#general

<@U08U4PV81KP> does a great job with the Tipalti Insiders community which is a Slack community for those who are in their customer advocacy program.

It's considered a "perk" for those advocates to be able to interact with not only each other, but the product team and with the CMA team who provides them with advocacy opportunities.

@Joel Primack shared this a few months back, might be useful! A comprehensive playbook for Community Launch (Guide from Brian Oblinger) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qEsTpoLZZoygWK66db3o1y9NUcSmgx3_WQUG8fPfHu0/edit?usp=drivesdk Tips: “Right size” it for your program type and company stage — don’t overcomplicate it if it’s not necessary. Go on an internal and external listening tour for your community program to gain insights to inform the build and programs run in it to add value to members. Have a very clear goal for it initially for what you want it to impact first then expand them over time. Add internal and external processes in place earlier than you would expect to help you later as it grows.

Fantastic! I'm thinking of a three-space community: One public (where we can promote events, publish information relevant to our TAM, etc), one for all customers (where I can post educational content), and one for the Advocacy group, which has perks like AMAs, access to the CAB, and more. But I'm still sketching everything out.

Understand what customer problem you are solving before you start. Community is a big investment, absolutely worthwhile, but a commitment to stick at it

@Amy Amazing, thank you!

<@U0A4F5HNF9C> That's so true, and a reason why I'm stressing about it a bit 😄

Map it out as a blueprint, cost the internal time to do all the things you say you want in the community and then decide what is most critical.

Excellen advice, <@U0A4F5HNF9C>, thank you!

<@U07V02XU2CB> Interesting, does that work smoothly for you? We have a community manager who will be working alongside me, which each of us managing different aspects of the community.

Make it valuable for people.

@Joel Primack Do you have any particular strategies you've used to make the Agentblazer community valuable?

<@U07V02XU2CB> I'm hoping to do something similar: Help guide strategy and build out community-focused programs without too much day-to-day upkeep, to help with time management.

An example I'd share is bringing our Agentforce release notes into the community, as well as sharing valuable content and related events with our members.

<@U0A7VUFB3DX> You mentioned working alongside a community manager. Are you different teams? Does this community exist and you are adding an additional element? I would love to pass on a few tips.

Thanks for the tag! I didn’t personally start the community from scratch, but I have a fairly good grasp at what was put in place to get it started before I came onboard!

My once piece of advice is define the value and benefits, them build from there based on those areas and what your members tell you they need/want… then find a way to tie it back to your goals.

For example, I’m bringing in a speaker to help folks be better communicators and presenters and storytellers… an area our audience said they struggle with and going to tie that back to getting them comfortable doing a case study and speaking at events!

Soo… 1. build on benefits/value. 2. get to know your members

@Joel Primack That's a great example, thank you!

@Allison Able We're on the same team. The community doesn't exist yet, we're working on building it. I was just hired last year to build a CSM function, so I'm trying to build new frameworks and bring together things that have been done ad hoc. Which is a big challenge, so I'm asking this community tons of questions 😄

<@U0A7VUFB3DX> +1 to everyone who said defining the value. What will make it worth a customer's time to engage/visit your community. It is also important to define clearly define how the community supports your organizational goals. If it is driving product adoption, make sure to have a place to share product releases/news, if it is to increase CSAT make sure all posts get a response.
Previously Mentioned Brian Oblinger, has a lot of great resources. Including courses (some free, some for cost), and a podcast (with a resources section) he did with Erica Khul. Richard Millington with FeverBee has a Guide to Creating Community Strategies. Another resources is <file:///C:/Users/jmeier/Desktop/Industry%20Reports/CMX-Guide-To-Community-Building.pdf|CMX's Guide to Community Building>.

Amazing, @Jodi Meier, this is so helpful! Thanks so much!

Huge +1 to Brian Oblinger’s courses on Community Strategy Academy 💯

<@U0A7VUFB3DX> happy to chat if you want to bounce ideas around as well.

I would LOVE that, Jodi, thank you!

@Heather Foeh is the community queen

<@U08B2KPC33K> That's very wise, on both counts. Have you ever had difficulty navigating those two principles? They could be seen as a bit contradictory...

We have a call in a few minutes if you'd like to discuss live. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4029861639

I've done one with 3 communities - one that was for the industry, one for customers (partially public, and gave prospects 30 days of access), and one for developers.

<@U0A7VUFB3DX> would you like to join us?

@Mary Green (Owner CMAweekly) Oh, shoot, would have loved to but I had logged off for the day. Thanks for the invite though!

<@U08B2KPC33K> That makes a lot of sense, thank you!