Good day Community, and thank you @Kirstie Macfarlane.
Normally I am asking questions, today I am sharing :-)
As Community Managers, we build trust, strengthen brand loyalty, educate clients, reduce formal tickets, and minimize churn. How do we achieve these goals, prove community value, and its impact on the organization? The answers lie in data. Dashboards are the ultimate tools to demonstrate community health, uncover member insights, and identify growth opportunities. In this blog, I’ll share three dashboards that highlight community health metrics, measure content popularity, and identify potential advocates.
1. Community Health Dashboard
Understanding your community's health is essential to proving its value. Month-over-month growth in these metrics demonstrates that your community and engagement are growing. Tracking Accepted Answer Views highlights how the community serves as a self-sustaining knowledge base, reducing the need for formal support tickets while improving the customer experience. By visualizing this data, you can provide leadership with a clear picture of how the community drives value and supports broader business objectives.
2. Content Popularity Dashboard
Too often, brands create content based on assumptions about what their audience wants. I want to identify which topics resonate most with community members. By analyzing blog views and engagement rates, you can work with your content creators to help them understand content your customers value (and what they don’t). For instance, if you notice a spike in interest around a particular topic, you can collaborate with internal experts to create more of what your audience is asking for. This data-driven approach ensures that your content strategy aligns with your members’ needs, fostering trust and long-term loyalty.
3. Potential Advocates Dashboard
Every vibrant community depends on its advocates: those passionate, knowledgeable members who go above and beyond to contribute. This dashboard highlights key behaviors such as:
- Visits by Customers
- Searches by Customers
- Questions asked by Customers
- Comments provided by Customers vs Employees
- Questions Answered by Customers vs Employees
- Customers with the Most Accepted Answers
Identifying these contributors allows you to engage with them on a deeper level. Reach out, thank them for their efforts, and make them feel valued. Their participation strengthens the community while providing valuable insights into how customers use and perceive your product. As the movie Apollo 13 taught me, customers care about what your product was designed to do (internal knowledge) AND what it can do (external knowledge). By nurturing these advocates and encouraging their contributions, you create a powerful blend of internal expertise and external experience that benefits the entire community.
Let’s Collaborate
I hope these dashboards inspire you to think about how data can transform your approach to community management. I’d love to hear about the dashboards you’ve created and the insights they’ve uncovered. What metrics do you prioritize? How do you present your findings to stakeholders?
If you have questions about why I’ve chosen these dashboards or want to collaborate on new ideas, let’s have a conversation. Together, we can continue to unlock the full potential of our communities.
Cheers,
Toby
