Tuesday, January 02, 2024 by Shelley Hirst

Community-based marketing (CBM) is a relatively new ‘buzz’ for many businesses in the IT Channel.  It's been around for some time, but as with everything, it has evolved.

Some may argue this is a topic that sits firmly in the remit of the marketing team and an initiative they should own and manage. However, the value it brings from reporting in-depth insights into buyer needs means it can also be used to inform sales conversations to optimise time and effectiveness. 

Before brand loyalty, buyers play the field

Social media groups created by businesses on platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook are the way most perceive community channels. Connections made in these groups generate PR between brands and their broader audience beyond prospects and customers. They benefit single brands. 

Whilst brand loyalty is a wonderful thing before audiences know they wish to be loyal, they play the field. Yet they want to make their mind up and are information hungry. Before contacting sales, they look for reliable sources of information (13 on average) that offer value-based content that addresses topics of personal interest in an impartial environment.

How communities offer insight into buyer intent

You know how it works - you click on something that piques your interest and an hour later you’re investigating a problem you didn’t know you had! Those clicks don’t mean you want to speak to or buy from anyone, but you’ve found a great source of information that you can trust and you’ll return to when you’ve looked into it further.

A good community also offers great sales outcomes

From a sales point of view, the only point to any marketing activity is to boost customer
interactions, conversions, and sales. This view, of course, is correct.​
​
But to get to that point, a community needs to offer an environment providing value and information beyond a product or service. It’s an opportunity to build brand and product awareness and trust amongst audiences who need to assimilate information on a broad number of topics.

Access to content when the time is right for them

An IT or Security buyer will be looking for a solution to fix a problem or will have read about a problem that’s starting to be a concern for them or their industry peers. This means a great deal of time online “self-serving” before they’re ready to engage in a 1:1 conversation. Giving them access to information when they need it and at their pace is far more likely to result in a good sales conversation than starting from cold.

It also means they aren't always ready for direct sales information whoever they are.  There are some distinct stages buyers go through when assessing purchases for their businesses and it almost always requires the involvement of more than one persona - not least when it comes to committing to IT and Security purchases which have high-value and extensive licensing commitments.

In short, you'll need to get many more stakeholders onside than just one or two people that like the look and feel of your solution.

Don’t leave them hanging!

When a potential buyer is ready to take the next step and ask for more information, it's vital to have the information ready and signposted for them to find out more. Once they’ve downloaded that whitepaper, the next piece of content needs to be available straight away, and presented in a personalised, engaging way.

These are the broad stages buying groups will explore as they approach the stage (engagement) when they want to speak with someone. The content provided needs to match these stages of requirement.

Build trust through impartiality in a collective brand community

One of the biggest bugbears buyers have is the minute they click on something they are going to be mercilessly pursued to book a meeting when they’re not yet ready to have a conversation.

This means community sites that allow them to visit can visit and become better-informed play a vital role in all the stages of information gathering and project scoping.

2 Key Benefits of CBM

There are many more, but here's a couple to be going on with

1. No more vanity MQLs based on clicks and opens. This approach is consigned to the 2010s where they belong and are replaced by carefully executed campaign delivery that offers high-intent leads with all the necessary information to support why they’re ready for sales engagement. 

2. Sales folks are given superpowers. They’re armed with so much information about the engagement of individual buyers with high-intent markers, it would be difficult not to produce a good outcome.

What’s your next step?

Thank you for reading this far! Perhaps you’re reassuring yourself you have tons of content, a good number of followers on your social pages, a CRM and automation platform that informs salespeople when they need to make calls and an events calendar that’s finally going to kick properly back into gear in 2023.

Sure. But you’re still missing out on an ongoing nurturing programme that offers extra eyes on your content from an already engaged community of over 70K senior enterprise and SMB, IT and Security buying professionals.

If community-based marketing and sales feel like they should be on your agenda, then we’d love to show you how this could be a viable and productive programme in your 2023 calendar.

 

See some of our communities in action! ​​

www.myredfort.com

Sales brands with bespoke buyer micro-communities in a cyber security focused community

www.thecloudcommunity.net
Sales brands with bespoke buyer micro-communites in a cloud technology focused community
client (distributor).

In these we support buyer demand creation for vendors, partners and distributors with single or 2-tier sales and marketing models.

www.techsellers.net
Channel marketplace for vendors seeking partners, partners looking for new technologies, suppliers offering solutions for all. 

Here we support partner recruitment activities.

