“Your community goals should be so clear you can explain them in less than 30 seconds, even to your parents.”

In this episode, we discussed how to connect community goals with business goals to drive adoption, retention, and long-term business impact, in particular:

👉 How clear, simple community goals drive KPIs and decision-making.

👉 The importance of onboarding and surveying users early to shape their journey.

👉 Practical steps to drive product adoption and customer retention through community.

👉 How to collaborate effectively with Product, Marketing, and Customer Success teams.

👉 Where AI can help community managers, and where only a human connection works.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Meghan Bates, a “passionate but practical” brain in the B2B SaaS community world with prior experience at Tableau, Salesforce, Mural, and Personify, a strategist, restorer, and synthesizer who believes in leaving everything better than she found it and an expert with sharp customer insights, gift for storytelling, and unwavering dedication to building thriving communities, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Meghan and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanbateslinkedin/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Meghan Bates: B2B SaaS Community Expert

(01:18) Defining Community and Its Goals

(03:49) Community Goals and Business Alignment

(06:38) Building and Measuring Community Success

(13:16) Cross-Functional Collaboration in Community Building

(20:40) Challenges and Solutions in Community Management

(23:06) The Role of AI in Community Building

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

“Your super users are mini-influencers — invest in them like you mean it.”

In this episode, we discussed how to bridge community and business goals, using real-life strategies, data, and programs that turn super users into powerful advocates for growth, in particular:

👉 Why community engagement alone isn't enough.

👉 Which 3 internal teams are critical to community collaboration.

👉 How to use storytelling and data to showcase community ROI.

👉 Using AI tools to streamline community management and strategy.

👉 One actionable step to start measuring your community’s ROI today.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Jen Hanley, an award-winning community builder and growth strategist, who's led everything from intimate founder gatherings to large-scale conferences, built developer ecosystems for global giants, and helped Fortune 500 partners scale learning communities with precision, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Jen and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jendurkee/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Jen Hanley: Community Builder and Growth Strategist

(01:12) Defining Community and Community Goals

(02:32) Marrying Engagement with Business Results

(04:34) The AI Fellows Program at MOVE Works

(07:40) Super Users and Their Importance

(12:04) Cross-Functional Collaboration in Community Building

(20:57) Challenges and Solutions in Community Management

(22:31) Leveraging AI in Community Building

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

“Community isn’t something extra. At our company, community is the business.”

In this episode, we discussed how to align community and business goals by treating community as a support function for internal teams, leveraging stories and data to prove ROI, and designing with empathy, especially in emotionally sensitive communities, in particular:

👉 How to turn feedback loops into community-led product insights.

👉 How a safe space mindset empowers deeply vulnerable user groups.

👉 Practical scorecard system to align with company OKRs.

👉 How to build trust with internal teams without adding to their workload.

👉 Powerful use cases for AI in community, from member matchmaking to ideation.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Nicola Earle, a mission-led community builder and radiant connector who turns conversations into collaborations, and brings warmth, empathy, and a generalist’s magic to every relationship, making impact feel effortless and joyfully human, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Nicola and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-ruth-earle/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Nicola Earle

(01:10) Defining Community for Business

(01:57) Community Goals and Their Impact

(02:29) Mobilize: Supporting Unpaid Carers

(03:44) Aligning Community Goals with Business Goals

(10:00) Collaborating with Other Teams

(12:54) Encouraging Cross-Team Collaboration

(16:52) Sharing Community Impact and Stories

(20:41) Using AI in Community Building

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

"If your users carry your community with them from job to job, you’ve built something unforgettable."

In this episode, we discussed how community initiatives, when aligned with business goals, not only drive measurable results but also elevate customer relationships, influence product development, and shape careers, in particular:

👉 Why companies should want customers talking to each other.

👉 The hidden value of “lurkers” and why you don’t always need visible engagement.

👉 Community managers as cross-functional internal connectors.

👉 Building relationships with other departments through shared goals.

👉 Simple ways to make your community’s value visible across the business.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Nicole Saunders, who's spent over 15 years helping B2B tech companies build stronger connections with their customers through community, customer advocacy, and marketing, from leading community at Zendesk to founding CXN Consulting, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Nicole and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoledsaunders/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Nicole Saunders

(01:12) Defining Community for Business

(03:13) Benefits of Customer Conversations

(10:23) Community Goals and Business Alignment

(15:36) Measuring Community Impact

(21:01) Balancing Scalable and Personal Actions

(23:01) Collaborating with Key Teams

(25:32) Encouraging Cross-Team Collaboration

(29:16) Showcasing Community Impact

(33:35) Measuring Community ROI

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

“If your customers go quiet, something’s broken. Silence can be a sign of lost trust.”

In this episode, we discussed how trust, cross-functional partnerships, case deflection, product adoption, and storytelling can be the foundation of demonstrating community ROI, in particular:

👉 Why community is “relationships at scale”, not just engagement.

👉 Why trust is the foundation of impactful communities.

👉 How to build programs that solve customer problems and meet business KPIs.

👉 Examples of aligning with marketing, support, and product teams.

👉 How to bring visibility to community value across the company.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Nikki Thibodeau, an amazing community expert, strategist, and leader, was Shopify's first Senior Community Strategist to help scale their efforts across a 10,000+ person organization and for over 2 million merchants, and the founder of the one and only The Community Community, an extra special safe and trusted space for senior community builders, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Nikki and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki2987/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Nikki Thibodeau

(01:17) Defining Community for Business

(02:14) Community Goals and Business Alignment

(03:03) Strategies for Customer Engagement

(08:28) Building Trust with Customers

(13:23) Collaborating with Other Teams

(20:19) Measuring Community Impact

(22:34) Challenges and Transparency in Community Building

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

"When you give people the feature they asked for, and bring them into the room to shape it—it’s magic."

