The 3 Biggest Lies About Community and GTM—And The Truth

Community isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s foundational to GTM success across every team.

I’ve seen a lot of people dismiss community as a "nice-to-have”, something that only works in specific situations, or is only for particular types of companies. But here’s the thing: community is so much more than feel-good engagement or a side project for your GTM strategy.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the trenches of community building, and I want to share some of the most common misconceptions I’ve come across—along with the truths I’ve learned along the way. These insights are for anyone in sales, marketing, customer success, support, and beyond who’s looking to unlock the real power of community in their customer-facing teams.

Let’s dig into some of the industry’s biggest myths about community—and uncover what’s really true.

Lie #1: Community is irrelevant—or just fluff.  

The Truth: Community isn’t irrelevant—or fluff. It’s foundational. It’s the engine driving real business outcomes across every GTM motion, from pipeline growth to retention, cost deflection, and product innovation.  

Here’s something I’ve seen over and over again: too many teams treat community as a side project (or worse, ignore it altogether). Why? Because it’s misunderstood. For decades, businesses have focused on “easily measurable” growth levers within GTM: direct ad spend, email clicks and CTAs actioned, outbound calls, simple funnels. Because it spans many channels and stages in a customer’s journey, community doesn’t always fit neatly into that kind of framework. A conversation in a forum or a quick tip in a Slack channel? Harder to track. And so, people write it off as “soft,” intangible, or—even worse—nice-to-have.  

That perception gets even worse when community is poorly executed. A forum is slapped together with no purpose or moderation. A Slack space is launched but quickly abandoned. When there’s no clear goal or alignment with business objectives, it’s no wonder some teams feel like community leads nowhere.  

But here’s the reality: when built intentionally—by focusing on business value first—community delivers results. Authentic customer advocacy, pipeline growth, higher retention, lower support costs, and better product innovation ALL stem from engaged, vibrant communities. Let’s walk through how and why community works for each GTM team by following the customer journey step by step.  

Marketing: Amplify Reach and Drive Action Through Advocacy  

Marketing often overlooks community when planning for growth—why rely on conversations when you could just buy clicks? Here’s why: communities create trust, credibility, and authentic advocacy in a way no ad spend ever can. Authenticity and trust drive better results than the most polished ad copy ever will.

Take Canva, for example. Every #MadeInCanva post—whether it’s a mood board on Pinterest or a TikTok resume template—is effectively free user-generated advertising. Canva’s community doesn’t just use its tools—they share their creations, amplify the brand, and drive curiosity from others who want to know, “How did you make that?” That curiosity turns into trials, trials turn into subscriptions, and Canva strolls right past the expensive pay-per-click competition.  

Then there’s Ahrefs’ Insider Facebook Group, where SEO practitioners connect, troubleshoot, and brag about their results. Group members frequently share before-and-after stories of traffic spikes, higher rankings, and keyword victories—all powered by Ahrefs. For someone sitting on the fence about subscribing, these unprompted success stories carry more weight than Ahrefs’ best-crafted ad or email ever could. Without pressure or polish, the community proves the product works—and that drives real pipeline contribution.  

Even Figma’s Community Files contribute directly to Marketing goals. When users share templates and plugins, they don’t just spread the word about Figma—they show the possibilities. Sure, Figma could run ads explaining its features. But it’s so much stronger when creators invite others to collaborate and remix tools designed for real-world challenges. That outreach comes naturally, costs Figma nothing, and creates an emotional connection that traditional marketing struggles to replicate.  

Sales: Build Trust and Accelerate Decision-Making 

When was the last time you closed a deal without first earning the buyer’s trust? Community exists to make that trust-building process faster, easier, and more effective—for BOTH parties.  A good community doesn’t just market your product—it helps your Sales team close deals faster. That’s because community builds credibility and answers objections before a prospect even meets your AE.

Salesforce Trailblazers excels here. Thanks to this vibrant community, Salesforce’s Sales team can confidently point prospects toward live examples of their CRM in action. Prospects don’t have to take the salesperson’s word for it—they see peers just like them solving similar problems, proving that “this could work for me too.” Trust isn’t just built—it’s solidified, which shortens the sales cycle and strengthens deal confidence.  

