Why Community & Marketing Don't Always Align

It's time we said it aloud - community should be in orbit of customer experience and customer success

Hello Friends,

I had a great conversation this morning, which fired me up. I think there is a reason many have become disillusioned by some of their work in the community space. One reason is that the majority of community professionals are finding themselves reporting into marketing organizations, where the key KPIs do not align with community work.

Suffice to say, the flaw of community professionals reporting into marketing is that, in general, most marketing leaders have one massive goal: lead capture (i.e. MQL to SQL)

Once the sale happens, most old-school marketing leaders pay only lip service to customer experience and satisfaction. Customer marketing will focus on advocacy, referrals, and programming, but these teams will also chafe under pure lead-gen marketing leadership.

The pure focus is the funnel, and anything outside is a distraction.

This is why we have seen the rise of the Chief Customer Officer—and why I advocate for the community and anyone who cares about customers to report to the CX org. It has to be about creating great customer experiences from the first to the last touch.

For those who know, community is about the total experience. Before someone buys, they look at how you engage your community, and after they buy, they want to see how you, as a brand, engage and how your customers feel about the purchase. Each segment has different needs, approaches, and programs, but the community can be a powerful differentiator for brands when done properly.

My message is this: If you are a community person, align yourself closer to CX or the marketing leaders who care about post-sales. They will get what you are trying to do, and it's the best place for your work to happen and flourish.

Happy community building!

Adrian