The Multiplier Effect of a Thriving Community
How to Build and Use a Community Engagement Funnel
“The community I desire is not grudging; it is exuberant, joyful, grounded in affection, pleasure, and mutual aid. Such a community arises not from duty or money but from the free interchange of people who share a place, share work and food, sorrows and hopes. Taking part in the common life means dwelling in a web of relationships, the many threads tugging at you while also holding you upright."
Scott Russell Sanders
Summary
I’ve written articles on creating a value ladder, how to calculate and use customer lifetime value, and how to identify and attract young professionals to one’s association.
This article will focus on building a community engagement funnel, a practical tool to help us understand and build communities around shared interests in order to achieve purpose and form relationships.
A community engagement funnel helps associations leverage and manage these relationships. It is different from a sales or marketing funnel, in which prospective members are viewed as anonymous aggregates or transactional business targets.
At the heart of the healthy association is a connected community brought together under powerful purpose and united in achieving a bold vision.
The Product Community is a product development learning community designed specifically for associations.
Community, Belonging, and Progress
“In the connection economy, trust and relationships are the new currency. It's not a soft thing you do in your spare time, it's the heart and soul of your business.”
Seth Godin
Engagement is a timeless ideal of all successful associations. It is a necessary kernel of a thriving community, which contains these ingredients:
Trust, confidence, loyalty, friends, colleagues.
Care, challenge, bridge, improve, stretch, replicate.
Make progress, strengthen connection, deepen impact.
Influence, balance needs, move forward, sustain momentum.
Feel welcome, use voice, open opportunity, widen the circle.
Great communities foster deep connection. Here are indicators of a robust association community:
Inclusive – Great communities have a big tent essential tension of celebrating, incorporating, and navigating difference. Just because we share interests doesn’t mean we share the same cultural mores, perspective, or way of doing things.
Connected – Great communities are characterized by meaningful connection, feelings of belonging, and the building relationships, bonds, and networks that facilitate communication and open the doors to meaningful collaboration.
Engaging – Great communities actively participate and engage with each other. This involvement may take the form of engaging in events, contributing to discussions, volunteering, or sharing resources and expertise.
Meaningful – Great communities help members find meaning and purpose in their association. They see value in being a part of an engaged group and believe that it contributes to their personal or professional growth and well-being.
Influencing – Great communities empower members to have a meaningful say in actively shaping the association’s direction, culture, and initiatives. Co-creation fosters ownership and deepens commitment.
Impactful – Great communities make progress on big problems that have a positive impact on its members and the broader community. They are tangible outcomes that promote positive change and drive advancement.
Combined with strong leadership, balanced governance, and a shared vision, building great community is not a monolithic activity. It takes relationship-building, design for inclusive engagement, sustained outreach, and ongoing activities to bring people together for meaningful connection and progress.
This is why we need a different tool.
Traditional sales funnels use tactics (sometimes psychological) to motivate people into buying, without little consideration of their interests or needs. A community engagement funnel is intended to build long-term relationships that focus on connection, community, and reflect real member needs.
The Community Engagement Funnel
“What really matters from the point of view of social capital and civic engagement is not merely nominal membership, but active and involved membership.”
Robert D. Putnam
Community engagement funnels are intentionally designed to provide a seamless, positive member experience across the lifecycle. In doing so, we create a robust pipeline of interest and increasing levels of engagement and connection.
The funnel builds off similar concepts used in sales, marketing, and customer acquisition. It is a numbers game in which we identify, cultivate, and grow each stage of the funnel. Since it’s anchored in relationships, members should feel a deeper emotional connection at each stage while gaining new important new value.
This is not a transactional model; it is a deepening and widening of authentic community built around a shared purpose and exciting vision. Here, energy and momentum drive business outcomes (not the other way around).
Here are the increasing levels of engagement.
STAGE ONE – Seekers. Mailbox members, initial interest, or passivity.
STAGE TWO – Intriguers. Want to learn more, occasion engagement.
STAGE THREE – Initiators. Attend, read, share, like, click, buy, voice.
STAGE FOUR – Participators. Learn, teach, volunteer, write, speak, facilitate.
STAGE FIVE – Influencers. Evangelize, shape, build coalition, create movements.
Though there is obvious overlap, each stage of the community engagement funnel should be approached as discrete segments with diverse varieties of engagement, depth of loyalty, and level of connection. Here we dig deeper into what that looks like.
STAGE ONE – Seekers
Variety of Engagement – Seekers are at the top of the funnel and exhibit minimal interaction with the association. They may have just joined or have shown initial interest, but have yet to take further action.
Depth of Loyalty – Seekers have low loyalty since they are not yet fully engaged.
Level of Connection – Their connection is minimal or passive.
Example Activities:
Subscribing to the association's newsletter.
Following the association's social media channels.
Attending a casual webinar or introductory event.
Tailored Marketing Pitch – Introduce the association's value proposition, highlighting its unique benefits, and why it's worth exploring further. Focus on the potential for personal and professional growth.
