Community channel research

Purpose

Community forums can be a source of buyer conversations, but a brand that posts in the wrong community is removed, banned, or ignored. This skill chooses which communities are worth taking part in, using evidence from what people actually ask, and records the rules that will constrain posting in each.

When to use

• A team is deciding which communities to take part in.
• A community is being considered for a campaign and its fit is unknown.
• A community's rules or norms have changed and need re-checking.

Route elsewhere when:

• The question is whether a particular post is allowed. Use community-post-preflight.
• The question is how to behave in a community once a member. Use community-comment-safety.
• The question is whether a new account is ready. Use community-account-warmup.

Inputs

• The problem language the buyer uses, in their own words.
• Adjacent niches where the buyer might also ask questions.
• The brand's purpose in the community: answering questions, sharing research, or hosting discussion.

Procedure

1. Search wide on problem language, not the category name. The communities where buyers ask questions often do not carry the product category in their name.
2. Inspect each candidate:
   • size,
   • community type. Restricted or private communities are dropped, because only approved members can post.
   • posting rules,
   • the top and rising posts this week.
3. Judge fit from the content, not the size. Ask whether people in the community ask the questions the product answers. A smaller community with daily buying questions is worth more than a large one with none.
4. Check the community's wiki or pinned rules for posting norms that the rules list does not show, such as required formats, promotion windows, or minimum account history.
5. Vet five candidates before adding more. A small, careful shortlist is easier to manage than a long one.
6. Deliver the shortlist. For each community: its name, size, why it fits with a sample thread, and the rules that constrain posting there. Leave the choice of what to track to the team.

Output

• A shortlist of communities, each with its size, fit evidence, and posting constraints.
• The communities skipped, with the reason for each.

Quality bar

Searches start from the buyer's words. Each shortlisted community has a sample thread as evidence of fit. Restricted and private communities are excluded. Posting rules are recorded per community. Watch for a shortlist built on size, a category name search that misses the buyer's language, and rules taken from the summary without the wiki.