect with the brand on a deeper level. These connections often increase customer retention, word-of-mouth referrals, and positive brand advocacy. As a result, businesses can experience organic growth as satisfied community members become loyal customers and advocates, driving revenue growth without the need for extensive marketing expenditures.

Community is a product in itself. 

It underscores the idea that a well-managed and thriving community can be as valuable as any tangible product or service. Just like a product is designed, developed, and refined to meet specific needs and provide a positive user experience, a community requires thoughtful curation, active engagement, and continuous improvement to create a valuable and meaningful space for its members. 

A thriving community not only fosters connections and interactions but also offers its members a sense of belonging, support, and shared purpose, making it an essential “product” for those seeking information or solutions, human connection, and a sense of community identity.

Communities provide businesses with valuable insights and feedback. 

Organizations can gather direct feedback on their products, services, and brand perception by actively participating in community discussions and monitoring member interactions. This real-time feedback loop allows for agile adjustments, improvements, and innovation, ultimately enhancing the quality of products and services. (More on field-testing messaging with the community here). 

Communities also serve as a source of new ideas and collaborations, driving innovation and diversification of offerings, which can lead to expanded market opportunities and sustainable business growth.

When Is the Right Moment to Engage?

The right moment to engage in building a community within a business context often arises when an organization recognizes several key factors:

Sustainability and Growth 

When a business aims to maintain excellence and continue progressing without incurring substantial ongoing costs, it indicates that a community may be beneficial. Communities can provide a cost-effective means of engaging with customers, partners, or stakeholders on a broader scale. Instead of relying solely on one-on-one interactions, a community allows businesses to interact “one to many,” making it an efficient way to maintain and scale their efforts.

Customer-Centric Approach 

Companies prioritizing a customer-centric approach often find that community building aligns with their goals. Engaging with customers in a community fosters stronger relationships, encourages loyalty, and provides valuable insights into customer needs and preferences. Recognizing that a community can enhance the customer experience can prompt an organization to build one.

Value Beyond Transactions 

A community becomes a strategic option when a business realizes it can provide value to its audience beyond the core product or service. Communities offer a platform for sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration, and creating a sense of belonging. This value extends beyond transactional interactions and can significantly enhance the brand’s reputation and impact.

Market Trends and Competition 

Monitoring industry trends and observing competitors successfully engaging with communities can also be a catalyst. When a business sees others reaping community-building benefits, it may prompt them to explore similar strategies to remain competitive and innovative.

How Does the Community Contribute To Your Revenue Generation?

Communities play a crucial role in revenue generation by serving as the initial touchpoint with potential customers or prospects. While they may not directly generate revenue, they often act as a fertile ground for cultivating leads and building relationships. 

Within a well-managed community, businesses can interact with individuals who share an interest in their products or services. These interactions provide an opportunity to educate, inform, and build trust with prospects. As businesses engage with community members and provide valuable insights, they can position themselves as trusted authorities in their industry, which can significantly influence a prospect’s decision-making process.

Furthermore, communities can indirectly generate revenue by facilitating referrals and word-of-mouth marketing. Satisfied community members are more likely to recommend a product or service to others within the community and their broader networks. This organic, peer-driven promotion can attract new customers, contributing directly to revenue growth. 

Additionally, communities can provide a platform for businesses to share announcements, promotions, and exclusive offers with a highly engaged audience, leading to increased sales and conversions. In this way, while communities may not be a direct source of revenue, they are a strategic tool for nurturing leads, building brand reputation, and indirectly influencing revenue generation.

Companies That Effectively Integrate Communities

Here are examples of companies that have successfully integrated communities into their customer journey:

Figma 

Figma, a cloud-based design collaboration tool, has seamlessly integrated its community into the customer journey. They’ve created an active online forum where designers and users can share their work, seek advice, and collaborate. This community offers valuable resources and insights and serves as a platform for Figma to gather user feedback, understand user needs, and prioritize product development. By engaging with its user community, Figma has built a loyal customer base that actively contributes to product improvement and spreads the word about the platform, ultimately driving growth and retention.

Asana 

Asana, a leading project management and productivity tool, has built a strong community of users and advocates. They offer a variety of resources, including a community forum, webinars, and educational content, to help users maximize their use of the platform. Asana’s community provides a space for users to share best practices, troubleshoot issues, and connect with like-minded professionals. Asana enhances user satisfaction and loyalty by fostering this sense of belonging and knowledge sharing. The community also provides valuable feedback, enabling Asana to refine its product offerings to meet user needs better.

