How to Successfully Build a Community: Mistakes to Avoid – Tips to Follow
The 5 Most Important Tips for Building a Thriving Community
Lately, I’ve been meeting more and more managers and marketing professionals who want to build a community around their brand or area of expertise. However, many community projects fail simply because their creators don’t take enough time to define their purpose. This isn’t strictly about Scrum—though agility and community building do share some important principles.
Before launching a community, take a moment to review these tips. They’re based on 30 years of experience in community building.
(Why repeat the same mistakes that I—and many of my clients—have already made?)
Alongside the essential questions of what goals you want to achieve and how you define success for your community, there are five golden rules shared by all successful online communities:
1 A Community Needs a Purpose
“Why am I here?”
Inviting people and then leaving them to their own devices is one of the fastest ways to ruin a community before it starts. People who join an online community want to know what’s expected of them and how they can contribute.
The purpose can be concrete or abstract, but it must be clearly communicated. For example:
- Knowledge communities like wer-weiss-was or Gutefrage.net encourage members to share what they know.
- Developer communities like Stack Overflow operate within clearly defined subject areas.
Answering the question “What am I here to do?” is the foundation for everything that follows.
2 A Community Needs Activity
“Now it’s your turn to dance.”
It may sound obvious, but it’s often overlooked: no one wants to be the first person on an empty dance floor. People are social beings; few feel comfortable in silent spaces. This applies especially to communities.
Ensure there is visible activity from the start. In addition to encouraging newcomers, I strongly recommend that community operators actively initiate discussions. You're a member too—act like it.
Sometimes, in the early stages, you’ll need to step onto the dance floor yourself. That’s not a bad thing. It gives you a chance to set the tone—figuratively speaking—for how you'd like the community to engage.
3 A Community Needs More Than Just Loud Voices
The quiet ones matter. So do the readers.
According to the 90-9-1 rule, a community typically consists of:
- 90% readers (lurkers)
- 9% occasional contributors
- 1% core contributors
That 1% initiates discussions and drives the community forward. Every community wants more of them—but beware: too many dominant voices can intimidate others.
If opinion leaders gather too quickly, conflict can follow. Aim for a healthy balance. The remaining 99% are just as crucial for sustainable, organic growth as the most vocal 1%.
4 A Community Must Stand Up to Trolls
Be firm and consistent with trolls.
A strong community is built on shared norms around how members communicate. This internal tone or “community dialect” evolves over time and changes with trends. Usually, the most active members help shape and enforce these unwritten rules.
As a community operator, be part of that discourse. Don’t leave it to others to moderate heated conflicts. Issue warnings and bans with confidence when necessary.
Trolls—users who disrupt just for the sake of conflict—must be consistently blocked, even if they were once active contributors. Tolerating them will cost you trust and participation from others.
5 Building a Community Is a Long-Distance Run
Community building is a marathon, not a sprint.
Most KPIs that indicate a successful community take time to show up in meaningful numbers. These include:
Key Metrics for a Successful Online Community:
- Number of members
- Activity / Engagement (user-generated content, responses)
- Traffic, especially organic search traffic
- Referrals (visits via recommendations or shares)
When planning your community strategy, think in three-year timeframes. After about one year, you’ll start to see trends—if you're tracking growth and engagement from the beginning.
Community Building Experts
How exactly do you build a community that thrives? I’ll cover that in a follow-up article—or feel free to reach out to me directly.
Find me on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ehauth/ Mastodon: norden.social/@ring2
Me: As a Senior Scrum Master, I lead agile teams to deliver innovative and user-centric digital products and services for the media industry. With over 25 years of work experience in various roles and sectors, I have developed a diverse and versatile skill set that includes Scrumban, Scrum, Facilitation, Product Management, and Project Leadership.
I hold a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) credential from Scrum Alliance and a Facilitator badge. I also write as a columnist for ZEIT ONLINE, sharing my insights and perspectives on topics such as digital transformation, innovation, and culture.