Or take OutSystems’ Developer Community. If a potential customer is anxious about adopting OutSystems’ no-code platform, all they have to do is browse the developer showcase. Real users have posted apps that are live, running, and actively solving business challenges. By peeling back the curtain, OutSystems’ community breaks down objections and moves customers past fear into action.  

Here’s another example: HubSpot User Groups (HUGs), where real HubSpot users run local events. Imagine being a prospect who’s unsure if HubSpot’s CRM will work for you. At a HUG, you meet someone in your industry who’s already succeeding with it—and they’re happy to explain how HubSpot helped them get there. Compare that candid conversation to a sales pitch, and it’s clear why community-based engagement leaves a stronger impression.  

Education and Customer Success: Adopt, Retain and Expand Through Inspiration and Empowerment 

Customer retention starts with value—but sustained retention demands ongoing engagement. A well-run community ensures customers not only stick around but deepen their use of the product over time. For Education and Customer Success teams, community is one of the sharpest tools available to drive adoption, retention and renewal—and the reason is simple: it ensures customers keep seeing value.  

Take Gainsight’s Pulse community, where CS leaders exchange playbooks, strategies, and frameworks to improve retention. Guess what tool many of them use to implement their new strategies? Gainsight, of course. Gainsight isn’t just the tech powering their success—it’s also the community guiding them when they need fresh ideas or solutions. What starts as a great CS strategy quickly becomes a long-term relationship between Gainsight and its customers.  

Another great example is Descript, a multimedia editing tool that simplifies podcasting and video creation. Descript’s community enables users to post creative projects, share templates, and troubleshoot workflow issues. The results? Customers don’t just get answers—they find new ways to use the product, reducing churn and increasing upgrades for more advanced features.

Similarly, Zapier’s Community lightens the CS load with peer-to-peer support. Say a customer is exploring how to sync their Airtable workflows with Slack notifications. Instead of waiting for CS to troubleshoot, they find a ready-made Zap from another community member—and inspiration for more use cases down the line. Every problem solved builds confidence in the product’s value, reducing churn AND creating potential expansion opportunities.  

And of course, Peloton’s Member Community offers one of the most famous examples of community-driven retention. No one likes to work out alone—but in Peloton’s community, you’re part of a leaderboard, a workout group, and a support system filtered through shared goals. Engaged members stick with their Peloton subscriptions significantly longer than those going it solo. Why? Because it’s not just about fitness—it’s about belonging.  

Support: Create Efficiency Through Peer-Powered Solutions  

Support may feel like the most practical arm of community—and for good reason. When Support teams lean into community, they scale their impact without increasing costs. Support shines when communities step in to solve common challenges faster and more creatively than formal Support teams might. The key is building spaces that encourage collaboration, problem-solving, and immediate feedback.

Circle, a community-building platform, does this beautifully by maintaining public spaces where power users help newer customers build and optimize Circle-based groups and courses. When members share best practices, support tickets don’t just drop—new customers unlock faster ROI, thanks to practical advice that’s openly shared.

Atlassian Community leads by example here, resolving thousands of IT and technical inquiries every single year. What makes it special is the way power users naturally take the reins. When your most experienced customers start solving advanced support challenges for free, it not only lightens your team’s workload—it adds credibility and depth to the customer experience.  

For Notion, their subreddit community functions as a first line of defense for troubleshooting. But it doesn’t stop there. Members often layer templates, suggestions, or alternative ideas into their solutions, inspiring broader creativity while solving the immediate problem. It’s not just support—it’s support-plus-value, and it reinforces why users love the product so much.  

Product: Innovate Through Real Customer Engagement  

Finally, let’s talk about Product teams, where community-driven insights and collaboration have the potential to shape not just adoption, but innovation itself.  Community isn’t just about addressing customer challenges—it’s also a treasure trove of insights for what to build next.

Look at LEGO Ideas. Would you have guessed that some of LEGO’s best-selling kits (like the NASA Apollo Saturn V rocket) come directly from customer submissions? Here’s how it works: fans propose ideas in the community, vote on their favorites, and LEGO’s Product team builds them into reality. By the time these sets hit shelves, they’re primed with a built-in customer base that knows their voices helped shape the product.  

