A Crash Course On Building Community

Today’s episode is a conversation between Jeremy and Christina Garnett of HubSpot who is an expert at helping brands and people connect with their audience and build community. Together they discuss what building community means, how to get started (Christina offers lots of tips), the importance of intent, some of the challenges that marketers face when trying to build community, why colleges need to involve their current students and alumni more in community building (and how to do that), plus a lot more!

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Key Takeaways

• Community Requires Authentic Intent: People can sense when your efforts are purely transactional. True community building stems from a genuine desire to connect, support, and provide value.
• Give More Than You Take: To keep community members engaged, provide more value than you expect to receive. This is critical for creating a safe and trusted space.
• Leverage UGC and Campus Voices: Current students and alumni are invaluable resources for creating relatable and impactful content. Their stories and perspectives humanize your brand and foster trust.
• Community Building is a Long-Term Investment: Unlike short-term marketing campaigns, communities require consistent engagement and adaptability to evolving member needs.
• Use Tools Like Student Advisory Boards: Engaging with student or alumni advisory boards provides a direct line to understanding your audience’s pain points and needs.

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Why Intent Matters in Community Building

Christina opens the conversation by emphasizing the importance of intent when building a community. Genuine intent drives connection and trust, while ulterior motives—like overtly pushing for sales or enrollment—erode credibility. She notes that hustle culture, which prioritizes quick wins over authentic engagement, is incompatible with sustainable community building.

The key takeaway here is that community building is a long-term game. Instead of focusing solely on institutional goals, higher ed marketers need to align their efforts with the needs and values of their audience. For example, helping prospective students figure out if a college is a good fit—even if it means they don’t apply—builds trust and goodwill that can lead to long-term advocacy.

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The Difference Between Audience and Community

Jeremy and Christina discuss the distinction between having an audience and building a community. While an audience passively consumes content, a community actively engages, shares, and contributes. Christina explains that the heart of a community is connection—connecting members to each other and to the institution.

Higher education marketers can bridge this gap by focusing on two key areas:

• Amplifying Student Voices: By featuring student stories, testimonials, or even user-generated videos, institutions can create a sense of belonging and relatability.
• Facilitating Interaction: Communities thrive when members feel empowered to contribute. For example, colleges can create forums or online spaces where prospective and current students can ask questions, share experiences, and connect with each other.

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Common Pitfalls in Community Building

Christina highlights some common challenges that organizations face when trying to build community:

1. Misaligned Intentions: Many institutions approach community building with transactional goals, such as driving donations or applications, without considering the needs of their audience.
2. Lack of Consistent Engagement: A “set it and forget it” mentality leads to disengagement. Christina stresses the importance of regular check-ins with community members to understand their evolving needs.
3. Over-Reliance on Automation: While automation can streamline processes, too much of it risks losing the human touch that is essential to building trust.

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Actionable Steps for Building Community in Higher Ed

Step 1: Start with Intent
Before building a community, define why it matters and how it aligns with your institution’s values. Christina recommends using tools like the Community Canvas (community-canvas.org) to map out your strategy and ensure alignment with leadership.

Step 2: Engage Your Target Audience
Whether it’s prospective students, alumni, or parents, engage your audience directly through surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews. Understand their pain points, interests, and goals to ensure your community provides tangible value.

Step 3: Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC)
UGC is one of the most effective ways to humanize your institution and create relatable content. Christina suggests reaching out to students and alumni for photos, videos, or stories about their experiences on campus. Don’t forget to ask for permission and credit contributors—it makes them feel valued and encourages further participation.

Step 4: Prioritize Inclusivity and Accessibility
Communities should be welcoming to all members. Christina encourages institutions to create onboarding processes for new community members and to actively address barriers to participation.

Step 5: Measure Success Holistically
Success isn’t just about numbers; it’s about engagement, trust, and connection. While tracking metrics like click-through rates and application numbers is important, Christina urges institutions to also measure qualitative outcomes, such as how members feel about their interactions within the community.

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The Role of Students in Community Building

One of the easiest ways for higher ed marketers to foster authentic connections is by involving current students. Christina advises institutions to tap into students’ creativity and lived experiences by offering work-study opportunities or partnering with media and marketing classes to co-create content.

She also emphasizes the value of student advisory boards, which can provide real-time feedback on marketing campaigns, events, and overall campus culture. This ongoing dialogue helps institutions remain agile and responsive to student needs.

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Word of Mouth and the Power of Core Memories

Christina notes that word of mouth is one of the most enduring forms of marketing. Colleges can harness this by creating “core memories” for students—whether it’s the excitement of game days or the warmth of a supportive community. These experiences become the stories that students share with peers, influencing future applicants.

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Ready to Build Your Community?

If you’re just starting:

• Step 1: Define your community’s purpose using the Community Canvas.
• Step 2: Identify your target audience and conduct research to understand their needs.
• Step 3: Create low-lift, high-impact initiatives, such as featuring UGC or forming a student advisory board.

If you’re already building a community:

• Audit Your Efforts: Are you consistently engaging your members? Are their voices reflected in your initiatives?
• Expand Inclusivity: Make your community more welcoming by addressing barriers to participation and creating opportunities for diverse voices to be heard.
• Refine Your Metrics: Ensure you’re measuring both quantitative and qualitative outcomes to assess success holistically.

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This episode is brought to you by Gecko - a student engagement platform offering multiple modules to help institutions better engage with students and lighten the load for their staff.

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