In this episode, we discussed how to turn community from a feel-good add-on into a core growth engine, in particular:

👉 How community goals bridge business needs with member value.

👉 Turning community members into testers, feedback loops, and advocates.

👉 How to improve retention and reduce feature misfires.

👉 The key to internal collaboration.

👉 How teams benefit in measurable ways from strong community ties.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Avital Knoller, a community and collaboration specialist passionate about empowering organizations to build strong, collaborative communities that drive positive change in the world, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Avital and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/avital-knoller-205784112/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Avital Knoller

(00:59) Defining Community and Community Goals

(02:25) Community Goals in Action

(06:46) Collaborating with Different Teams

(10:42) Measuring Community Success

(19:55) Addressing Community Challenges

(22:00) Final Thoughts and Recommendations
#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

"Internal teams need to see that community can help them win too."

In this episode, we discussed how to strategically align community goals with business objectives to drive sustainable impact, build internal alliances, and foster meaningful human connection, in particular:

👉 Why not every company needs a community.

👉 How to measure community success using both data and emotional feedback.

👉 Practical tips for encouraging cross-team collaboration without adding extra workload.

👉 How to speak the language of both community and business leaders.

👉 Why great community work often feels invisible, but drives massive business value.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Marjorie Anderson, a seasoned global community strategist and a passionate DEIB advocate who has spent over two decades turning online spaces into thriving ecosystems of connection and impact, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Marjorie and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marjorie-anderson-she-her/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Marjorie Anderson: Community Strategist and DEIB Advocate

(01:26) Defining Community for Business

(03:19) Does Every Company Need a Community?

(06:12) The Purpose and Goals of a Community

(07:23) Case Study: Health and Wellbeing Community at EXOS

(13:19) Measuring Community Impact

(18:56) Collaborating with Internal Teams

(22:26) The Importance of Candid Conversations

(24:50) Encouraging Cross-Team Collaboration

(29:27) Tracking Community Impact on Business

(34:52) Overcoming Community Challenges

(38:20) Reframing ROI as Return on Impact

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

“You can’t strategize your way through a $20 million funnel without talking to real people first.”

In this episode, we discussed how translating between “community language” and “executive language” unlocks collaboration, trust, and revenue: from reducing CAC to generating SQLs through authentic relationships and the human psychology behind successful community-driven business growth, in particular:

👉 Real power of language in breaking down barriers between founders, VCs, and internal stakeholders.

👉 Role of community as a “cheat code” to reduce CAC, lower churn, and increase LTV.

👉 Why do you need to balance business intuition with human empathy to define community goals.

👉 How internal community champions can bridge the gap across content, marketing, sales, and growth.

👉 Framework for tracking community-driven outcomes and translating them into measurable business value.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Jeanine Suah, a community-driven go-to-market and growth partner to fast-moving teams, CEO and co-founder at Bridg where she turns B2B brands into customer obsessions and turns that obsession into ROI, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Jeanine and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeaninesuah/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Jeanine Suah: Community-Driven Growth Expert

(01:17) Defining Community and Community Goals

(04:35) The Power of Language in Community Building

(07:03) Bridging the Gap Between Community and Business

(12:04) Community's Role in Reducing CAC and Increasing LTV

(16:57) Challenges and Solutions in Community Building

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

“Community should be the horizontal layer that fuels every part of the business.”

In this episode, we discussed how to connect community goals with business goals to create tangible business outcomes, secure executive buy-in, and maximize both internal alignment and external value — all while nurturing thriving, advocate-driven ecosystems, in particular:

👉 How to align community efforts with measurable business KPIs.

👉 Understand where community teams fit within company org structures.

👉 How communities can help support, success, and marketing teams.

👉 How brand advocates become a secret growth engine for your business.

👉 How to communicate community ROI using CRM integration.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Dani Weinstein, a seasoned community strategy executive who’s transformed ecosystems at companies like HP, SAP, and Domo driving customer success, advocacy, and measurable ROI through global community programs that truly move the needle, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Dani and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniweinstein/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Dani Weinstein: Community Strategy Expert

(01:09) Defining Community Goals

(01:57) The Value of Executive Sponsorship

(02:46) Community's Role Across Business Verticals

(05:30) Creating Super Fans and Brand Advocates

(09:18) Engaging and Recognizing Community Members

(17:37) Connecting Community Data to CRM

(21:53) Encouraging Cross-Team Collaboration

(27:43) Measuring and Communicating Community ROI

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth

“Our reputation as a community-driven organization was our greatest sales tool.”

In this episode, we discussed how communities drive business growth by turning meaningful connections into conversions through strategic alignment of community and business goals, in particular:

👉 Why community should act as a horizontal layer across all company departments.

👉 How storytelling and anecdotal wins can help prove the ROI of the community.

👉 The key challenges of building community across digital and hybrid spaces.

👉 How to encourage other teams to adopt a community mindset.

👉 A strategy to map your community goals to your business goals.

Join Yurii Lazaruk, the Community Consultant, and Barry McDonald, a community growth expert skilled in building relationships and networks who empowers founders to scale with purpose, in connecting community goals with business goals to drive business growth!

Connect with Barry and Yurii on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-mcdonald-05964929/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Meet Barry McDonald

(00:52) Defining Community Goals

(02:25) The Power of Connections

(04:25) Driving Business Goals Through Community

(06:03) Becoming a Super Connector

(09:50) Collaborating Across Teams

(15:14) Measuring Community Success

(20:45) Challenges in Community Building

#communityROI #communitybuilding #businessgrowth