Adobe’s Behance platform similarly influences product decisions. Every user portfolio uploaded to Behance reveals how Adobe’s creative tools are used in the wild. The Product team gains unfiltered insight into workflows, trends, and pain points—and uses it to improve their suite in ways that keep Adobe top-of-mind for creators. It’s instant feedback at scale.  

Or consider how Polywork, a professional network platform, crowdsourced feedback on its user onboarding redesign. Through surveying its early adopters, the Product team spotted gaps, refined tutorials, and launched a smoother experience—all before the broader rollout. The result? Higher adoption rates on day one and stronger early reviews.

And if you’re looking for demand-driven beta testing, Instagram Creator Labs cracked the code. Instead of operating as a silo, Instagram invited creators into the development process. Reels—a direct response to TikTok—was honed through community feedback long before launch, ensuring adoption would be seamless. When launch day came, Reels wasn’t just ready; it was already beloved.  

Here’s the bottom line: community works. It doesn’t just support GTM motions—it accelerates, amplifies, and reinforces them. When you align community with metrics like pipeline growth, churn reduction, or feature validation, there’s no upside in dismissing it.  

Lie #2: We have a forum, so we’ve “solved” community.  

The Truth: A forum is just one piece of the puzzle. It’s a great start, but it’s only one piece of a thriving, multi-channel community strategy. True community building is multi-channel, multi-layered, and dynamic—it thrives across platforms, touchpoints, and experiences. Communities aren’t static. They’re ecosystems.  

Here’s something I see all the time: A company launches a forum or Slack group, posts a few announcements, and declares “Mission accomplished!” But the truth? Community is never that simple (if only!). A single channel, no matter how well-executed, will always have limits. Your members come from different backgrounds, have different preferences, and naturally gravitate to different types of spaces. To reach your full potential, a thriving community has to exist where these people already show up—and spread across a variety of platforms that support different types of interaction.  

Let’s break this down and take a look at how truly multi-channel communities deliver lasting value.  

Why a Forum Isn’t Enough  

A forum can be a fantastic foundation—it creates a structured, searchable hub of conversations—but it’s not going to capture everyone. While some love in-depth threads, others prefer real-time engagement via Discord or Slack chats, collaborative brainstorming on shared documents, live events, or visual inspiration on YouTube. Ignoring those other channels means leaving untapped potential on the table.  

Take Spotify’s Soundtrap community, for example. Soundtrap, an audio creation platform (think online DAW for musicians, podcasters, and creators), takes a multi-pronged approach to its community strategy. While its online discussions across social channels are a great place for creators to find music-editing tips or troubleshoot technical issues, Soundtrap also engages users through YouTube, where they share tutorials, and Instagram, where they highlight user stories and creative content. This equation works because members can choose their preferred interaction style: discussions for detailed feedback, YouTube for guided learning, or Instagram for inspiration and community highlights.  

Similarly, Nintendo has expanded its fan community far beyond its core forums. Sure, they have a dedicated support space, but their multichannel strategy drives connection through platforms like YouTube (trailers and gameplay tips), Twitter (game updates and community shoutouts), and even in-person events like Nintendo Direct meetups. For fans, this creates an ecosystem where community members feel involved in the latest game launches, find support if they’re stuck, and share tips and tricks across formats.  

Meet Your Members Where They Already Are  

One thread is consistent for all thriving communities: they meet their members where they already spend time. Successful community builders don’t expect users to “discover” their forums—they embed their presence into familiar spaces.  

To stay relevant, your community can’t exist solely in a forum space. Riverside.fm, a podcast recording platform, does this by hosting customer interviews and publishing them on YouTube, creating inspiration AND education for prospective podcasters. This engagement doesn’t happen in isolated venues—it spans outlets where its customers naturally spend time.

Let’s take myFitnessPal as a case study. The brand doesn’t just rely on its in-app community—it also extends its touchpoints into Facebook groups tailored to specific fitness goals (e.g., strength training vs. weight loss communities), where members engage with weekly challenges, meal-prep tips, and progress milestones. At the same time, they’re active on Instagram, hosting recipe challenges where followers post their meal macros, tagged with #myfitnesspal. The brand doesn’t force users to migrate to a dedicated forum; instead, they amplify engagement by meeting fitness enthusiasts where they already share stories.  

