How a Community Approach Scales Your Impact by Rachel Happe at INBOUND15

September 12, 2015 by Priyanka Tuteja

Rachel Happe’s talk on ‘How a Community Approach Scales Your Impact’ at INBOUND15 was centered around all things communities, where she shared how taking the community approach can help you truly amplify the results of your inbound marketing.

Having worked with hundreds of communities, Rachel shared some super useful learnings that can be implemented to create great engaging communities. It comes as no surprise that she is referred to as the ‘Chief Wonk’ at The Community Roundtable and that she absolutely nailed it in her session!

Here are 12 major takeaways for all community managers on community building from Rachel’s session at INBOUND15.

#1. What’s the missing piece in the inbound marketing puzzle? Community.


#2. How do you get people to do what you want without telling them what to do? No, controlling them is not the answer. Great communities require engagement, not control.


#3. Refer this incredibly useful community maturity model developed by The Community Roundtable, and understand where your community is and where you want it to g(r)o(w).


 #4. People crave connections. That’s why communities make so much sense from an inbound marketing standpoint.


#5. Shared purpose, values and interests are the very heart and soul of a community.


 #6. Derive the shared purpose of your community by determining the problem that your product is solving. Center your community around the solution, and not the product itself.


#7. Communities are built on common interests, relationships and trust. So enable conversations between people, and create safe, calm spaces with clearly defined boundaries.


#8. Reward your loyal community members from time to time and enable them to lead.


 #9. A quick fact: Best-in-class communities engage up to 44% active users.


#10. Be clear on what purpose would the community serve and how it would add value.


 #11. Engage the stakeholders. Make them build, grow and manage the community rather than hiring community managers from outside.


#12 The success of a community lies in attracting, engaging and retaining the users.


If you missed out on the live talks at INBOUND15, take a look at these quick recaps and popular updates on the coolest of sessions on our INBOUND15 coverage page.