If you see something you like, please book some time in our diary to chat it through.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Market Activation differ from Demand Generation?
Demand Gen builds broad awareness and interest over time (e.g., whitepapers, webinars).
Market Activation identifies in-market buyers (via intent data, behavioural signals) and immediately engages them with tailored outreach (nurture tracks, one-to-one advisor sessions, community invites).
Market Activation talks about “Demand-as-a-Service”? What’s included in this?
Engagement Engine: Continuous, multi-channel publishing (articles, webinars, newsletters) to sustain interest
Demand Engine: Targeted outreach (email, ads, sponsorships) that scores clicks → qualified leads → sales-ready appointments.
Performance Dashboard: Real-time visibility into open rates, CTOR, CPL and lead progression via our online sales portal.
What role does The Amigos Network play in Market Activation?
Early Detection: Community discussions surface real-world challenges and project signals before formal RFPs.
Content Amplification: Thought leadership shared in The Amigos Network drives deeper engagement and social proof.
Peer Validation: Prospects get candid feedback from peers on your solutions, shortening the evaluation cycle.
Pipeline Catalysis: Warm introductions and referral paths within the community fuel high- intent conversations.
How do B2B communities like The Amigos Network fit into the sales process?
  • Top-of-Funnel: Build credibility through community content and events.
  • Mid-Funnel: Leverage peer case studies, expert Q&As, and live demos to answer deep technical questions.
  • Bottom-of-Funnel: Invite high-intent members to advisory councils or private 1:1 sessions, often the final nudge before purchase.
How does The Amigos Network create Intent Data?
  1. Interesting content: We originate, curate, and syndicate different types of content we know our audiences want to engage with and tell them it’s there.
  2. Sponsored content: We use sponsored content to drive engagement with individual brands.
  3. Promotion: We promote that content via multiple channels such as email, social media, YouTube, and so on.
  4. Identification: We ingest company-level engagement signals and combine it with known contacts that may be researching key topics.
  5. Segmentation: Members are bucketed by level of intent (high, medium, low) plus ICP fit and company size.
  6. Activation: High-intent members receive prioritised community invitations (events, focus groups, product deep-dives) to accelerate deals.
Is buying intent data worth it when you’re part of The Amigos Network?
Yes, if you blend purchased intent data with community signals and nurture streams, it makes a powerful mix, but it is not necessary for this programme.
  • Purchased data highlights who’s in-market.
  • Community engagement reveals what questions they’re asking, so your nurture can be hyper-relevant.
  • Result: A 2–3× lift in meeting acceptance and pipeline velocity vs. cold outreach alone.
Is buying intent data worth it?
It turns out that intent data is one of the best ways to find and target in-market buyers who match your ideal customer profile (ICP). Intent data shows at a company level who's actively interested in a product or service area. Depending on your investment, it will determine whether you can get named individuals.
Why would I buy intent data?
As a starting point to onward prospect engagement and pipeline building for the future. The best use of it comes from entering it into marketing nurture until such point it becomes a sales-ready opportunity.
Is intent data good for sales teams?
It depends. If it’s seen as a fast-track to dropping it into a sales queue, then ROI will be poor. It is valuable if given to marketing to nurture first and pass it through when it becomes high-intent, rather than “just showing an interest.”
Is it better to buy or create intent data?
Buying it is one approach, but it’s what you do next with it that counts. Dropping it into a sales queue and expecting a potential buyer to be asking “where do I sign” is unlikely to happen, especially for strategic or big-ticket purchases. Buying basic intent information should be the first step in a long-term nurture process designed to build an ongoing pipeline in a joined-up marketing and sales approach.
Is purchased intent data alone enough to fast track to sales?
No.
How should Sales and Marketing collaborate on intent in The Amigos Network?
  • Marketing owns the nurture tracks, community invites, educational content, and event promos.
  • Sales intervenes only at “high-intent + active community engagement” thresholds, with account-specific demos and peer introductions.
  • Outcome: Fewer wasted calls and a higher win rate on truly qualified opportunities.
How do we measure success for Market Activation in The Amigos Network?
  • Engagement Metrics: Community log-ins, event attendance, content downloads.
  • Intent Conversion: % of intent-scored members who join private roundtables or request demos.
  • Pipeline Velocity: Time from first community touch to opportunity creation.
  • Revenue Impact: Contribution of community-sourced deals to overall bookings.
What key metrics and ROI can be expected?
  • Average Weekly Open Rate: 40%
  • Average Weekly Click-to-Open Rate: 70%
  • Average Cost-per-Lead: £45
  • Minimum ROI: 500%
  • Average Dwell Times: 1 minute 45 seconds
These benchmarks illustrate strong engagement and cost efficiency versus standard digital campaigns.