No more chasing social media algorithms – community is here. Here’s how to make connections that matter.

Anyone else uninterested in playing games on social media? Lately, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by platforms, content, and the rat race to produce more and be seen more – which ultimately seems to turn into more and more virtue signaling. as New York Times recently stated, “Social media is becoming less social in many ways.”

As an entrepreneur, agency owner, and go-to-market expert in SaaS and Fintech, I have a lot to say and a lot of experiences to share, but recently, irrespective of where I go, I feel like the loudest voice wins. The most controversial. The most fun. Regardless of its suitability for the platform.

It’s hard to ignore or compete with when you are trying to build a brand and attract potential customers. Being seen is vital. However, I might argue that the growing trend towards community building is a clear sign that people want to do business in a different way. Many of us are uninterested in the noise, the lack of connection and authenticity. It should be possible to find the right connection and share resources. Enter the community.

Before we set out on the community journey, we talked to dozens of individuals in our audience (founders, revenue leaders) about what they thought about communities – what they wanted from them and what they hated about them.

Emerging leaders want more support

While social media makes us feel more connected and aware, the reality that emerges from our research is that emerging leaders feel more isolated than ever. And with budgets being cut left, right and center, there is little internal business support for skills development, mentoring or peer feedback and guidance.

Many have hit a wall in their careers, and the regular playbooks they used not work in a post-pandemic world; They are desperately looking for recent ideas and ways of working to meet the challenges they face.

For this reason, we are seeing an increase in personal branding posts, with many people believing that repeating the same leadership patterns and formats will likely be noticed and their current skilled situation will likely be fixed. This, combined with the increasing use of artificial intelligence in content creation, leaves you with a noisy feed.

Perhaps that is why it was vital to them that communities be personal. They wanted to establish useful contacts their the future, not only of your organization. As one interviewee told us: “You need communities where you can share ideas so you don’t feel alone. Plus, open and honest conversations about what works and what doesn’t. It’s like therapy! I made many contacts, including friends, and that’s how I got a new job.”

Why executive leaders need community too

If it’s lonely inside, it’s definitely deserted upstairs. Most of the people we spoke to wanted more community in their working lives, but were dissatisfied with what was on offer. Managers were burnt out because they were being sold in every single place they went and hearing the same superficial messages from the same people on every forum. Many people were overly focused on technology solutions and wanted intelligent, motion-based conversations to help them move forward and drive growth.

This has led to stark differences between what managers in the community want and need and what emerging leaders want and need. These included clear time commitments, focus, greater intimacy and trust. As one marketing director stated, “I’m busy. I’m tired. I need immediate value and I need to know what that looks like.”

Another, former board member of several FTSE 100 corporations and now founder, said: “It’s nice to be in a community of like-minded people facing similar challenges. A whole lot of my peers have really high positions and they sometimes cannot talk to anyone. Finding empathy is very vital, as is a secure, non-judgmental space in which to lead with generosity. I’m not interested in BS.

As Christina Garnett, an award-winning community builder formerly at HubSpot, told us: “For executives, a community must offer a sense of exclusivity and trust, prioritizing quality of interaction over quantity. This experience ought to be designed for efficiency, enabling quick and meaningful exchanges between a fastidiously chosen network of colleagues and leaders focused on sharing useful insights. In this environment, executives’ limited time is respected, facilitating real connections and strategic discussions that encourage mutual development and effective collaboration.

How to find (or build) a community

My team has learned the hard way that this is not an easy task – but it is a long-term strategy to increase engagement. And no one needs one other lame, disengaged community. If you are on the hunt for a community that deliversor feel a calling to create one, here are six key aspects to consider:

1. Ensure exclusivity and relevance: Communities, especially those for executives, should be exclusive and fastidiously curated to maintain membership among peers with similar levels of experience and challenge. This helps keep discussions substantive and extremely useful.

2. Premium content and networking opportunities: It is vital that the content and events delivered are concise, top quality and directly tailored to the needs of members. Whether through expert-led sessions or workshops on pressing topics corresponding to digital transformation, the aim is to provide strategies that may be implemented immediately. Networking also needs to be facilitated at a high level with organized events that promote authentic connections (do not forget to add some fun too!).

3. Convenience and accessibility: Given their busy schedules, executives will profit from a social platform that allows for asynchronous engagement and is optimized for mobile devices. This improves user experience and increases lively participation.

4. Strict privacy and security controls: The platform must use state-of-the-art encryption (potentially even NDAs) to create a secure space for open and honest discussion.

5. Tailored analytics and real-world applications: Each piece of content (e.g. case studies, success stories) ought to be designed to provide a tactic or strategy that may be directly applied to business growth and operational efficiency.

6. Feedback and customization: Regular feedback ought to be obtained from all members. This will help improve the offering and ensure that the community evolves in line with changing member needs and industry trends.

The ultimate goal is to maintain wealthy content, relevant discussions and meaningful connections.

Turn down the volume

This is definitely not a call for every company to start a community tomorrow.

But I think it highlights the need for all of us to do higher in editing and curating, creating higher experiences, discussions, and secure spaces for our network to grow and learn. It also highlights the need to create more authentic voices, moderately than competing to shout the loudest. I think we could all profit from going back to basics and finding a community that works for us. It’s time to stop chasing the algorithm and as a substitute get back to creating a real connection.