Community: The Great Marketing Shift

Marketing is shifting to the community model. Earlier in 2021, TechCrunch said: "The Chief Community Officer is the New CMO." Develop an audience, add value, and then your audience will be more inclined to engage when asked. This is much more effective than traditional marketing methods and more consistent than the chaos of social media marketing alone.  The key is to create communities that bring buyer and seller together through the gravity of member benefits and learning. Help your members see the "what's in it for me" and find ways to work your community into their daily workflow, and your community will thrive.  

A community is strongest when it is fortified with multiple formats for members to engage with. Think of these media formats as pillars holding up the community. These formats can include: Online training, certification programs, virtual events, industry award programs, SAAS businesses, research, database products, validation services, publishing models, peer learning, online marketplaces, and sponsored/membership businesses -- just to name a few!  

This session will support the idea that marketing is shifting, and will dive into each of these formats and use specific examples to help stimulate ideas on how to launch minimally viable products (MVPs) to expand your event asset into a high margin, high retention community.

ABOUT RD Whitney of Community Leaders Institute

RD is the Founder of Community Leaders Institute. Now over 1000 members strong and growing fast, CLI intends to be neutral, helpful and international as it helps to advance the developing profession of Community. RD builds and grows communities. He has successfully developed several Institutes creating a "home" for niche and evolving professions. For over 30 years RD has focused on creating communities that bring buyer and seller together through the gravity of professional training, events (f2f and virtual), online learning and education, peer learning and data.