Hosted by: Mark Kilens, CEO & Founder at TACK
Speakers: Brian Oblinger, Strategic Consultant
A successful community isn’t just a place for users to hang out, it’s a strategic asset that can reduce support costs, improve customer retention, drive product feedback, and strengthen your brand moat. This webinar unpacks what a real, operational community strategy looks like—beyond just buying a platform or spinning up a Slack group. This post breaks down Brian’s 20+ years of hard-won lessons into a clear, practical roadmap for B2B teams building communities with purpose.
Before building a strategy, align on what “community” really means. For Brian, a community is:
This means community isn’t just about volume—it’s about intent. If members are only self-promoting, you’re not building a true community. Focus on environments where people genuinely want to help each other.
Community can deliver business value across multiple fronts:
Brian emphasized that a well-run community becomes a scalable, defensible asset—especially in crowded markets where product parity is high.
“I’ve seen win-loss reports where customers say they renewed just for the expertise and community—not because the product was better.”
Most teams start with tech. That’s a mistake. Brian’s framework flips the script:
Start with customer needs—not company goals. Build 2–5 personas based on actual conversations and surveys, not assumptions. Understand their motivations, problems, and what success looks like.
People come for content and stay for connection. Focus first on high-value, repeat questions. Tap internal teams (support, product, CS) for FAQs and turn them into scalable answers.
Think in lifecycle terms: acquisition → conversion → onboarding → engagement → retention.
Programs should move people forward in their journey—not just keep them busy.
Tech supports strategy, not the other way around. Don’t blame the vendor if the strategy lacks depth. Also think beyond the platform—SSO, CRM integrations, and automation tools like Zapier or Orbit can amplify value.
Design isn’t just how it looks—it’s how it works. Information architecture, search, navigation, and discovery matter more than slick visuals.
“Google is just a list of links. And yet we use it every day.”
A good strategy means nothing without a roadmap. Brian recommends creating a phased operational plan with clear priorities across people, content, tech, and experience. Not every org needs a year-long rollout. Start small, validate demand, then scale.
Leadership won’t care about your engagement rate unless it’s tied to business outcomes. Translate your impact into language your org already uses:
Brian shared a key lesson: community builders gain traction when they speak in KPIs leadership already values.