Community Building Playbook

Platform Selection

Choose your community home
Discord
Real-time chat with channels, voice, threads. Best for tech/gaming communities.
+ Free, feature-rich, real-time
- Can be noisy, learning curve
Slack
Professional messaging with integrations. Best for B2B and professional communities.
+ Professional, great integrations
- Message limits on free, costly at scale
Circle
Community platform with spaces, events, courses. Best for creator/brand communities.
+ Branded, structured, monetizable
- Paid, less real-time engagement
Forum (Discourse)
Traditional threaded discussion. Best for support, knowledge base, long-form.
+ SEO-friendly, searchable, async
- Slower pace, less social

Engagement Metrics

Track community health
Total Members
Active Members (MAU)
Daily Active Users
Posts / Week
Reply Rate
NPS Score

Community Content Calendar

Weekly rhythm
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun

Moderator Guidelines

Community rules
01
02
03
04
05
06

Ambassador Program Tiers

Reward top contributors
Member
Default level
Contributor
10+ helpful posts
Champion
50+ posts, mentors others
Ambassador
Represents brand externally