Notion 

Notion, a versatile productivity and note-taking tool, has effectively integrated its community into the customer journey. They offer a vibrant online forum where users can exchange ideas, templates, and tips for using Notion to its fullest potential. Notion’s community has become a valuable resource for new and experienced users, creating a sense of camaraderie and support. Through user engagement and feedback collected within the community, Notion has iteratively improved its product, addressing user pain points and introducing features that enhance productivity. This customer-centric approach has helped Notion achieve strong customer retention and advocacy.

Building Bonds: Community-Led Path to Brand Brilliance

Treating your community as a product means understanding that it, too, requires continuous improvement and innovation to thrive and endure. As you invest in adding new features and enhancements to your core product, you should apply the same dedication to your community. The vitality of your community relies on your ability to keep community members engaged and motivated, just as you aim to satisfy customers with improved product experiences.

To build a thriving and persisting community, consider three fundamental principles:

• Be Agile

 Embrace the ability to adapt and change swiftly. Communities, like products, evolve, and being agile allows you to respond promptly to changing member needs, emerging trends, and unforeseen challenges. An agile approach ensures your community remains relevant and appealing.

• Be Adaptable

Recognize that not all strategies or initiatives will yield the same results. Be open to adapting your community-building tactics based on member feedback and evolving goals. Adapting to the changing landscape of your community ensures its longevity and continued growth.

• Be Approachable

 Foster an environment where community members feel heard and valued. Encourage open communication, actively seek member input, and be responsive to their needs. Approachability builds trust and strengthens the sense of belonging within your community, making it more likely to persist and flourish.

Incorporating these principles into your community-building strategy will help you create a thriving community and position your brand for sustained success in the era of community-led growth. Remember, just like your product, your community is a dynamic entity that can evolve, expand, and flourish with the right approach and commitment.

The post Is Your Brand Ready For Community-Led Growth? appeared first on RevGenius.

“What belongs to you today, belonged to someone else yesterday and will be someone else’s tomorrow.”

Bhagavad Gita

It was over a month ago Jared and I started contemplating community. With so many communities and everyone jumping on the community bandwagon, what is the true essence of community? Is it just another GTM strategy that is a vehicle for customer acquisition and retention, or is it more? 

Well, to answer this question, we looked at the root of community. Not a community in its current avatar but anthropological communities. 

Anthropological Communities 

Many anthropologists have conceptualized community and how we could identify one. There is widespread agreement that there are three phrases that can be used: 

• shared interests between people
• common ecology
• common social structures 

In essence, communities are generally a social practice that gives individuals a sense of belonging, of “having found our tribe”. How does this translate to the boom in online communities today? Especially in SaaS? 

Jared and I believed we landed on a pretty good concept. And I set about detailing what it was. 

Society Today 

I wrote and rewrote this article a few times. I scrapped it each time because I felt it was missing something. It was strategic and tactically tied to the right levers, but it missed something.

Today I realized what it was and was reminded of something I read a long time ago – “What’s good for society is good for you, and what’s not good for society will never be good for you”. 

What does that have to do with the community? Before I answer, let’s take a look at what’s happening in society today. 

There is widespread poverty, war, corruption, child abuse, discrimination, disinformation, climate change, homelessness, lack of affordable health care, and I can keep going on. 

We have romanticized these issues. 

• Poverty is romanticized. We often speak of brave individuals are how much grit they have to have “fought” poverty and achieved something.
• We talk about resilience when people battle inequality and “break that glass ceiling”. 
• We speak of how “this too shall pass” when people are laid off and tell them to stay strong. 

My point is no one should have to. It’s not romantic to be poor or not know where your next meal comes from.  I know this: I have lived this. We should be discussing why we have allowed ourselves to create this society? In this society, child abuse, rape, homelessness, poverty, inequality not only exists but is accepted. 

Collective Good Over Individualism

A powerful few have chosen individualism over collective good, and the society we see today is a direct cause of this. The rest of us are the majority; why do we remain silent? Because we are governed by fear. Fear of losing our livelihoods, our way of life, our creature comforts to make any real difference in the world. And that’s how we have designed this society. 

This is the society we are going to leave for our children. Let’s pause and think about that for a minute. THIS IS THE SOCIETY WE ARE LEAVING FOR OUR CHILDREN. Our children get a dying planet and a crumbling society that has been designed to support the very few. 

