In the last few weeks I’ve been heads down working on beta tests for an idea I’m trying to get out of the nest. Oh, that and, working on presentation slides!

daniellexo @daniellexo

Are y'all sick of me yet

I’m exploring two products, both would need a way to measure (at least) three areas of community success that are often hard to pin down with engagement metrics (which are often problematic, anyway):

Sense of community (inspired by this study): How authentically connected do members feel to each other?
Brand or organization affinity: How positively do members feel about the community organizers/brand or organization?
Community-member fit: Do you have the right community strategy for these members?

I’ve come up with this Ultimate Community survey: 10 questions to help assess connection, organization affinity, and community-member fit.

These insights can help us understand when we should be adding new members, when we should be rethinking strategy, and when we should be doubling down on our work. I’d love your thoughts on this!

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The Ultimate Community Survey

I think this community is a good place for me to be a member. (Likert scale)
I’ve gotten support or help from this community. (Likert scale)
I feel like other group members know me. (Likert scale)
I've made genuine friendships within this community. (Likert scale)
On a scale of zero to ten, how likely are you to recommend this group to a friend (1-10)
I feel like my values are aligned with the organization and other community members. (Likert scale)
I feel supported by the team running this community. (Likert scale)
How would you feel if you could no longer be part of this community? (Very disappointed, Somewhat disappointed, Not disappointed)
If you could remove one element of the community, what would it be?
If you could add something to the community, what would it be?

Please share this survey with anyone you think would find it valuable!

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A few notes:

Likert scale = Strongly disagree; Disagree; Neither agree nor disagree; Agree; Strongly agree. (Some use a 1-5 scale, though others prefer a 1-7 scale!)
Question 3 is inspired by SuperHuman's Product-market Fit. If over 40% say 'very disappointed,' there is a great chance you are building a healthy, sustainable, scalable community.
Questions 4 and 5 help you ask in a non-pushy way, what may not be necessary to invest in, and what you could consider testing.
You might remove, modify, or add questions, depending on your community mission and purpose.
If you have an education-focused community, one survey prompt I like to add is: "I know the next step to take to be successful in my journey."

Rosie Sherry @rosiesherry

A great measure of a community success is how many inspired projects appear as a direct result of the community. Blogs, products, podcasts, YouTube channels, courses, communities, etc...

But, of course, you should be also looking at other signals. What is the sentiment of posts within your community? Are people coming back to your community spaces? How many private messages are being exchanged? How many projects are being collaborated on? Are those engaged in the community more successful in their user journey? I’d love to hear how you use data, surveys, interviews to understand your communities!

What did you think of this post? Let me know!

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Community Feelings

The Ultimate Community Survey Template