#208: Drive | How To Build A B2B Community with Dan Cmejla, B2B Community Expert
Jan 6, 2025
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In this discussion, Dan Cmejla, a B2B community expert and former VP of Community at Apollo and Chili Piper, shares his insights on building impactful B2B communities. He emphasizes how community marketing can transform brands by turning customers into advocates. Dan outlines three crucial phases for community development, from establishing a presence in key influence spaces to creating amazing community environments. He also touches on leveraging customer relationships to enhance engagement and drive measurable business outcomes.
Community marketing transforms brands by fostering authentic customer relationships that lead to increased advocacy and organic promotion.
Establishing clear community definitions is crucial for understanding customer needs and creating environments that encourage engagement and interaction.
Utilizing social media effectively enhances community visibility by celebrating customer stories and reinforcing brand loyalty through genuine feedback acknowledgment.
Deep dives
The Challenge of Marketing Attribution
Marketing attribution remains a significant challenge for B2B companies, often complicating effective measurement of campaign success. Unlike traditional click attribution methods, newer platforms like Paramark utilize marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing to provide clearer insights into marketing performance. This approach allows marketers to allocate resources more effectively by understanding which channels, campaigns, and geographical areas yield the best results. The goal is not only to measure outcomes but to drive sustained growth by pinpointing where to invest future marketing dollars.
The Transformative Power of Community Marketing
Community marketing has proven to be a game changer for various brands, enhancing customer engagement and extending brand reach. By fostering authentic relationships within customer communities, organizations can create stronger brand advocates who organically promote their products. As demonstrated with brands like Drift and Gong, strong community ties have been shown to correlate with substantial increases in brand visibility, revenue growth, and overall market presence. This highlights the shift in focus from traditional marketing methods to building genuine connections and leveraging customer voices in marketing narratives.
Building Effective Community Strategies
To successfully build a community, companies must first establish a clear understanding of what community means in their context. This involves identifying customer interests and fostering environments where individuals feel valued and engaged. A structured approach, including customer advisory boards, can create pathways for advocacy and meaningful interaction. Additionally, leveraging feedback from community members helps refine strategies and ensures that marketing efforts remain aligned with the audience's needs and expectations.
Social Media's Role in Community Engagement
Social media acts as a vital platform for community building, enabling brands to celebrate customers and share authentic stories. By actively responding to customer advocacy on social media, brands can enhance their reach and visibility. Implementing a systematic approach to acknowledge and promote positive feedback reinforces the relationship between the brand and its advocates, further driving brand loyalty. This strategy not only increases organic engagement but also incentivizes customers to share their experiences, thereby broadening the brand's impact.
Measuring Success in Community Marketing
The effectiveness of community marketing can be assessed through a variety of metrics that go beyond traditional sales figures. Establishing KPIs like unique posters, engagement rates, and overall community health helps gauge the vibrancy of the community. Understanding customer motivations, such as their desire for recognition or influence over the product roadmap, can inform strategies that drive deeper connections. Ultimately, cultivating a thriving community requires ongoing measurement and adaptation to meet the evolving needs of its members while supporting the brand's goals.
This episode is from Drive 2024, our first-ever in-person event for B2B marketers in Burlington, Vermont. Dan Cmejla, B2B Community Expert and former VP of Community at Apollo and Chili Piper, shared actionable frameworks and three phases for building impactful B2B communities that drive brand growth and customer engagement.
Dan covers:
How community marketing transforms brands by turning customers into primary distribution points for your story.
Why it’s important to map influence spaces and leverage customer relationships.
Strategies to build a scalable advocacy journey that turns customer love into measurable business outcomes.
Timestamps
(00:00) - - Intro to Dan
(07:03) - - Community Marketing Transforms Brands
(10:11) - - Defining “Community” and “Community Marketing”
(11:51) - - Community Phase 1: Build Baseline Presence Across Spaces that Hold Relevant Influence
(22:51) - - Community Phase 2: Differentiate Presence Everywhere by Building more Brand Distribution Points
(36:12) - - Community Phase 3: Build Amazing Spaces That Hold Influence
(37:12) - - How to Determine your Community Strategy?
*** This episode of the Exit Five podcast is brought to you by our friends at Paramark. You’ve heard it before – every B2B marketer’s top pain point is marketing attribution. It’s complicated, messy, and too often leads to fights with your CRO over whose lead deserves credit.
That’s where Paramark steps in. Their platform makes it simple to understand what’s driving results (and what isn’t) with tools like marketing mix modeling and incremental testing. No more relying on outdated click attribution or chasing UTM links. Instead, Paramark gives you actionable insights across channels, campaigns, and geographies to help you grow.
Paramark's founder & CEO Pranav has been in your shoes as a B2B marketer. He’s so passionate about solving this problem, he’s offering listeners a free brand assessment. Pranav will personally analyze your brand’s performance and share his insights—an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
Slots are limited, so act fast. Head to paramark.com/brand-consult to claim your spot. Trust us, this is worth your time.
***
Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.
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