From Connections to Conversions! A Step-by-Step Guide for B2B Community-led Growth
Let’s face it, in a world where chatbots can replace conversations and algorithms tell us what we want, it may seem old-fashioned to lean on human interaction as a marketing tactic. But beyond the network of networks made possible by the online world, lies the fundamental truth of what humans crave - connection.
The internet began as a place for humans to connect with each other over niche topics and research points. Bringing the digital realm back to a space for connection can be an extreme advantage for you and your marketing team. One way to do this is putting effort towards building a community surrounding your company and product.
Community members have been shown to be 46.6% more likely to close.
However, community-based marketing is not as simple as making a group chat. It requires a deep understanding of your customers and thoughtful maintenance. Growth through communities works by building your company’s network through genuine human-to-human conversations, connections, and experiences.
Luckily, Colin Campbell, the director of community at Pavillion, has developed a comprehensive recipe for community-building success.
Colin recently joined our very own Steffen Hedebrandt, to talk all about communities and how to drive growth from them.
In this post, we'll break down his steps for building and optimizing community as a go-to-market strategy.
Contents:
Why should you incorporate community building into your marketing strategy?
Step-by-step guide to building a community for your B2B
Step 1: Learn to cater to diverse profiles
Step 2: Create strong relationships and content
Step 3: Build a community that aligns with your identity
Step 4: Maintain the community you’ve built
Check out the full live session here →
Why should you incorporate community building into your marketing strategy?
Before we get started, you might be curious as to why you should care about community in the first place.
“Community is the next natural evolution of content marketing. The content space is saturated... but community is a freemium product that any company can offer as part of a go-to-market motion.”
Think of community as a product, specifically a free one that any company can offer serving as a go-to-market option. Here are four reasons community can play this role, according to Colin:
Demand for non-intrusive marketing: Content saturation is causing traditional marketing methods to fall short, making organic approaches to engagement more valuable.
Rise of virtual events: resources previously allocated for physical gatherings are now freed up due to a pandemic-induced shift towards virtual events.
Increasing remote work and loneliness: As remote work is on the rise, so are feelings of isolation and loneliness, making the importance of connection and community more prevalent.
Abundant SaaS funding: In addition to paid marketing tactics, it is strategic to incorporate more complimentary marketing tactics.
Here’s how you can leverage communities in your go-to-market. 👇
Step 1: Learn to Cater to Diverse Behavioral Profiles
Understanding the various profiles you will tailor to within your community is a good place to start.
Knowing who your target community members are, what they value, and how they engage, you can create more targeted and effective marketing initiatives that resonate with them on a deeper level.
In his current role at Pavilion Colin uses these four main categories of community members to tailor content:
Job seekers: focus on providing resources for skill development, resume building, and networking opportunities. Offer tangible benefits such as certifications or access to job boards to help them advance in their careers.
Learners: seek structured learning experiences and tangible outcomes. Provide access to educational content, courses, templates, and frameworks that empower them to enhance their skills and knowledge.
Networkers: thrive on connections and being part of a larger conversation. Facilitate networking opportunities through online platforms, local chapters, events, and mentorship programs to foster meaningful relationships within the community.
Builders: including entrepreneurs and business leaders, require practical insights and actionable strategies. Offer resources such as market research, go-to-market frameworks, and mentorship support to help them drive business growth and success.
“The idea is we don't prescribe a member journey, but we make it easier for those four behavioral types to find the journey that they need”
By catering to these distinct behavioral profiles, you create a more inclusive and engaging community experience. When members feel understood, valued, and motivated to actively participate, organic growth and long-term sustainability are encouraged.
Step 2: Create Strong Relationships with Content
Once you can identify who your community will consist of, it's time to formulate relationships with them through the content you can provide. With this, successful community growth often hinges on the strength of relationships and the value of content.
Establishing partnerships and nurturing connections are foundational to building a strong community.
Events can serve as catalysts for forging these relationships, providing opportunities for meaningful interactions. Colin explains that the impact of these events can be pushed even further by documenting and publishing it as content. By repurposing event content into valuable online resources, such as articles, blog posts, or webinars, you not only preserve the knowledge shared during events but also attract a broader audience through organic search traffic.
This dual approach creates what Colin refers to as a “double growth loop”, where high-quality content generated by experts attracts organic traffic, leading to increased newsletter subscribers.
