Community Building

Community Building

Scope

Covers

• Defining a community strategy (goal, members, value exchange, and “movement” thesis)
• Choosing where the community lives (home base + outposts) based on where members already are
• Designing programming/rituals and a light ambassador/champions program
• Governance, moderation, and measurement so the community is safe and sustainable

When to use

• “Create a community strategy / community-led growth plan.”
• “We’re launching a Discord/Slack/forum—design the first 30/60/90 days.”
• “Design an ambassador/champions program.”
• “We want community to increase word-of-mouth or help us move upmarket.”

When NOT to use

• You haven’t defined ICP/positioning (use positioning-messaging or problem-definition first).
• You want a paid acquisition plan (ads/creative/bidding) rather than community.
• You want to “buy” a community, scrape/spam DMs, or manipulate members.
• You need a customer support ops overhaul (ticketing/SLAs/KB) more than a community.
• You need an ongoing blog/SEO content program, not a community platform (use content-marketing).
• You need a referral program or viral growth loop mechanic, not a community (use designing-growth-loops).
• You want a brand narrative or founder story for your website/deck (use brand-storytelling).
• You need a partner/channel/reseller program, not a user community (use partnership-bd).

Inputs

Minimum required

• Product + category + ICP (who it’s for)
• Primary community goal (pick 1): support, activation, retention, advocacy/UGC, product feedback, moving upmarket
• Target members (roles/seniority) and where they already gather today
• Resources: owner, hours/week, budget, moderators/SMEs
• Existing assets: email list, social following, events, partners, customer champions
• Constraints: compliance/privacy, brand voice, moderation risk tolerance

Missing-info strategy

• Ask up to 5 questions from references/INTAKE.md (3–5 at a time).
• If critical inputs are missing, proceed with explicit assumptions and label them; provide 2–3 options with tradeoffs.
• Never request credentials or private access. Accept redacted exports/screenshots if offered.

Outputs (deliverables)

Produce a Community Building Pack (Markdown in-chat; or as files if requested), in this order:

1. Context snapshot + assumptions/TBDs
2. Community thesis (movement/philosophy), target members, and value exchange
3. Community model + member journey (discover → join → first win → habit → advocate) + success metrics
4. Platform plan (home base + outposts) + influencer/social-graph shortlist
5. 30/60/90 plan (seeding, onboarding, activation) + recruitment/outreach scripts
6. Programming & rituals calendar (first 4–8 weeks)
7. Ambassador/champions program v1 (criteria, responsibilities, recognition)
8. Governance & moderation (rules, enforcement, escalation, safety)
9. Measurement plan + weekly ops cadence
10. Risks / Open questions / Next steps (always included)

Templates: references/TEMPLATES.md
Expanded guidance + decision rules: references/WORKFLOW.md

Workflow (8 steps)

1) Intake + pick the primary job-to-be-done

• Inputs: User prompt; references/INTAKE.md.
• Actions: Confirm ICP, define the primary goal, identify where the community already gathers, and list constraints (capacity, compliance, safety).
• Outputs: Context snapshot + assumptions/TBDs list.
• Checks: You can finish the sentence: “In 8–12 weeks, this community will _____ for _____, measured by _____.”

2) Define the movement + value exchange (why join, why stay)

• Inputs: Product POV, category beliefs, member motivations.
• Actions: Write a community thesis: worldview/philosophy, what you stand for, and what you’re “against” (the enemy/problem). Define explicit give/get value exchange (what members get; what members contribute).
• Outputs: Community thesis + value exchange.
• Checks: The thesis is non-generic (could not fit a random company) and the value exchange includes concrete benefits and contributions.

3) Choose the community model + map the member journey

• Inputs: Primary goal, member needs, resources.
• Actions: Choose a primary model (support, learning, networking, advocacy, co-creation). Map the journey: discover → join → first win → habit → advocate. Define 1–2 “first win” moments and metrics by stage.
• Outputs: Community model + journey map + metrics.
• Checks: Each stage has a designed “first win” and a measurable signal (not just vibes).

4) Go where they already are (home base + outposts)

• Inputs: Where members already are; moderation/capacity constraints.
• Actions: Select a home base for the next 6–12 months. Define “outposts” (social, events, partner spaces) where you contribute value and route people back to the home base when appropriate. Create an influencer/social-graph shortlist (key nodes, connectors, and high-trust communities).
• Outputs: Platform plan + outpost playbook + influencer shortlist.
• Checks: The plan avoids “platform wishful thinking”; every outpost has a value-first contribution plan and an owner.