How is this ok? This is not ok! Isn’t it time we change that? But how? 

Jared and I have been chatting in some depth about the concept of collaborative growth.  

And we believe we have a blueprint that will support collaborative growth. 

Collaborative Growth 

Before we dive deeper and share our thoughts on collaborative growth, let’s do a reality check, shall we? We recognize that collaboration is not really a new term. It has been bastardized and misused for decades. A word that is often associated with teamwork and leadership. 

But the essence of collaboration is something far greater and innately embedded in the animal kingdom.  Collaboration is a word that conveys vision, purpose, and unity. 

Collaboration results in a gain for all parties involved. 

Collaboration is not leveraging people for individualistic gain alone.

And now, typing it all back. We started with the community. The meaning of community and what it needs to stand for. 

Community HAS TO BE about collaboration and collaborative growth. It has to be about the common good rather than individualism. It has to be about building longer tables not taller walls. 

You are probably like this sounds like yet another romantic notion and yes you may be right to think so. 

But none of us can grow in isolation anymore. Companies, individuals, products, and solopreneurs can’t grow in isolation. There is no growth in isolation. Instead of creating abundance for everyone, we are harvesting what is already there. Most communities have become about a brand, company, or individual putting out content about themselves (or the problem they solve). 

They do not uphold the true spirit of community. We all know this, that is why we belong to so many of them. Because we are all still searching for that North Star. That one community that will make us feel like we belong. That will make us feel safe and supported. 

It’s time humans went back to their roots. We are social beings — collaborative growth fosters this at the deepest levels.

This is what community actually is at its core.

Imagine a community that: 

• Is Impact-Driven
• Has a Shared Purpose
• Leads to Sustainability
• Is Regenerative
• Helps you skill, up skill and deskill
• Promotes collaborative learning

Join The Movement 

Change is the only constant in this world. Regardless of your geo-political and socio-economic views, we can all agree that humanity is at a tipping point. Society as we know it needs to be redesigned. The current societal structures are not working. Isn’t it time we did something about it? Isn’t it time we started tapping into our superpower. Isn’t it time we all came together for the common good? When faced with a common enemy, we humans have always come together. We have always collaborated. The enemy today is faceless, but it exists. 

Over the next few weeks, we will be diving deeper into every aspect of collaborative growth: 

• The Collaborative Growth Manifesto 
• Collaborative growth flywheel framework given to company & individuals
• Leveraging Collaborative Growth for acquisition & retention
• Leveraging Collaborative Growth for GTM Strategy and Motions
• Collaborative Growth for Creators
• Collaborative Growth for Influencers
• Collaborative Growth for Content Marketing
• Collaborative Growth for Customer Experience
• Collaborative Growth for Employee Experience
• Generative AI and Collaborative Growth

And much more…

Yes, collaborative growth is a romantic notion, but it’s also much more than that. It’s a call to arms. Join us.

The post An Impact-Driven Conversation — It’s Time for the Next Evolution of Community appeared first on RevGenius.

The excitement I’ve had launching RevRoom mimicked the excitement from RevGenius. 

It feels like we are solving a major challenge that so many GTM leaders are experiencing.

When we started RevGenius three years ago, we responded to the need to create an inclusive, no-cost community for all revenue professionals. A place where both an SDR and CRO could be in the same room. This hadn’t really been done before.

I believe we grew so quickly and found product market fit because the space was looking for this.

Along the way, I realized some senior leaders were less active than they once were. I figured it was because our programming needed improvement or their needs were being met elsewhere.

Still, we’d grown to 35,000+ members and had some great success.

At the turn of the year, many Senior Leaders of the community came to me expressing that they wanted a new, more intimate, and vetted space and weren’t really getting it from anywhere else. 

It shocked me. But it also excited me because we were to build something new to respond to our community’s needs.  

Enter RevRoom.

First, we wanted to make sure that RevRoom was an exclusive space. We recognized the value of inclusivity within RevGenius, which is beautiful in itself. But we also understood the importance of providing a safe and tailored environment specifically for senior leaders. So curating the RevRoom group exclusively for VPs and C-Suite executives became a critical focus for us.

Looking back at some of the challenges with RevGenius focusing primarily on users’ growth at the early stage, how could we prevent that from happening with RevRoom?

• We decided to limit the cohort to 150 members (tops) to safeguard that.  
• We integrated via Slack Connect to reduce noise and to allow access to the community from members’ company Slacks (vs. needing their 25th Slack channel). As a result, there are not dozens of channels but just one or two core ones.
• Finally, we’ve decided to roll out five pillars to provide members qith a more unique and structured experience. 

