The Community Playbook: Unlocking the Financial Impact and Next Generation Infrastructure

The Community Playbook: Unlocking the Financial Impact and Next Generation Infrastructure

In today's digital age, communities have become an integral part of businesses' strategies. They serve as a platform for engagement, support, and collaboration, helping companies build stronger relationships with their customers and drive meaningful growth. However, in order to fully leverage the power of communities, it is crucial to measure their financial impact and invest in the right infrastructure.

Measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) of a community is essential for decision-making and accountability. Similar to marketing ROI calculations, measuring the ROI of a community helps in determining how much to invest and justifying the expenditure. The calculation involves measuring the incremental financial value gained as a result of the community investment and dividing it by the cost of the investment. This methodology can be applied to various aspects of the community, such as measuring the impact of community events or the difference in churn between active community members and non-participants.

One company that has successfully measured the ROI of its community is Atlassian. They use "total attendees" as a key performance indicator for their community events. Upon analyzing the behavior of their event attendees, they found that 81% of them downloaded a free license within 30 days, and 34% made a purchase. This data clearly demonstrates the impact of their community events on driving sales and highlights the importance of measuring the CROI for existing members as well.

The financial impact of a community can go beyond increasing sales. It can also contribute to other aspects of a business, such as expanding the sales pipeline, increasing deal sizes, enhancing product adoption, answering support tickets, and adding features or capabilities into a product. These additional benefits further emphasize the importance of measuring the financial impact of a community in order to justify investments.

However, when it comes to the infrastructure of communities, there are challenges that need to be addressed. Many communities rely on a patchwork of individual solutions to meet their needs, resulting in a fragmented tech stack. Community builders often struggle with using software tools meant for other purposes and repurposing them for their community. This lack of dedicated community tools hinders the community's ability to reach its full potential and creates confusion among community members.

To overcome these challenges, communities need a platform model that can tie all their point solutions together. A community platform would leverage modularity to create massive value across the tech stack, enabling communities to scale and reach their full potential. This platform would provide dedicated tools and functionalities specifically designed for community building, eliminating the need for community builders to repurpose other tools. It would also provide a centralized hub for community members, reducing confusion and making it easier for them to engage and participate.

In conclusion, measuring the financial impact of a community is crucial for justifying investment and decision-making. By understanding the ROI of community initiatives and activities, businesses can allocate appropriate resources and ensure accountability. Additionally, investing in the right infrastructure, such as a community platform, is essential for unlocking the full potential of communities and creating seamless experiences for both community builders and members.

Three actionable advice for community builders:

1. Implement a robust tracking system to measure the impact of community initiatives on sales and other financial metrics. This will provide concrete data to showcase the value of the community and guide future investments.

2. Conduct regular surveys and feedback sessions with community members to understand their needs and pain points. Use this feedback to identify gaps in the community infrastructure and explore potential solutions.

3. Explore and evaluate different community platform options that can centralize your community's activities and provide dedicated tools for community building. Look for platforms that offer modularity and scalability to support your community's growth.

By measuring the financial impact of communities and investing in the right infrastructure, businesses can unlock the true potential of their communities and drive sustainable growth in the long run.