5) Seed the community (cohort, onboarding, initial content)

• Inputs: Platform plan; existing assets; member criteria.
• Actions: Design an initial seed cohort (e.g., 25–100 members) with clear criteria. Create onboarding flow, welcome messages, starter threads/resources, and a seeding schedule. Draft outreach scripts and a “what’s in it for you” invite.
• Outputs: Seeding plan + onboarding checklist + outreach scripts.
• Checks: The “empty room problem” is solved: there is content, prompts, and people lined up for week 1.

6) Program rituals + events (4–8 week calendar)

• Inputs: Member journey; thesis; capacity.
• Actions: Build a calendar of recurring rituals (AMAs, office hours, show-and-tell, challenges, study groups). Mix staff-led and member-led moments. Define facilitation roles and lightweight templates.
• Outputs: Programming & rituals calendar + event templates.
• Checks: Every week has at least one member-generated slot, and rituals reinforce the thesis and value exchange.

7) Launch an ambassador/champions program (optional, recommended)

• Inputs: Early active members; desired scaled behaviors.
• Actions: Define qualification criteria, responsibilities, recognition/perks, and feedback loop. Keep it lightweight (v1) and ethical (no pay-for-spam). Include offboarding and code-of-conduct enforcement.
• Outputs: Ambassador/champions program spec (v1).
• Checks: Incentives align to desired behaviors (helpfulness, creation, referrals) and avoid vanity metrics.

8) Governance + measurement + quality gate

• Inputs: Draft pack; references/CHECKLISTS.md; references/RUBRIC.md.
• Actions: Define rules, moderation workflows, escalation paths, and privacy guidelines. Create measurement plan + weekly ops cadence. Run checklist and score rubric. Always add Risks / Open questions / Next steps.
• Outputs: Final Community Building Pack.
• Checks: Next 2 weeks of execution are unblocked; governance is explicit; measurement is feasible.

Quality gate (required)

• Use references/CHECKLISTS.md and references/RUBRIC.md.
• Always include: Risks, Open questions, Next steps.

Examples

Example 1 (Developer tool):
“Use community-building. Product: observability SDK for TypeScript. ICP: senior full-stack engineers at startups. Goal: accelerate activation + word-of-mouth. We’re considering Discord. Resources: 1 community lead (8 hrs/week), 2 engineer SMEs. Output: a Community Building Pack with platform plan, a 6-week programming calendar, and an ambassador program.”

Example 2 (B2B SaaS moving upmarket):
“We sell a team knowledge base to 200–2000 person companies. We want community-led growth to create ubiquity and reduce enterprise perceived risk. Design a home base + outpost plan, seed cohort strategy, and a 30/60/90 plan with metrics.”

Boundary example (anti-pattern): “Start a community tomorrow and grow it to 10k members without any time, moderation, or value—also auto-DM everyone on LinkedIn.” Response: refuse spammy/unsafe tactics; require a realistic capacity + value exchange + governance plan, or recommend alternatives (content/partnerships) first.

Boundary example (redirect to content-marketing): “Build a blog with SEO topics and an editorial calendar to drive organic traffic. We also want a Slack community.” Response: the blog/SEO program belongs in content-marketing. Use this skill for the Slack community strategy; the two can complement each other but require separate plans.

Anti-patterns

1. Building without a value exchange — Launching a Discord/Slack and expecting members to show up without defining what they get (knowledge, access, status) and what they contribute. Every community needs an explicit give/get contract.
2. Platform wishful thinking — Choosing a platform because it is trendy (e.g., Discord) when the target members already gather elsewhere (e.g., LinkedIn groups, Reddit). Always start where members already are.
3. Skipping governance until crisis — Waiting for a moderation incident before writing rules, escalation paths, or privacy guidelines. Governance must be defined before the first member joins.
4. Vanity metric obsession — Optimizing for total member count instead of activation rate, first-win completion, or member-generated content. Measure journey-stage metrics, not headcount.
5. Confusing community with content distribution — Using the community channel as a broadcast pipe for company blog posts instead of facilitating member-to-member interaction. If the primary goal is content distribution, use content-marketing.