Five Pillars of RevRoom

• Core Groups

These groups of 8 meet monthly to discuss their biggest challenges in a private setting.  

• Virtual Community

Our Slack is unique because of the 150 people/ channel (‘room’) and weekly roundtable discussions in an intimate setting. Our promise? We’ll keep cohorts at 150. 

• Live Gatherings

The in-person community where we’re rolling out dinners and retreats. 

• Expert-Led Insight Sessions

Learning series, where we will feature some of the world’s best speakers and subject matter experts, talking about the topics our members ask for.

• Member Benefits

We are introducing B2C-like perks and experiences (think hotel discounts, etc.) to meet our members’ lifestyle needs.

Collaborating on the Future of B2B GTM

The goal is to create a unique and intimate, community-led experience from the go.

We want to grow thoughtfully. We want to grow together and deliver on our promise to make RevRoom the trusted space for revenue leaders.

Here are a few of the go-to-market VPs and C-level executives that make up our community today:

Christina Brady (SVP Sales, Spekit), Sid Kumar (SVP RevOps, Hubspot), Jenn Steele (CEO, Kissmetrics), Adam Jay (CRO, Falkon), Gemma Cipriani-Espineira (Founder, CS Angels), Mary Poppen (CCO, involve.ai), Paul Rosen (CRO, ShipBob), Mollie Bodensteiner (Head of Global RevOps, Deel), Mark Kilens (CMO, Airmeet), Shannon Curran (VP Marketing, MadKudu), Scott Sutton (CBO, ZoomInfo) and many others from Series A high-growth startups to public companies.  

They’re talking about big, audacious GTM challenges, along with personal ones.

The leaders in RevRoom are some of the most forward-thinking executives in the space and they’re reimagining the future of GTM. 

They also strongly believe in this community-led movement, agreeing to ‘give more than they receive’ as our first value of RevRoom.

This space has been curated and created for members who need it in their professional journeys. And I’m excited because the need is real. And the time is now.

The mission for RevGenius and RevRoom is to create trusted spaces where curious revenue leaders are collaborating on the future of B2B GTM.

It’s lonely out there; we get it. Enter RevRoom.

The post Introducing RevRoom: A Curated Trusted Space for Senior Revenue Leaders appeared first on RevGenius.

• GTM Community –  focused on marketing & sales 
• RevOps Community – focused on operations professionals
• Customer Success Community – focused on both CS & Account Management

Our revised mission is to create trusted spaces for curious revenue professionals who are collaborating on the future of B2B GTM, so RevGenius represents that full GTM structure.

Why is change needed?

When we started RevGenius back in June of 2020, we prioritized growing our membership as quickly as possible.

We pushed to increase the number of new members, growing at an incredible pace: adding 1,000 new members month over month, then 2,000, then 3,000. It was exciting.

The buzz around the space was palpable and we became the fastest-growing community in revenue. What we didn’t realize was that folks were churning (becoming inactive) as quickly as we were acquiring them and that we didn’t have a good activation or retention plan in place.

We picked the wrong north star metrics, and with community tooling for measuring engagement being so nascent, it was hard for us to figure out exactly where we needed to improve.

So we asked the community.

We realized that this growth wasn’t sustainable. Slack became too noisy, and I was getting feedback that folks didn’t know what to do in RevGenius, or how to get the most value out of it. 

A change needed to be made. 

Following that “Aha” moment, I brought on an old friend, Jason Hubbard, as COO to help guide the ship. The last eight months have been incredible.

We’re diving to fix the challenges we’ve identified. 

We’re understanding and figuring out what healthy activation and engagement look like. And how best to test ideas to positively impact that.

We’re rolling out tooling that delves deeper into member activity and retention. By honing in on the specifics of who is actively participating and who is not being retained, we are positioned to provide more enriching experiences for our members. 

We’re still acquiring new members, but we’re doing it with the intention to bring them value as quickly as possible and have a significant impact on their careers. 

We rolled out RevRoom — a community for senior revenue leaders collaborating on the future of B2B. Seeing executive leaders who were the most sensitive to the noise in RevGenius, we created a space for them first — allowing the cohorts of only 150 and protecting against that being too big.

Simplifying, adding more value, and creating less noise. 

Taking those learnings from building RevRoom for the past couple of months, we looked back to the main RevGenius community and asked ourselves:  ‘How can we make this even better?’

