#20 Take Your Pick: Adjacent Vs Integrated Communities
Today I'm sharing my official "thesis idea" with you.
The word community gets thrown around a lot but most of the time people are referencing online forums or in-person meetups. But community in the context of business is a much larger category.
Today I'm breaking community into two distinct strategies.
Let's get into it–
All businesses that prioritize community can be categorized into two structures:
Community Adjacent – Separate forum, in-person meetups or events
Community Integration – Social features that are part of the product
I’ll caveat that there is probably a third category where community IS the product in the sense that they have an online + in-person community where coming together as a community is the core benefit of the business and the product. Creative Mornings comes to mind.
Many businesses have both but one of them will be primary – like Peloton who I’ve highlighted as a community integration example below. They have in-person classes and events at their NYC HQ allowing community members to meet instructors and other members in person. But at the end of the day, their digital products are their core offering: The Peloton App.
When creating your community strategy and deciding how community fits into your product, reference your user research and answer the following questions:
Is your business supporting a transformational journey?
In this case, they will benefit from support and connection along the way. That could be fostered with an adjacent community, like a forum, or it could be integrated as supportive features within the application like a timeline.
Does your product have super fans?
What kind of connection would support a growth flywheel of your products? Is there a way you can bring in your super fans to co-create your business with you? Soul CBD has a community of taste-testers that they send new flavors to before they release them to the market.
Where are your users?
Is it possible for them to meet up in person? Would they be willing to travel to come together? Would they want to? What kind of unique experiences can you create to build community with your customers in person?
What other apps are they using? What is competing for their time?
If you’re asking them to create an online profile and interact with one another within your product, it must have a strong differentiation from other products they are using that will compete for their time in this way– like Instagram for example.
Let’s breakdown adjacent & integrated communities further and look at a few examples for each.
Community Adjacent
Community adjacent is most common in E-Commerce and we’ve seen huge success stories with SaaS (software as a service) companies like Notion as well.
Pros:
Great for brand awareness and PR – This is often where you’ll see community listed as a “marketing strategy” … but beware of the idea of “spinning up a community”
Growth flywheels can have a HUGE return. When your customers feel belonging with your brand, they’re more likely to share it and invite their friends.
Cons:
In comparison to community integrated, this strategy serves a much smaller subset of only your most engaged customers.
This is a long-game and something that takes a lot of time and money to prioritize.
Let’s take a look at a few examples:
Vans Skateparks
Vans is an e-commerce brand that has built community through a number of different adjacent initiatives. They have a strong focus on youth-culture and create safe and accessible places for youths to come together and well, be youths.
They have a series of skateparks around the world that are free and open to the public, they have sponsored music festivals and create a safe space for self-expression through their products and initiatives.
Space 198 Brooklyn NY - Credit: Vans.com
Lego Ideas
Lego Ideas is for their customers that love getting imaginative with LEGO bricks and consider themselves masters of the “Lego Craft”. Within the community they have a profile, can share their creations, enter challenges, and showcase their proposals for new LEGO Ideas sets and vote for awesome models dreamt up by fellow fan designers.
This community, while a product in itself with a full suite of features, is adjacent to their core product which is… legos.
Porsche Club of America
The PCA has over 155k members across chapters creating a thriving community by uniting Porsche enthusiasts, promoting camaraderie, and fostering a strong sense of belonging.
Through a wide array of events, technical resources, and charitable endeavors and philanthropic initiatives, the PCA ensures that its members not only experience the thrill of Porsche ownership but also form lasting connections and contribute to the greater good.
Community Integrated
Community integrated features are found in nearly every product that we use on the daily. Think social media platforms, fitness apps, travel booking, car service, online education, etc. Community integrated applications allow you to connect with other users within the app.
Pros:
These features keep customers coming back and contribute to a product’s “sticky factor” which is why prioritizing community in your product strategy will increase the likelihood of success.
In a world where Lyft & Uber can co-exist (but one comes out on top) – community gives you competitive advantage and a long-term ROI.
Cons:
It’s not easy to figure out what the right community feature is for your product. Not every product needs profiles and news feeds. It takes research and experimentation to get it right.
Mistakes are easier to make because it’s hard to predict user behavior with community. These mistakes can be expensive because it requires custom development to build these features. Oftentimes this is why companies will opt for adjacent communities instead where you can leverage an existing community platform for your tech.
Let’s take a look at a few examples:
AllTrails
AllTrails has evolved their trails review feature into a community within their app. You’re able to track the trails you’ve gone on and share your reviews with your local community so they can make a decision on where they should hike.
You’re more likely to go on a trail after reading a personal story from someone you can relate to. For example, “I had a great time with my young kids, it wasn’t too hard for them and we stopped for a picnic” – if you’re a Mom, you’re sold, whether you know this woman or not.
Peloton
Earlier I mentioned that Peloton has both adjacent and integrated communities. But their integrated community features have game mechanics that keep users coming back such as the ability to compete with other peloton members on the leaderboard, collect badges and follow your friends.
You’re more likely to stick to your fitness plan through this accountability which has allowed Peloton to boast 92% retention.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit recently launched their Creator Network which allows a ConvertKit user to browse creators to recommend. This creates a community of creators all supporting one another’s work, and takes ad dollars away from companies like Meta and gives them back to other Creators.
This is so powerful and I can’t wait to see how ConvertKit explodes from this decision – we are entering a whole new era of email marketing + media.
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