Personalized Intervention – Send personalized welcome emails with resources and information or a phone call from an experienced member to encourage deeper engagement. Provide incentives for taking the next step, such as a free e-book or exclusive content.
STAGE TWO – Intriguers
Variety of Engagement – Intriguers have expressed a desire to learn more and occasionally engage with the association's content or programming.
Depth of Loyalty – Loyalty is growing as they show continued interest and engagement.
Level of Connection – They are beginning to establish a connection, seeking more meaningful interactions.
Example Activities:
Regularly attending webinars or workshops.
Actively participating in online discussions or forums.
Showing interest in premium content or membership upgrades.
Tailored Marketing Pitch – Highlight educational offerings and their value in advancing professional development. Emphasize the potential for deeper knowledge and meaningful networking.
Personalized Intervention – Offer exclusive sneak peeks into premium content or early registration for events or programming. Encourage to join a dedicated online community or association hackathon.
STAGE THREE – Initiators
Variety of Engagement – Initiators are actively involved in association activities, attending events, engaging in programming, and sharing content. They make purchases and occasionally voice their opinions.
Depth of Loyalty – They have a solid loyalty to the association and are more committed to its mission and activities.
Level of Connection – Their connection is strong; they feel like part of the community.
Example Activities:
Regularly attending association conferences and workshops.
Sharing association content on social media.
Purchasing association materials or products.
Tailored Marketing Pitch – Acknowledge active involvement and offer opportunities for deeper engagement, such as leadership or speaking roles.
Personalized Intervention – Invite them to participate in a member spotlight interview or offer opportunities to become a brand ambassador. Recognize their contributions and encourage them to become advocates for the association.
STAGE FOUR – Participators
Variety of Engagement – Participators are deeply involved in various association activities, including volunteering, teaching, and facilitating discussions.
Depth of Loyalty – They have a strong sense of loyalty, actively contributing to the association's mission and growth.
Level of Connection – They are highly connected and influential.
Example Activities:
Leading workshops or sessions at association events.
Writing articles, blog posts, or white papers.
Volunteering for committee work or leadership roles.
Tailored Marketing Pitch – Recognize their expertise and dedication, offering opportunities to shape the future of the association.
Personalized Intervention – Invite them to join the board or influential committees. Provide mentorship opportunities for them to guide newer members in their journey.
STAGE FIVE – Influencers
Variety of Engagement – Influencers are the association's biggest advocates, actively shaping the association, building coalitions, and creating movements.
Depth of Loyalty – They are extremely loyal and dedicated, often considering the association a central part of their professional identity.
Level of Connection – They are the most connected and influential members, driving change within the association and industry.
Example Activities:
Spearheading new initiatives or movements within the association.
Building strategic partnerships with other influential organizations.
Mentoring and coaching other members.
Modeling behavior and best practices.
Tailored Marketing Pitch – Collaborate with them on a strategic level, recognizing their potential to take the association to new heights and create industry-wide impact.
Personalized Intervention – Offer leadership roles at the highest level of the association. Encourage representing the association at industry conferences and establish partnerships with key players. Recognize their exceptional contributions and celebrate their achievements.
Just because influencers are super engaged, loyal, visible, dedicate their time, and probably spend the most doesn’t mean they are the most important.
What makes the community engagement funnel work is designing and employing the right value proposition to engage, involve, and grow community at all stages.
Over this will a compounding, multiplier effect of a thriving community.
Leveraging Insights
"RoR (Return on Relationship) is the value accrued by a person or a brand due to nurturing a relationship. ROI (Return on Investment) is simple dollars and cents. RoR is the value (perceived and real) that will accrue over time through loyalty, recommendations, and sharing."
Ted Rubin
Associations rely on a robust community to achieve relevance, advance important ideas, and create coalitions for evolution.
This is the timeless value we offer current and future members and engaged and less engaged members. A community engagement funnel gains steam when combined with other tools and practices:
Anchor the community engagement funnel in a sound association-wide value proposition, in which we position our association as the best (or only) choice in the market.
Align the community engagement funnel with your value ladder, in which connection deepens as you climb and engage in new ways.
Link the community engagement funnel to understanding customer lifetime value, in which we can replicate the members who engage the most.
Position the community engagement funnel to identify, reach, and connect with young professionals, in which we demonstrate indispensability to the next generation.
By using simple percentages to manage and keep engagement flowing, a community engagement funnel creates a forever pipeline that channels interested members into deeper engagement and deeper connection.
Our community is humming, connected, relevant, and thriving.
Remember, product-led growth fuels connection. Join the product community and flip your destiny.
About the Author
James Young is founder and chief learning officer of the product community®. Jim is an engaging trainer and leading thinker in the worlds of associations, learning communities, and product development. Prior to starting the product community®, Jim served as Chief Learning Officer at both the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of College and University Planning.
Please contact me for a conversation: james@productcommunity.us.