RevGenius 2.0: The Launch of Micro Communities  

We have 36,000 members in the RevGenius Slack. 

Reimagining the space to increase engagement and add value but not make it cumbersome and noisy at the same time is what we’re addressing head on. 

We decided to niche down the dozens of channels into three primary micro-communities within the RevGenius Slack. A focus on members’ functions is driving the split.

So the output of that was:

• To create one community for the front-of-house GTM, which will combine sales and marketing — while we’ve seen plenty of sales and marketing-specific communities, we haven’t seen many that would connect them. 

In 2023, alignment is more critical than ever. Efficiency and effective growth win — so we’re bringing them together. 

• We’re also creating a more close-knit RevOps community, which has always been a cornerstone of RevGenius.
• And adding one around NRR that groups Customer Success & Account Management in one space.

Within these communities, we are creating a more intimate experience through weekly roundtable discussions, emphasis on comment threads for collaboration (instead of separate channels), and getting members more involved in hosting their discussions.

Rolling out programs to match members for meetups is another way we’ll build a tight-knit community.

We’re getting more member-centric than ever before.

What’s the value we hope to drive?

• Seamless member experience

We’re able to better greet members that come into RevGenius and guide them to one of these micro communities so that they can get value and have that “aha” moment immediately. 

• Micro approach

I’m personally onboarding everybody into RevGenius and RevRoom because I want to give everybody that micro community one-to-one feeling. I wanna help them as soon as possible from when they sign up. 

• Focus on leadership

We are looking at seniority when folks come in to guide them either to our paid RevRoom community, which now has five distinct pillars, or to a private leadership channel in the main Slack so they can be with other leaders solving strategic challenges for their orgs faster and get more instant value out of the space. 

Community-Led GTM

Our focus has never been higher on our members. 

Our KPIs and North Star metrics have been recalibrated to better focus on driving value, and we’re looking forward to delivering the experience our members need — right now and in the future.

Join us as we collaborate on the future of B2B Go To Market.

The post New Paradigm For Connection: RevGenius Launches Micro Communities appeared first on RevGenius.

What is your definition of “community”?

Community is the sum total of all interactions that people have about an idea, goal or problem set. And if you use that working definition, community becomes much more than just a forum or a place where your customers go to ask support questions. It’s the sum total of all conversations amongst people who care about the problem that you solve.

There are two kinds of communities that companies participate in:

• Owned Communities — spaces and conversations that you have control over.
• UnOwned Communities — spaces and conversations that are happening about you that you don’t control.

The big community is Community with a capital C. And that’s sometimes called dark social.The little community is your own platform, where you are able to guide and control the narrative. For Gong, this little community is Visioneers. They’ve designed a beautiful experience that combines conversations, content, learning, an academy and resources for all the people who are invested in Gong’s brand. What would be the “big C” community for Gong is the sum of all conversations that are happening abouts sales and the Gong brand across the internet (e.g. inside RevGenius, Pavilion and on LinkedIn etc)

So the community has to be united around a problem and not specifically a product?

Yes, that’s the big idea. The community of people who care about your product is not a community, it’s a support channel.

Why should companies care about building a community?

That depends on the state of the company. For startups, the modern way to launch a business is to produce short-form content first to see what resonates. Then, turn these insights into long-form content and check again. Finally, bring your most engaged readers into a community and use the conversations to define the problems faced by this group and in turn, build a solution that solves them.

This is the new startup playbook: building an engaged audience, turning it into a community and then delivering the solutions that will solve their problems. You’re seeing this being executed in real time by PeerSignal and Keyplay.

It’s the cheapest way to validate your problem before you go to market so that you don’t end up building the wrong product.

For bigger brands, the answer is different. All the traditional demand gen channels are slowing down in ROI. If you look at ROI for ad spend, traditional demand marketing is not working anymore or at least the costs are prohibitive. Most folks these days people buy software because they heard about it on social media or in a private community from somebody they trust.

So a lot of the buying decisions start with word-of-mouth. The big C is the answer for brands because most people who are buying your product heard about it on social media or in a community. And this number is higher than what attribution software is gonna tell you.

Case in point, I run a sister organization to RevGenius, called customereducation.org.  We have only five thousand members. We serve education professionals, people who work in customer enablement and customer training. We have a private, invite-only channel called No Vendor Clubhouse. No vendors allowed. People are posting screenshots of their RFPs and the actual bills they’re getting from vendors. They’re asking: “Hey, I’m paying twelve dollars per seat, per license. How much are you paying?” And someone’s like, “Oh, I’m paying fourteen dollars.”

