Learn some best practices below on how we've kept our angel community running since launching publicly in 2021. 👼
Over the past 15 years of working in Silicon Valley, I’ve built communities of varying shapes and sizes as a conference producer, a founder (at Lean Startup Co.), a marketer (at Stripe), and as an investor (at The Community Fund VC, ANGELS.vc). I've distilled 10 lessons I've learned in a new, hybrid approach I call "community marketing". I started writing a blog post that became a 3,000-word behemoth, so I turned it into a two-part guide on Substack (link in comments). ✅ Here's a summary: 👫 Community marketing is a comprehensive marketing approach that drives business outcomes. It encompasses the full stack of marketing, but has a longer-term approach to acquiring, nurturing, and converting leads. 💖 Community marketing keeps your CAC low and increases brand love. Engaged users will happily recommend your products and refer future users into the community. Your users also become more invested in your products and are willing to buy add-ons. ✨ Your community’s “why” is what will keep them coming back. Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, but why you do it.“ The same applies to your community. 😇 Share your operating principles or code of conduct early on. People on LinkedIn behave more professionally (than X or Reddit) because their identities are public and are associated with their employer’s brand. They abide by an implicit code of conduct. I highly encourage you to share your operating principles or code of conduct to create a safe and inclusive community. 📲 Focus on the format and forum that work best for *your* members. Community marketing can be found in online and offline events, social media forums, and content. You can be in all these places, all at once. In the early days, focus on one or two channels where you’ll drive your community engagement. 🏀 Events are the default way to build community – learn the basics of doing them well. Hosting events is a tactic for driving community marketing outcomes. It’s a means to the end-goal – not the goal in itself. 🧟♀️ It’s easy to get a community started; it’s harder to keep the engine running. If there are “zombie" or "default dead" startups, there are zombie communities as well. 🤝 “Passing the baton” to your members is essential to building an enduring community. People will come for the leader and it’s essential that they’re there for the first year or two -- until you’re able to pass the baton to future community leaders. 🌊 Communities will ebb and flow, and can evolve into something unexpected. Embrace it. Sometimes that evolution of your community will be even better than what you imagined it could be. 🌱 Get a community marketing MVP out today! Start testing and learn what works for your users. Inaction is one of the worst things a founder can do. If you’re a seed startup or earlier, trust me, no one is watching. ***** Whew. I'm at the end of my word count limit! Did these tips resonate with you? What did I miss? (Full post in comments below.)