Slideshow with Dave Hayward, Ep 12, Season 2 (#25)
Episode links
Chanel Clark launched The Marketing Club from someone else’s stage. She had a microphone, 100 marketers in front of her and three bullet points of a plan. She counted down from three and announced it.
Within a week, 180 marketers had joined. Today there are more than 19,000 across Australia and New Zealand. The plan had been a coffee meetup for 30 people once a month. She didn’t bother with a fancy name.
In this live conversation, recorded at the Podcast Bach that Stu Lees created at the Business Expo in Auckland, Chanel explains why community became her answer to a lonely industry. Too many marketers are the first hire, the only hire, or working for a manager who doesn’t know what marketing is.
She makes the case for community as a channel for almost any business, from FMCG to wealth management, with one hard condition. People who join are trusting you, so if you can’t keep showing up, don’t start. She also explains why community turns “you are not your customer” on its head, why admitting you don’t know what you’re doing brings people onto your side, and how a 900-likes challenge got Jon Evans to Marketer’s Day in Sydney and Auckland on back-to-back days.
Links and things
Slideshow with Dave Hayward podcast links:
Produced by Europa Creative Partners
Chapters
00:00 Can’t commit long term? Don’t start a community
01:45 The marketer who was always a team of one
05:00 From a coffee meetup to 19,000 marketers
08:15 Why community breaks the “you are not your customer” rule
11:15 Organic growth is amazing, and terrifying
12:30 How she got Jon Evans to two cities in two days
17:15 Any business can build a community
20:15 The three basics before you start
Keywords
community building, how to build a community, community marketing, brand community, community-led growth, The Marketing Club, Chanel Clark, marketing community Australia and New Zealand, organic growth, marketing team of one, customer insight, Jon Evans, Podcast Bach, Slideshow with Dave Hayward
FAQ (for humans and search engines)
How do I start building a community for my business?
Start by defining what the community would do for the business: bring customers together, educate them, or connect people who share the same frustrations. Then work out what format they actually want, whether that’s webinars, networking or a Saturday morning run. Finally, check you can keep showing up. Chanel says that without those three basics, you’ll fail fast.
Does every business need a community?
No. Chanel says community won’t suit everyone, so first work out why it should be a channel for your business and what value it gives members. Once that’s clear, she has seen it work for FMCG brands, wealth and tax firms, and small businesses alike.
Why do brand communities fail?
Most fail on consistency. A community built for a three-month campaign that then disappears breaks the trust people gave you. Chanel’s test is simple: if you can’t commit long term, don’t start, because once you’ve told your audience you’re doing it, it’s hard to back out.
How did The Marketing Club grow to 19,000 members?
Chanel announced it on stage at a Tracksuit event with three bullet points of a plan, then posted about it on LinkedIn the next day. 180 marketers joined that week. Growth has been entirely organic, driven by her LinkedIn following, which also pulled the club into Australia, where it grew ten times as fast as New Zealand.
Should you be your own customer when you build a community?
Marketing 101 says you are not your customer. Chanel says community turns that on its head: being one of the marketers she was building for meant she already understood their problem. She calls it the superpower she underestimated.