These conversations are completely private.  And this is how buying decisions are made. But the regular AE has no idea that their champion is bashing them in a private channel with other peers because in order to get access to this channel, you have to be vetted by me.

People are discussing Outreach versus Gong versus Salesloft behind closed doors. So why community? Because it drives a lot of the buying decision and the traditional media channels have a much lower ROI than they did five years ago.

How do companies today use community to grow?

Using community-led motions is at its infancy and there are only a few companies that are doing this well, like: Asana, Slack, Shopify, Gong, Duolingo, Peloton, Notion.

Notion, for example, uses community across three stages: awareness, conversion, and expansion. For awareness, they went city by city,  running small local meetups with few Notion superfans. They gave them swag and said, “Hey, why don’t you start a local chapter?”. These local chapters were responsible for driving awareness of the product. They backed it up with  subreddits and Facebook groups. Thanks to these thousands of people found out about Notion.

When it comes to conversion and activation, Notion found out that people used their product in many different ways. So they had the community create templates, guides, and tutorials. They enabled them and hosted these resources, but they were created by the users and served as great tools for the net new users (plus they made them convert from free to paid).

The most interesting one is their upgraded expansion motion, which is perfect for companies to adopt Notion at the enterprise level. They opened up a community- powered consultant database where people applied to the program, Notion certified them, and now these community members help companies adopt Notion across their organizations. That way, Notion is not building out a services layer. They’re outsourcing that to the community. This way, people make money on Notion and they get more invested in the brand.  And this is similar to what Salesforce has done, back in the day.

We’re now seeing it in PLG companies, which is pretty interesting. Miro has created  Miroverse and the content library, all powered by the community. Except for Trailhead and Drift Insider there’s not much happening in the B2B space though.

Do you think companies can leverage existing communities like RevGenius to have more impact?

One hundred percent.

In my community consulting practice, people come to me wanting to launch a community. I ask them if they’re in one already and if their teams are engaging on an online platform where their ICP hangs out. If the answer was “no” then I’d say: “If you’re not already participating in conversations, you haven’t earned the right to have your own community.”

I can show you my framework on how to build a good community, but being actively involved and actually performing well inside of other people’s communities is the best thing you can do before you start your own.

The first thing companies want to do is to buy a hundred-thousand-dollar platform and hire a community manager. That’s not going to make a real community.  If participating in conversations, writing interesting content and responding to others are not in your DNA, then your community is not going to be successful. Or at least, it will never grow out of the little c, which is about your product and product support.”

What is your framework for creating a community?

I call it the “Rising Sun” model.

You can build a community of the product — focused around a specific thing, physical or software, like Nike Sneakerhead. The main driver is utility and you’re mostly talking to superfans, mainly paying customers. Great examples are: Jeep and Wrangler.  If you have super users in the tens of thousands, like Harley Davidson does, or like Nike sneakers do, then this type of community makes sense.

It’s typically customer support, customer success and the main driver’s utility. The tactical execution involves a forum, support documentation and tools like Slack or Discord.

Then you can build what I call a “community of brand”. This one includes users, partners, your marketing team and free users. Here the main driver is social connection.

And then you have the community of category. Here the main driver’s identity.  Now you are talking to sales professionals, not just Gong users or Gong lovers, for example. The tactics here involve industry awards, conferences and certifications, and the main value add is the sense of belonging.

So depending on your company and your mission, you can choose one of these three types of communities. I can see companies doing all of these but I typically recommend starting from product and expanding.

What are the best practices to build and run a community?

If you want to build a great community program, you should follow the music: M.U.S.I.K.

M is for movement. I think this is especially important for SaaS companies. When you start a community, you have to declare a movement, the reason behind it.  Something you want to achieve or you’re fighting against.  It’s important to declare it upfront.

U is for utility. The main driver here is providing value for your users. There are many tactics you can implement: chat, content, templates, Q&A, a product road map, and resources  libraries.

Then, if you want to create a brand community, you add the social connection layer.  This is where you should consider organizing meetups and peer-to-peer DMs, private channels, coffee introductions, leaderboards, events, executive round tables, service marketplaces. You should enable users to connect with each other, not with your company.