Another standout is Lush Cosmetics, whose customer community flourishes both online and offline. Lush regularly hosts in-store workshops where fans can hand-make bath products and meet fellow enthusiasts. But they also build strong virtual connections via Instagram and TikTok, where videos of new products (or creative uses for existing ones) often spin off into threads of shared tips, sustainable hacks, or favorite recipes. Lush’s approach creates attachment to its brand not through a single interaction but through layered, varied touchpoints that celebrate its customers.  

Multi-Layered Communities Create Deeper Connections  

Part of why multi-channel strategies are so powerful is because they allow you to mix types of engagement: One platform might focus on education, while another fosters creativity or peer recognition. This diversity strengthens your community relationships by offering multiple pathways to connect with your audience.  

Take Twitch, for example. At first glance, Twitch seems like it’s just about gaming streams—but its real value lies in its sprawling community structure. While streamers host live viewers, Twitch encourages multi-layered interaction through elements like chat rooms (instant feedback and shoutouts), Discord servers (daily discussions), and even in-person TwitchCon events, which turn virtual relationships into real-world connections. These layers provide glue across platforms, ensuring that the community doesn’t just exist—it thrives.  

Another great example is Bandcamp, a music discovery and independent artist platform. Bandcamp connects three layers of community interaction: the fans, the artists, and its platform hubs. Artists post exclusive content on their pages (layer one), discoverability happens through the Bandcamp Weekly newsletter and music discovery feeds (layer two), and communities engage directly during Bandcamp Fridays—where loyal users flood the platform to support musicians with purchases. This dynamic gives value to creators and fans alike, fostering a unique community ecosystem across tools that mutually reinforce one another.  

The Role of Offline and Experiential Touchpoints  

One thing often overlooked: your community doesn’t only exist online. Offline interactions can bring communities even closer—especially when they’re paired with the resources of digital channels.  

For example, Patagonia’s Worn Wear community takes multi-channel engagement to a whole new level by merging its sustainability philosophy with both online and offline community experiences. Online, users engage through Patagonia’s educational content on gear repairs or eco-friendly lifestyle hacks. Offline, they host pop-up “repair events” where members bring in damaged clothing to get sustainable repairs done by Patagonia experts for free. These events aren’t just practical—they’re immersive, creating stronger brand ties by walking the talk on sustainability.  

Another example: Warhammer’s Global Events Network, where fans of the tabletop gaming universe gather both digitally (via forums and Reddit threads) and physically (through regular in-store league events and competitions). The result? A fandom that seamlessly blends virtual discussion with in-person camaraderie, keeping the community deeply engaged on multiple interactive levels.  

A Forum Is a Great Start, But It’s Just That—A Start 

Here’s the bottom line: Communities grow because they include people—not because they’re tied to a single platform or space. The best-structured communities weave together forums, social touchpoints, creative spaces, offline events, and peer-led resources to ensure there’s something for everyone.  

When brands like Twitch, Patagonia, and Nintendo embrace layered, multi-channel ecosystems, their communities become more than groups—they become social movements tied to identity, trust, and connection. And that’s where the magic happens.  

Lie #3: Community is easy and fun!  

The Truth: Building a thriving community is rewarding, but it’s far from easy. It takes hard work, intentional strategy, and resilience to create something meaningful—and it doesn’t happen overnight.  

Let’s be real: from the outside, successful communities often look effortless. Engaged members! High participation! Viral conversation threads! But behind every well-run community is a team rolling up their sleeves and putting in the work. Community building isn’t just about tossing up a Slack group, hosting a cool event, or watching members spontaneously connect (though all of those can happen). It’s about trust, consistency, iteration, and yes—handling hard, messy situations that no one sees coming.  

Here’s what it actually takes to build a thriving community—and why it’s worth the effort.  

