Perhaps the biggest strategy question is defining the single outstanding trait that makes your community unique.
What will you pursue at the expense of other areas?
Some common examples:
- Fastest place to get answers.
- Provide trustworthy answers.
- Be the most exclusive community.
- Focus on a specific niche.
- Focus on a single target audience.
- Friendliest place / strongest personality / sense of community.
- Most advanced tips.
Every answer leads you to a different community strategy.
For example, if your community is private and exclusive, you’re probably not going to use a typical forum platform, but a more ephemeral chat platform.
If you want your community to be the fastest place to get answers, you’re probably going to need a large superuser program.
If you want your community to be the place to get the most trustworthy answers, you’re probably going to want a smaller program just comprising of verified top experts.
These decisions change what technology you use, who you hire, what activities you initiate, and a lot more.
You can get everything else wrong and still succeed if you get this answer right.
What is the boundary you’re pushing your community towards?