I is for the Identity layer. This is a level-three community. This is where you are establishing yourself as the leader of the identity that you want to create for your users. For Gong, that identity would be data-driven sales professionals. They have the Golden Gong Awards, recognizing the world’s best data-driven sales professionals. You might declare the annual “salesperson day”, during which every salesperson gets a day off, where you are doing things for the identity behind your movement as a whole. This is what elevates you from a level two to a level three community.

And then supporting all of this as a business is the K. You need to know the KPIs of your community. So depending on whether your community reports to marketing or corporate strategy or to customer success, you need to know how your community is driving revenue. That’s the most important thing. That might look like membership engagement, churn, conversion, activation of community members. Reporting this at a company-wide level and an executive level so that your board and your executives are all aligned is something that is your responsibility as a community manager.

So that’s the MUSIK framework: Movement, Utility, Social, Identity, and KPIs.

The post Sumeru Chatterjee on Community-Led Growth appeared first on RevGenius.

When she’s not planning content, she’s repurposing it. When she’s not repurposing content, she’s hanging out with her pup and two favorite redheads. Or she’s trying to coach the Portland Trail Blazers from her couch (unsuccessfully).

I worked with Camille for a little while at a SaaS company, before she went to PeerSignal, where she’s heading a media company. She has some great insights about building community and launching a B2B media company.

You are well known as a content marketer in the SaaS space, but recently you had a LinkedIn post that caused a bit of a stir, where you said you were no longer a SaaS marketer. What’s the story behind it?

When I came to PeerSignal, we didn’t have a SaaS product yet, not even a true community. At that point, it was just a research project that had an audience and resources.There was a site where you could go to learn about B2B sales and marketing. On the site you could look through different databases that we had collected.

So people were choosing their own adventure. It was fairly unstructured and it’s like, ‘hey, we have this interesting data. You can figure out how to use it for prospecting. You can figure out how to use it in creative ways as you can, you know, figure out how many companies are doing community. Or how many companies are doing this and that and what those signals mean for you.’

And then they started expanding it with other things like galleries and other resources for people, like a newsletter.

So that was basically the company I was joining. It was a bit of a gamble.

One of the first things that we wanted to do by November was officially launch the software product. And as part of that, the website. So there was a lot of talk with Adam about the messaging, telling the story of how this came to be. And also patterns of what was happening in the market. And there were two patterns: return to rigor and GTM Excellence. Those are the two things that we wanted to own and have a point of view on.

And from there we started developing our structure. PeerSignal is always going to be the research arm, the community arm, like, the media company, essentially. And then KeyPlay, our SaaS product. So how do we do this in a way that people are not going to worry about the integrity of PeerSignal? Because PeerSignal is still a cool resource. And you know, as soon as something gets attached to a software product that you have to pay for, things can go wrong, you just start mailing it in or you start just using it for your own product benefit.

We wanted these things to be separate. They’re only six of us. But everyone changed their job from being from PeerSignal to working full time at Keyplay, except for me. We wanted to make that distinction.

When we announced it, I said, we’re still gonna preserve this media company. I’m still gonna own this. I’m gonna help out with Keyplay. And, obviously, the two have to fuel each other, There were two parts to it. Me announcing that I was no longer a SaaS marketer, which is true.

In the first month we’d come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t directly attached to revenue. I was attached to building the community, building an audience, all of that.

And then Adam put out the newsletter explaining the relationship between the two, saying, okay, there’s two separate things, but there is a growth loop. And here’s how they play together and how they won’t ruin each other.

So what exactly is PeerSignal? Is it a media company, a community, or a research company?

I think ‘media company’ is just thrown around a lot because it’s the highest umbrella term that you can give something like this. I would say that it is a research media company.

So think about Forrester and Gartner. That’s kind of the level that we want to get to as a media company for B2B SaaS marketers and salespeople, reporting on the things that VP of sales, VP of marketing would care about. We want to speak to that sort of executive level and business strategy level, and really own go to market.

Originally when Adam started this with Andrew, they hadn’t even decided on the product or the market that they wanted to serve. I think Adam wanted to serve early founders as well as the people on the front lines helping them figure out how to sell their product and how to go to market.

So it was really just his own sort of curiosity about what’s working right now. For example, PLG is working. We did a quantitative analysis and asked things like:

• What are the patterns there?
• How many more people are doing this? Is it working?
• What are the big levers that the few companies that are actually growing?
• How can we do those things?
• And how can we share this data with more people?

So, it’s really like a research backed media company.

What is the role of community in your strategy?

