Community-led Growth for SaaS Brands & How to Start Building Yours Today

Forget features. Forget benefits. The SaaS brands that win aren’t the ones just shouting about how clever their tech is, because everyone is shouting. The ones that are winning long-term are the ones that make people feel something. The ones that build connection, pride and belonging.

Right now, loyalty is fragile. New competitors powered by AI launch overnight. Switching tools takes a few clicks. And let’s be honest, buyers are tired of being sold at.

What they really want is to feel like they matter, not just another username in your system. They want to trust the people behind the platform. They want to feel seen, supported and proud to be part of what you’re building.

That’s what community does. It turns users into believers and customers into advocates.

Community isn’t a nice-to-have for SaaS. It’s part of your growth engine. This is what leads us to the concept of Community-Led Growth (CLG).

Why Community Matters in SaaS

Most SaaS marketing is transactional. Feature lists, demos, offers, data and stats. It works in the short term, but it doesn’t build loyalty.

In fact, 80% of customers say the experience a company creates is as important as its products or services (Salesforce). If your brand only talks about features, you’re missing the part that actually drives retention: the human experience.

Human experience can’t be faked. People connect when it feels real, not forced. When you let your team show up as themselves, when you let customers tell their own stories, when your partners bring their personality, that’s what builds trust.

Community changes everything. You stop being just another tool and start becoming the tool people believe in. You don’t just have customers, you have champions who want to be part of what you’re building.

That’s why Industry research suggests that around 58% of leading SaaS companies now run dedicated brand or product communities. (PeerSignal) They see it as a core growth driver, not a side project. Community is no longer an experiment. It’s becoming the standard for SaaS growth.

When people feel connected to your brand, the benefits are huge:

• Trust: buyers know who you are, not just what you sell.

  
  

• Stickiness: people stay longer when they feel connected.

  
  

• Advocacy: users tag you, recommend you and do your marketing for you.

  
  

Community is more than marketing. It is culture. And culture is what makes brands unforgettable.

The 3 Pillars of Community-led SaaS

So how do you actually build community into your brand? It starts on the inside and grows outwards.

These three pillars will help you turn connection into culture.

1. Show Up with Heart

Even in tech, people want to see the humans. Share your team, your story and your everyday moments. The coffee catch-ups, the launches, the lessons. Show the people who make your product what it is.

Trust doesn’t come from perfection. It comes from honesty and showing faces. A testimonial with a photo. A founder sharing lessons learned. A developer explaining a new update in their own words.

Here’s the proof: customers who highly trust a business are 88% more likely to buy from them again (Bubble). That is the SaaS holy grail: retention. And trust doesn’t come from features alone. It comes from people — from faces, conversations and real stories.

People buy from people they know, like and trust. Community is how you create that.

2. Build Pride

Start with your internal community. When your team feels valued and connected, they naturally become your biggest advocates. Let them show up as themselves. Celebrate everyone, not just the people at the top.

Share stories, not just stats. Celebrate customer wins, team milestones and moments of kindness. The goal is to create a sense of belonging where everyone feels part of something bigger.

It might be a customer who used your platform to create change. A team member who went the extra mile. A partner who shares your purpose. These are the stories that make people proud to be part of your journey.

Because when people see themselves reflected in your story, they don’t just support your brand. They become your brand.

This is where storytelling matters. You’re not selling the software. You’re selling what it makes possible — the pride, the progress, the people behind it. You’re selling the sizzle, not the steak.

3. Create Ripple Effects

When you build a people-first culture internally, it shows externally. Your team’s energy becomes your brand energy. The way you treat your people becomes the way your customers feel treated.

Every action creates a ripple. A behind-the-scenes photo. A shoutout to a team member. A thank-you post for a customer. These small, authentic moments attract others who want to be part of that energy.

Community is not built overnight. It grows through consistency, care and connection. One story, one face and one moment at a time.

How Smaller SaaS Brands Can Start Building a Community That Scales

Start Where Your Users Already Are

If your audience is active on Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, or Discord – start there.

• Create a private space around a shared purpose of your ICP, not your product.

  Example: Instead of “The AcmeCRM Users Group,” try “The Revenue Ops Community.”

• Keep early goals simple: share insights, gather feedback, and start recognising power users.

Tools: Facebook Groups, Slack, Discord, or even a LinkedIn Group (with consistent moderation).

Nurture a Core Group of Advocates

Before scaling, identify 10–20 active members who naturally help others or share insights.

• Give them small leadership roles (moderating threads, welcoming new members).

• Spotlight them publicly — it builds a sense of ownership and belonging.

  
  

This creates community momentum before any big investment.

Create value beyond conversation. The idea is to let the community generate content, not just consume it.

Transition to an Owned Platform (When It’s Time)

When you’re consistently seeing engagement (e.g., >30% of members posting or reacting weekly), you can migrate to something more permanent:

• Use platforms like Circle, Bettermode, Guild, or Discourse for a more branded experience.

• Add value layers like resource libraries, product feedback forums, and member badges.

This lets you own the data and experience – and gradually phase out reliance on social algorithms.

Notion

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5 Practical Ways SaaS Brands Can Attract a Community on Facebook or Linkedin

It’s easy to talk about community, but what does it look like day to day? Here are five simple shifts you can start making right now on your social channels to attract your community.

1. Put faces on your content.

Founders, engineers, support teams – let people see everyone. Share photos, names and real moments from inside your company. Faces build trust faster than any headline ever could.

2. Celebrate your users.

Show how people are winning with your product. Tell their stories. Share their success in their own words. You’re not just growing a user base, you’re growing a movement.

3. Make your values visible.

Talk about what you stand for and why you do what you do. When people connect with your purpose, they’ll stay through the product updates and the pivots.

4. Partner up.

Collaborate with other SaaS tools, integrations or service providers. Co-create content, host joint events and cross-pollinate your communities. Growth feels better when everyone wins.

5. Show behind the scenes.

Share what’s happening behind the scenes — the roadmaps, the testing, the fails that led to breakthroughs. Let people feel part of the journey, not just the end result.

Community doesn’t come from polish. It comes from people. From showing your humans, sharing their stories and building a culture that people want to be part of.

Show People. Watch What Happens.

You can spot the difference a mile off.

The SaaS brands that only post polished graphics feel flat. Everything looks perfect, but nothing connects.

Then something changes. They start showing the humans behind the brand.

A founder tells the story of why they started.

A developer shares what they’re proud of this week.

A customer story gets shared in their own words.

Suddenly, people start paying attention. Comments appear. Conversations happen. Trust builds.

That’s the power of showing people.

It turns your product from something people use into something they’re proud to be part of.

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be present. Share your team. Celebrate your users. Be real.

When your SaaS brand builds community, you’re not just growing numbers on a dashboard. You’re building trust. You’re building loyalty. You’re building pride.

And that’s what scales.

About the Author

Vicky is a brand community specialist at Emotion Brands, she uses social media listening and audience insights to shape powerful content strategies that build connection and loyalty. With deep experience in growing online communities and leading a team that drove over £6m in beauty product sales, she knows how to turn engagement into measurable brand impact. Her strategies help clients tune into what their audiences really care about, driving awareness, advocacy and action. Behind the scenes, she’s a master of organisation, project timelines and a lover of spreadsheets!

Follow Vicky on LinkedIn

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