Engage, Listen, Grow: Leveraging Community for SaaS Expansion

Hey Friends 👋 , Francisco here.

During the Community Everywhere Summit, there were some impactful statements from Brian Oblinger and Edu Giansante regarding how strong our position as Community Leaders could become if we can go beyond ‘Community Building’ and we can translate most of our initiatives and daily work into numbers for the company we are working for.

Indeed, we always talk about belonging, support and care while discussing our work in communities. Still, the painful truth is that the Business needs clear and measurable outcomes to keep investing in the community team, tooling, and education.

I have prepared a comprehensive, not final, list of different areas or functions where the community can be involved as an active stakeholder and that you can use to keep showing value in your daily hard and passionate work.

Let’s start!

1. Feedback and Product Improvement:

   • Gather Feedback: Use the community platform to gather feedback and suggestions on your product. This direct line to customer opinions can inform product development.

   • Implement Changes: Show the community their feedback is valued by implementing changes based on their suggestions. This can lead to improvements that make the product more appealing to a broader audience.

2. Educational Content and Resources:

   • Create Content: Develop tutorials, guides, and webinars that help users understand and utilize your product more effectively.

   • Share Success Stories: Highlight how other customers are successfully using your product, which can encourage adoption by showing practical applications and benefits.

3. Exclusive Access or Features for Community Members:

   • Beta Testing: Offer community members early access to new features or versions of your product. This makes them feel valued and can generate excitement and anticipation among the broader user base.

   • Special Offers: Provide special offers or discounts to community members, incentivizing them to adopt more features or services.

4. Engage with User Challenges and Pain Points:

   • Solve Problems: Use the community to identify common user challenges and address these in your product updates or through tailored content.

   • Case Studies: Share case studies within the community demonstrating how your product solves specific problems.

5. Advocacy and Referral Programs:

   • Encourage Advocacy: Develop a brand advocacy program within your community. Loyal users can be your best marketers.

   • Referral Rewards: Implement a referral program where community members get rewards for bringing new users to your product.

6. Community-Driven Events and Webinars:

   • Organize Events: Host webinars, Q&A sessions, and online workshops that educate current and potential users about the benefits and features of your product.

   • Product Demos: Use these events to demonstrate product capabilities and answer live questions.

7. Tracking and Analytics:

   • Monitor Engagement: Use analytics to track how community engagement correlates with product adoption rates.

   • Surveys and Polls: Regularly survey community members to understand their product usage patterns and how community involvement influences their choices.

8. Leveraging Testimonials and Reviews:

   • Showcase Reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and share their experiences. Highlight these testimonials within the community and on your product pages.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll dive deep into every one of the points above so you can get more ideas on how to get started with these and what pros and cons you can have while running them.

Would you add anything else to the list I can include in this newsletter? Let me know in the comments! 👇️