We’re thinking about community first. The traditional research companies are gated. They’re, like, pay to play. They have these crazy expensive subscriptions you have to sign up for to get access to their data, that’s usually a little biased.

Whereas, we just want to study this for ourselves. We want other people to have this data. And the benefit to us making a lot of the stuff free is we also just get to grow our community. We believe in the benefit of that enough that we don’t have to monetize the media company part of it.

Later down the line, there might be options for sponsorships, right? But we just are very careful about wanting to do it the right way. Keyplay is the sponsor. There’s that flywheel there — we want to study go-to-market, study sales and marketing, to also make our products better. And it expands that community of people that know about Keyplay, but even if they never buy, never become customers, at least we can become a content brand that then gets recommended because we clearly know what we’re doing and we’re presenting valuable data to the people in that community.

So when you’re talking about community, how do you define community? How is it different from an audience?

We don’t have a true community in the sense that we don’t have a space that we own, that creates two-way conversation. We don’t have a separate Slack that we have people in right now.

We’re leveraging social and creating community there. I think that is the best first step for most people because sometimes SaaS companies or just companies in general tend to be like, we know we need this, so here’s our community, come and join, but haven’t given away free stuff, haven’t built any goodwill. So it’s, like, who are you? Why would I join this thing? I don’t know anyone there. So you have to create goodwill and trust before you can ask someone to join your club.

That’s a little bit more audience building than community building. But we do have a newsletter, which to me is a little bit more of a two-way communication. You’re sending something out and people can reply. There’s a way to do it well, where you ask people for those replies. You make it a conversation, maybe you’re asking a question at the end, you’re clearly wanting feedback.

The other thing that we do there is we always link out the newsletters that we send to our social posts. And the social posts tend to be very open ended, like, what do you guys think? Like, what should we do next?

So I think that creating that loop for several different ways to engage has been the next step up from audience building to community building.

You have to be really active on social media, not necessarily presenting anything ,trying to bring something interesting to the table. Like, here’s a little bit of data based on this, what do you think is gonna happen next? And that’s a very community centric type post.

Another kind of post is, “Hey! We did a bunch more data and here’s a whole forty-page deck of information.” And then you get good engagement that way too because people just appreciate you’re doing that work.

Look for opportunities where people might be asking questions that you can answer. Maybe they have questions on, the best way to identify your ICP or the best way to go to market, or something about PLG, something that we have done a lot of research on and can help with.

The other thing right now is that people are looking for jobs. So we built a couple hiring trackers and shared those. Basically, we are chirping when we have something to say or we have a resource that we can take people to.

So those are the ways that we have borrowed community, if you will. And in that way, I’ve carved out a little bit of a niche, a trust within a part of that community.

Do you think this is kind of a working framework or model for startups to launch? Like, they start with content, they build an audience, then a community, And then from the feedback is when they create the actual solution or product?

Yeah. I definitely think this can work and has worked. There is a different order of operations depending on what type of a community you are.

If you’re a product-led company or a company that has a free version of your product, you might create a different type of community than you would if you had a smaller total addressable market and you only let people buy that product by taking a demo, because you don’t need as big of a community. You don’t have to go for volume. And in those cases, I do think maybe the first step for some of those things is working toward a big event or conference, and maybe you do that through micro events or through in person events and things like that.

But you can get a lot more narrow and niche that way. And typically, there’s only a couple people actually using the product. It may just be RevOps or HR that’s using products like yours.

So if you have multiple people within the org using the product, then you’d want to set up a community where different users can help one another, where they can give each other inspiration on how to use the product. And you have to moderate or CS clarify and provide a structured response to make sure that they’re getting the right response to the questions.

Do you have any plans of going deeper into community or creating something more like a space for people to interact?

I definitely do. It can be hard to get in touch with people one on one, even the ones that you know are power users or power fans—people that are really deep into what we’re doing, they’re on the website a lot and get a lot of value from the resources. So it’d be nice to get the insights from those people, and use that to make the site better, make the experience better, all of that. Like, a customer advisory board of fans.

And then the general larger community. Metadata is doing this. The best are Figma with the PLG angle. And RevGenius. As we develop Keyplay, we’re planning on adding a freemium version, so that might shape what type of community we build first. But from my perspective being more on the PeerSignal side, I think there’s value in just having a PeerSignal community. That’s the goal. As we think of ourselves as this research and community arm.

The other thing is shows. I think usually a big pillar of any community is having some sort of event arm. Events are a two-way communication channel that acts as the stepping stone to an owned community.

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