Consistency Isn’t Glamorous, But It’s Critical  

One of the biggest myths about community is that it can “run itself.” Sure, once a community reaches a certain maturity, members might take a more active role—but in the beginning, growth requires relentless consistency. You’re showing up daily (or hourly) before anyone else does, nurturing those early conversations, and building momentum one small interaction at a time.  

Take the story of Reddit, one of the world’s largest and most successful community platforms. When Reddit launched in 2005, it was empty. Its founders, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, spent countless nights creating fake accounts and seeding discussions to make the forums look active. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was necessary—no one wants to join a silent community. Even today, Reddit relies on heavily invested moderators, many of whom volunteer upwards of 20 hours per week to keep subreddits healthy and authentic. Without that consistency, the platform’s culture would unravel quickly.  

Or consider Duolingo’s TikTok efforts, which have built a rabid fanbase around the company’s quirky green owl mascot. Yes, the content often looks spontaneous and silly—but it’s the result of carefully curated, daily attention to the platform, from watching trends to engaging with user comments. Consistency drives Duolingo’s playful image, but make no mistake—the team behind it is anything but casual.  

Moderation Is the Hardest Job No One Talks About 

Let’s face it: every community, no matter how wholesome, will eventually face conflict. Members may disagree passionately, overstep boundaries, or even create toxic behaviors that threaten the culture you’re trying to build. Moderation isn’t just important—it’s one of the hardest and most essential jobs in community building.  

Consider the challenges of running the Stack Overflow community, where millions of developers come together to ask and answer programming questions. Thanks to a strict focus on moderation and well-defined rules, Stack Overflow ensures its forums remain a productive and respectful space for technical collaboration. But it’s not easy. Moderators constantly step in to redirect unproductive debates, resolve disputes, and ensure tone stays constructive. Without that effort, Stack Overflow might have dissolved into chaos years ago.  

Similarly, Facebook Groups, which host some of the largest and most active communities on social media, requires careful moderation to maintain quality and safety. One standout strategy comes from The Dogspotting Society, an 850,000+ member community built around rating photos of dogs. At face value, it seems simple, right? But behind the scenes, the moderators work tirelessly to ensure posts stay lighthearted, enforce the rules (no ads, no politics), and prevent trolling or spam that could derail the group’s tone. Those efforts often go unnoticed—but without them, the experience would crumble.  

Creativity and Iteration Are Non-Negotiable  

Once a community begins to grow, the challenge becomes keeping it fresh, inviting, and applicable. Left unchecked, momentum can stall. Members may stop showing up, conversations may feel repetitive, or the novelty of participating may wear off. Great community builders solve this with creativity—constantly experimenting with new features, formats, and approaches to reengage existing members while attracting new ones.  

Look at the Minecraft community, which feels endless in its scale and activity. After the game’s explosive launch in the early 2010s, you might expect participation to drop off. Yet over a decade later, Minecraft’s active community is bigger than ever, thanks in part to its iterative updates. Mojang, the company behind Minecraft, regularly rolls out new features inspired by players—new biomes, tools, enemies, and creative possibilities—most of which are sourced directly from community collaboration. The game’s success doesn’t rely on the same conversations happening year after year; instead, it evolves to stay fresh for its users.  

Another example is Coursera, the online education giant. While its initial community focus revolved around class forums, Coursera has expanded its engagement strategy by creating alumni networks and professional user groups within industries like healthcare or tech. These iterative layers of connection ensure members continue finding value—even after completing their courses. It’s a prime example of how communities only stay “fun” when leaders strategically evolve them.  

Dealing With Crises Puts Your Community to the Test  

Here’s the part no one talks about: sometimes, communities face conflict or crises that demand serious leadership. A troll stirring up trouble, a critical misstep by your organization, or even a high-stakes cultural disagreement—all of these can either fracture your community or bring it closer together, depending on how you respond. No matter how thoughtful or well-run your community is, crises will happen. In those moments, how your company and your community respond matters more than anything.

I’ve been there myself. At Evernote, I led the community program during a particularly tough crisis. The company rolled out an opt-out privacy policy change that would have allowed employee oversight of user content for machine learning and AI training purposes. Before the announcement, I raised red flags internally, warning stakeholders that this change would likely spark a severe backlash from our customers. My concern was grounded in the feedback I’d gathered from the community: Evernote users valued privacy above everything else.

