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October 2 Content Chat Recap: Designing Exceptional Community Experiences

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Arielle Tannenbaum #ContentChat

This week Buffer‘s community lead Arielle Tannenbaum (@ariellemargot) joined #ContentChat to talk about creating exceptional community experiences.

Q1: How do you define an exceptional community experience?

What qualifies as an exceptional community experience? Our attendees shared a few themes.

Exceptional community experiences are intentional.

The best community experiences are all about the community members, not the supporting organization.

Respect is a common thread found in exceptional community experiences.

Connection is the driver of exceptional community experiences.


Q2: What do you do differently as a community builder when you are focused on experience?

There are tons of communities out there, so what do community builders do differently when they’re focused on creating an exceptional experience?

Start with your community members’ “why?”

Focus on engaging with—not pushing brand messaging at—the community.

Let the community members—not your brand—drive the community’s direction.

Invest in the community and its experience.

Show the community how to use the tools you’ve provided, then get out of the way.

Focus on onboarding and connecting your new members.

Q3: Why should community builders be focused on community experience?

Given the many KPIs community builders need to focus on, what’s the advantage of taking a community experience approach?

A bad experience can cost you your community base.

Communities are built on relationships, which requires providing members with a great experience.

Never forget radio station WIIFM—What’s In It for Me?

Q4: What are the essential elements of an exceptional community experience?

Once you commit to focusing on your community’s experience, what does it take to put your intention into action?

First and foremost keep it real.

Define and share your community purpose.

Great community experiences are human-driven.

Communities aren’t built overnight—it takes a long-term commitment.

Q5: What are the primary issues or challenges holding many community builders back from taking an experience approach?

If having an experience focus works so well, why isn’t every community builder taking that approach?

Lack of executive buy-in.

Fear of what might happen.

Putting the ROI before the community engagement horse.

Thinking of community primarily as a captive audience.

Q6: What is an exceptional community experience you’ve had? What made it special to you?

#COntentChat attendees have had a range of exceptional community experiences. Here are a few:

Q7: What are some examples of community builders taking an experience-focused approach?

Here are some practical examples of how to take an experience-focused approach.

Start by creating an exceptional welcome experience.

Q8: What are some resources to check out to learn more about focusing on experiences?

Looking to up your experience-building game? Check out these #ContentChat community-recommended resources.

About Erika Heald

Erika Heald is a content marketing expert and executive ghostwriter. As founder and lead consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, she helps organizations define and document content marketing strategies that drive business growth. Erika led and grew high-performance content marketing teams at Highwire PR, Anaplan, and Achievers. You can also find her on her blog erikasglutenfreekitchen.com or hosting the weekly #ContentChat Twitter chat on Mondays at 12 noon Pacific.

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