Many marketing leaders dream of building an owned community where customers, peers, prospects and influencers gather to openly share ideas and engagement is super high. But, this is waaaay more difficult than most marketers dream. Why? Well, Matt Heinz, founder of Heinz Marketing and moderator of the CMO Coffee Talk community, is here to unpack what he’s learned along the way.
CMO Coffee Talk has over 3,000 members (CMO or VP-level marketers) in its Slack community and hosts a weekly Zoom call with anywhere from 300-400 members attending. It’s a living, breathing, thriving community. Join Matt on this episode to dive into the do’s and don’ts of building a community and the lessons he’s learned along the way.
It’s not about you, it’s about your audience
Face it: We often view social media, newsletters, and other traditional community-building formats as avenues for self-promotion. Will your podcast result in any lead gen? Will prospects mention your newest social media post during their demo session?
Matt suggested stepping back from this notion and re-centering the idea of community as you seek to build one. For example, in the CMO Coffee Talk community, there’s a hard-and-fast “no pitching” rule that keeps the conversation flowing and feeling natural.
“[The community] is not about being a CMO. It is about the person that is in the CMO role, which allows us to cover sandwich parenting. It allows us to cover imposter syndrome. It allows us to cover a wide range of topics and not make it about us,” said Matt. “But if we’re the stewards of that conversation, then we’re going to get the credit for it as well. Right?”
Sometimes, the best way to promote your product is not to mention it. According to Matt, genuine connections can be far more valuable than one-off pitches.
Engagement is your MVP
Forget about chasing subscription climbs or other basic listening metrics. Matt said engagement, not growth, is the secret to a truly thriving community.
For Matt and the CMO Coffee Talk series, engagement comes naturally by keeping a tight-knit circle of CMOs who are actively engaged and feel safe to share their experiences in their role — or even just as a human being.
“I can’t tell you how valuable it’s been… as someone who ultimately wants to sell consulting to B2B CMOs to not pitch a consulting project but to offer access to this community, right, just for the engagement and just for the lead flow and just as a way of sort of creating a conversation at the top of the funnel that is not about me, that is not about consulting, that is not about projects, but all about building value and rapport early and often,” said Matt.
Matt keeps the CMO Coffee Talk group active and engaged by:
- Limiting new members. Because growth isn’t their ultimate goal, the CMO Coffee Talk series can remain selective about new members. Ultimately, it’s a spot for CMOs and CMOs only.
- Never recording a session. The CMO Coffee Talk series could accumulate a treasure trove of valuable content if Matt decided to record their discussions. However, by keeping sessions private, he creates an even safer spot for genuine discussion.
- Allowing members to vent. Sure, the series is for CMOs, but conversations about real life are not just inevitable but encouraged.
Listen to episode 374 of SaaS Half Full for more of Matt’s insights.