Unfortunately, we moved forward with the policy—and as predicted, the backlash came fast and loud. Customers were incensed, and their anger rippled through forums, social media, and support channels (along with press and media). The optics were clear: our users felt betrayed, and our brand trust was unraveling.

When the company backtracked on the policy, my role became one of damage control. I stepped in to reassure our community that we heard them loud and clear and that their feedback was being actioned. As a community leader, I knew this was about more than reversing course—it was about proving Evernote could rebuild the trust that was broken. It took transparent, ongoing engagement, countless direct conversations, and a commitment to making users feel valued and listened to again. But the work was worth it. Over time, we saw pieces of that trust start to heal.

This situation was a hard-learned lesson: your community will hold you accountable to your values—and how you respond during a crisis will define your relationship with them moving forward.

Other companies have had to navigate similar challenges. Take the tech coding bootcamp Lambda School. A few years ago, the company faced backlash for its income-share agreements and partnerships. It could have ignored the criticism altogether, but instead, Lambda leaned heavily on community engagement to address the controversy openly. Through organized AMAs (ask-me-anything sessions) and detailed responses within its forum, Lambda’s leaders showed transparency and gave community members the opportunity to directly air their concerns. Handling the challenges upfront helped preserve trust among its user base.  

Or think about Bungie, the studio behind the beloved video game Destiny 2. When Bungie delayed a major expansion in 2020, the company faced backlash from its sharply passionate community. But instead of shying away, Bungie’s developers doubled down on transparency: explaining what was causing the delay, sharing progress updates routinely, and leaning into player discussions to understand pain points. As a result, their community rallied around the game's eventual success instead of turning away.  

Community Work Is Hard—But Incredibly Valuable  

This is the reality about community: it’s not easy. It demands strategic planning, consistency, and care every step of the way. You’ll deal with the unseen grind of moderation, learn to adapt as your audience’s needs evolve, and find yourself solving problems you didn’t anticipate. But the results? They’re worth the effort.  

From Reddit’s early days of faking momentum, to Minecraft’s evolving creativity, to Bungie tackling big challenges head-on—every example proves that building meaningful community relationships requires commitment. And once you’ve built that foundation, you’re not just creating a space for your audience—you’re giving them something they’ll value for years to come.  

The Truth About Community—and Why It’s Worth the Work  

Here’s the bottom line: community is one of the most misunderstood (but most powerful) tools in your GTM arsenal. It’s not fluff, and it’s not something you can “set and forget.” It takes real effort, thoughtful planning, and a commitment to consistency to make it work. But when you do? The results are undeniable.  

A thriving community doesn’t just boost your Marketing team’s reach or help Sales close deals—it drives retention, reduces Support costs, educates users, and fuels ideas for your Product team. It connects dots across your entire organization, linking isolated motions into a seamless, scalable ecosystem that creates value for everyone involved.  

But here’s the kicker: it’s not just the community team’s job to make this work. Whether you’re in Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Support, Enablement, or Product, you need to ask yourself:  

• How can I partner with community to solve my team’s challenges?  

• What metrics would matter most to us—and how could the community help drive those outcomes for our team?  

• How can I actively support the community that already exists?  

Community isn’t a one-team function. For your customers, community spans the journey from their first impression of your brand to the moments they stick around to advocate for you. Its marketing campaigns amplified, sales objections deflected, NRR boosted, and product roadmaps defined. For your community to be truly successful, it takes every team stepping up and recognizing its value.

So, if you’re on a GTM team what can you do? Talk to your community team, discuss your goals, and learn how to get involved. Customers don’t care where your team, or the community team, sits on the org chart - they just want to get value from your product or service. A great community isn’t the work of just the community team—it’s a full-company effort to create better experiences for your customers and more value for your business. 

Now, I want to hear from you. What do you think of these truths? What truths are missing? If you’re on a GTM team, what’s holding your team back from fully supporting your community—or unlocking its potential?  I’d love to learn what’s been working for your team (and where you’re stuck). Let’s talk about it—drop your thoughts in the comments.