Seeding and Monetising Communities? -Playbook from Pioneers on turning communities to businesses
Explore the playbook from industry pioneers on effectively seeding communities and master strategies to monetize them, turning passionate groups into thriving, profitable businesses.
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Community seeding is the strategic initiation and nurturing of a community, often starting with a small, passionate group of individuals. It's analogous to planting a seed that eventually grows into a flourishing tree. The significance of this phase in community building cannot be overstated. Proper seeding sets the foundation, tone, and direction of the community, ensuring its health and longevity. Effective seeding can catalyze organic growth, fostering a space where members feel valued and engaged.
Successful Examples of Community Seeding
The journey of seeding a community can be intricate, yet when strategies are executed flawlessly, it can lead to the formation of powerful, influential communities. Platforms such as Reddit, Ravelry, and Discord have showcased the strength of proper seeding.
Reddit, during its inception, adopted an unconventional approach by simulating user activity, thereby setting a benchmark for engagement. Ravelry recognized the potential of word-of-mouth and drew in dedicated knitters to foster its growth. Discord began with a gaming-centric approach but soon diversified to accommodate a multitude of communities.
- Reddit: Emulated user activity to kickstart genuine engagement.
- Ravelry: Tapped into word-of-mouth among passionate knitters.
- Discord: Shifted its focus to cater to various community needs.
Quora set its foundation by having its co-founders engage in Q&A, ensuring a quality content precedent. Stack Overflow roped in an ardent group of coders, effectively seeding the platform's transformation into the foremost developer forum. Miss Malini began as a Bollywood-focused blog and, by being the first to share exclusive entertainment scoops, mushroomed into a behemoth lifestyle and entertainment community.
- Quora: Founders fostered an environment for premium Q&A.
- Stack Overflow: Engaged a committed developer community for robust growth.
- Miss Malini: Utilized exclusivity to build a vibrant entertainment hub.
In the modern community-building landscape, platforms like Slack and WhatsApp have also become hotspots for community seeding. Online Geniuses on Slack began as a small network of digital marketers and has since grown into a bustling community of marketing professionals. Another notable Slack community is Maker's Kitchen and Product-led Growth, a haven for product makers to discuss ideas and challenges. On the WhatsApp front, communities like Supermorpheus and NHRWA have showcased how Founders and HR connections can be forged on a platform primarily designed for personal messaging.
- Online Geniuses (Slack): Blossomed from a tight group of marketers into a comprehensive professional network.
- RevGenius (Slack): Crafted a niche space for sales and business professionals.
- Supermorpheus (WhatsApp): Global community of conscious founders, connecting to help each other grow.
- 1000 Founders Community (WhatsApp): Closed knit of founders, aiming to support with founder’s challenges in the journey and business connections.
- NHRWA - National Human Resources Welfare Association (WhatsApp): Connecting HR professionals across India, offering advice and camaraderie.
Each of these stories serves as a testament to the profound impact of well-executed seeding in community building.
Typical challenges while seeding a community
Seeding a community is a delicate process, often laden with hurdles. Establishing a community from scratch often comes with a myriad of challenges that can determine its future trajectory.
Lack of Engagement: In the initial stages, sparking active participation and discussions among members can be daunting. A silent community can deter potential new members.
Moderation Conundrum: Striking the balance between over-policing and ensuring constructive discussions is often tricky. Effective moderation is crucial to prevent the proliferation of spam and toxic behavior.
Not Listening to Feedback: Early adopters are a treasure trove of insights. Ignoring their feedback can stymie growth and alienate dedicated members.
Undefined Target Audience: Without a clear understanding of who the community serves, efforts can become scattered and ineffective.
Choosing a Platform: Picking the right platform, be it forums, social media, or bespoke solutions, is vital to cater to the community's unique needs.
Building an Initial User Base: Attracting the first batch of dedicated users often proves more challenging than subsequent growth phases.
Maintaining User Interest Over Time: As the novelty wears off, keeping members engaged and invested requires continuous innovation and engagement strategies.
Understanding and navigating these challenges is paramount for any community founder aiming for lasting success.
Steps to seed a community
Community seeding is a methodical process that necessitates a phased approach. Begin with leveraging your immediate network: customers, team members, partners, and anyone familiar with your brand. Once these initial members are onboarded, spark engagement through curated content, events, meetups, Q&As, exclusive offers, and elements of exclusivity. It's paramount to solicit feedback, refining strategies until solid engagement is evident. Subsequently, broaden your horizons by inviting new members through referrals, ensuring they too are actively engaged. Lastly, reach out to cold contacts or newer followers, welcoming them into your thriving community.
Community Seeding requires first set of members from your network - customers, team, partners, aware audience
Then initiate the engagement with invited members through content, events, meetups, Q&As, offers, exclusivity,
Collect feedback and iterate till engagement kicks off
Then invite next set of community members through referrals
Again focus on engaging them
Invite cold members or new followers to join the community
Framework - 4C Model of Community led Growth
4Cs - Community, Conference, Content, and Consult
Define Community Purpose
Management Tracking Software - Senior Leaders would want customised tracking software as per the need and from trusted vendors whom they believe are thought leaders in management frameworks.
Define Ideal Community Member
Management Tracking Software - Business Heads, VPs, CXOs (Anyone who is the buyer or the user or having influence on the buyer)
Stages
Personal Network Invitation → Personal Network Engagement → Outside Network Invitation → Community Engagement → Community Member Referrals + Cold Outreach Invitation
Engagement
Hello → Weekly Meetup → Content (Created, Curated, Summaries, Tips etc) → Expert Events → Networking → Consult / Product Freebies (For Product Activation)
Deeper dive into Community Seeding
Example - B2B AI services startup
Purpose - To build a thought leadership around AI technologies and systems, for the companies to pick us for any AI related project.
Framework - 4C Model Framework
Community Member Profiling - CXO, VP Engineering, Product Head
Activities
Content --- Different Types --- Videos, Blogs, Newsletter, Polls, Case Studies, Interviews
Event --- Types --- Webinar, Meetups, Networking, Conference
Awards and Recognition --- Celebrating achievements of members
Food for Thought Projects
Q&A by Members
Resources, Templates and Cheat Sheets
Audit for AI Initiatives
Free AI Project Consulting (1:1) for community members → Leading to Sales
Steps
Finalise Ideal Community Member Profile
Launch Community
Invite first order network i.e. customers, teams, partners, early evangelists who are passionate about the AI solutions.
Create a buzz and engagement in the community through sharing relevant content and conducting weekly meet-ups.
Cold invites to community leveraging existing distribution channels like linkedin, email etc and 2nd order network i.e. referral invites for the network of community members
Engage new members through personalised introduction, relevant content material and guest speaking slots in weekly meetups.
Offer a 1:1 personalised meeting if they are building a solution in AI.
By methodically following these steps, the B2B SaaS startup can effectively seed and grow its marketing community, ensuring long-term engagement, organic growth, and a deepened understanding of its users' evolving needs.
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