These subscribers can even become potential contributors themselves, perpetuating the cycle of content creation and community engagement.
As the community grows, opportunities for sponsorship and collaboration emerge, further fueling expansion. Sponsors can participate in webinars or events, thereby gaining exposure to the community while also contributing to its enrichment.
Making use of existing resources, you can provide your members with valuable and engaging content that organically drives your community growth.
Step 3: Build a community that aligns with your company’s core identity
“Building a community should align with the core identity and values of the company. It's essential to evaluate whether leadership encourages relationship-oriented growth."
Before you embark on building your community, first consider the relevance of a community in the context of your company and product. Colin suggest to take a look at these community tenants to determine its value:
Alignment with Company and Product DNA: Check if community building aligns with the core identity and values of your company. Be sure to evaluate if your leadership encourages relationship-oriented growth.
Customer Benefit: Consider if your customers would benefit from interacting with each other.
Finances: SaaS funding typically encourages long-term strategies. Evaluate if community building fits within your budget.
Colin explains that the value of community for your company depends on if the nature of your company is compatible with sharing information amongst your users. He gives the example of a healthcare company, to explain how the style of your community can change in a data-sensitive field.
He goes on to prove that while you can find ways to make a case for fostering community, it may not always be the best option. So by looking at the core identity of your company, you can best assess its usefulness.
After determining what your company values and the value your product delivers, and deciding to move forward with building your community, Colin suggests embracing the “hedgehog concept”. Meaning once you have identified the areas you aim to cover within your community, focus relentlessly on perfecting these aspects rather than spreading your resources too thin amongst multiple areas.
Step 4: Maintain the Community you’ve built
"Never ever build community and then launch it like you're building for people; you're building with them. If you're not building with them, it's not a community."
Once your community is created, the work is not over. Now you need to maintain it.
Colin recommends looking at the “community commitment curve”, in which the path of a community member is mapped out: from when they join to when they reach peak engagement.
To build this path to high commitment, you begin with users who are already engaged and backtrack their path, to help them stay engaged while simultaneously drawing other users in. The best way to map out the engaged user is by involving them: try asking them questions and inviting them to play a role in your community.
Another way to perpetuate community growth is practicing “yes, and”, a strategy borrowed from improv acting. This process involves having each interaction you engage in contribute to community-building- in order to sustain your growth.
Colin advises against treating a community as a one-sided endeavor and highlights the significance of continually creating value for members from the outset.
He also suggests making use of a customer advisory board, but cautions against viewing it solely as a means for obtaining feedback. Instead, advocating for making the CAB experience valuable and enjoyable for participants, fostering genuine engagement and collaboration.
Colin cautions to take customer feedback with a grain of salt at times. He explains the example of receiving one customer's distaste for a certain community facet while simultaneously this complaint can be something a few other customers enjoy about the platform.
With this he supports following a “members first, not member first” approach to taking feedback.
The delicate balance between responding to community feedback and maintaining a strategic focus, can be supported by prioritizing the feelings of the majority over the minority.
Conclusion
Let’s briefly recap what we’ve learned:
Community building is important for company growth because it fosters trust, loyalty, and advocacy among customers, facilitates valuable
feedback loops, and generates authentic user-generated content, ultimately driving cost-effective growth and market insights.
The steps for success
1: Curate and determine your audience
2: Create the right kind of content
3: Build your community
4: Maintain the community
Colin ultimately underscores the importance of integrating community-building strategies into marketing efforts and prioritizing authentic connections with customers. By adopting these principles and approaches, businesses can cultivate vibrant, engaged communities that drive brand loyalty and business growth.
Creating a community from the ground up may seem like a daunting task. But by following the advice of community marketing expert Colin Campbell, you can begin to construct with ease. Happy building!
About the Speaker
Colin Campbell is an experienced marketer and community builder with a background in content marketing and growth strategy. During his time as the General Manager at Sales Hacker, the company experienced significant growth under his leadership, expanding from a primarily media-focused platform to include a thriving community with over 70,000 engaged members within just two and a half years. Currently, Colin is the director of community at Pavilion, a platform for go-to-market professionals, offering various resources for professional growth, networking, skill development, and events. His experience spans across building engaged communities, driving growth, and adapting to rapid changes within dynamic organizations.
