So you want your community campaigns to actually pay off—not just look good in a slide deck. If you’re managing a member community and need to run real campaigns (think: events, challenges, onboarding pushes, or “let’s actually get people talking” efforts), this guide’s for you. We’ll walk through how to use Commsor to get your campaign out the door, see what’s working, and not drown in data or hype.
Step 1: Know What You’re Trying to Do
Before you even open a tool, be honest about why you’re running this campaign. “Increase engagement” sounds nice, but it’s meaningless unless you pin it down. What do you actually want?
- More people posting in your forum?
- Higher attendance at your next event?
- Turning lurkers into contributors?
- Getting feedback on a new feature?
Pro tip: Pick one or two concrete goals. If you chase everything, you’ll track nothing.
Step 2: Sketch Out Your Campaign
A campaign isn’t just a one-off post or a single event. It’s a coordinated push—maybe a theme week, a new member challenge, or a feedback drive. Write out:
- Who: Who do you care about reaching? (New members, power users, everyone?)
- What: What exactly will you do? (Posts, events, emails, DMs?)
- When: Start and end dates. Be realistic—longer isn’t always better.
- Why: How will you know if it worked? (See Step 4 for more.)
Don’t overcomplicate it. If your campaign plan doesn’t fit on a page, you’re probably making it too big.
Step 3: Set Up Your Campaign in Commsor
Now you’re ready to actually use Commsor. The platform connects to your community tools (Slack, Discord, Discourse, etc.) and pulls data into one dashboard. Here’s how to get going:
3.1 Connect Your Community Platforms
- Go to your Commsor workspace.
- Connect every channel where your campaign will run (Slack, forum, events tool, etc.).
- Double-check that all integrations are pulling in fresh data. If something’s broken, fix it before you launch.
Heads up: Commsor’s integrations are good, but not magic. Sometimes platforms change their APIs. If your data looks off, trust your gut.
3.2 Create a Campaign “Project” or Tag
- Use Commsor’s “Projects” or “Tags” feature to group everything related to this campaign.
- Tag relevant events, posts, or member actions.
- This makes it way easier to track later.
If your community platform doesn’t integrate perfectly, you might need to do some manual tagging or spreadsheet work. It’s annoying, but better than pretending you have data you don’t.
3.3 Draft Your Messaging and Assets
- Get your campaign posts, emails, or event invites ready.
- If you’re using templates inside Commsor, great—if not, just keep it simple.
- Make sure you have clear calls to action (CTA) for each touchpoint.
Don’t waste time on fancy graphics unless it’s critical. Most communities respond to clear, personal posts—not design awards.
Step 4: Define What You’ll Measure (And What to Ignore)
Here’s where most people get overwhelmed. Commsor gives you a ton of metrics, but most of them don’t matter for every campaign. Focus only on numbers that tie back to your original goals.
Metrics That Actually Matter
- Participation: Who showed up? (Event RSVPs, post replies, poll votes)
- Engagement: Did people do what you wanted? (Comments, reactions, sign-ups)
- Conversion: Did the campaign cause members to move from one state to another? (Lurker to poster, attendee to organizer)
- Retention: Did they stick around after the campaign ended?
Metrics to Ignore (Most of the Time)
- Vanity metrics (impressions, reach—unless your brand really needs them)
- “Active users” if it’s not tied to your CTA
- Random “engagement scores” with fuzzy math
Pro tip: If you can’t explain your chosen metric to a friend in one sentence, it’s probably not worth tracking.
Step 5: Launch and Track in Real Time
Push your campaign live. As it runs:
- Use Commsor’s dashboards to watch key stats (the ones you picked earlier).
- Set up alerts or digests for major milestones—like hitting 50 RSVPs or crossing a participation threshold.
- Don’t micromanage every hour, but don’t ignore the numbers either.
If Something’s Not Working…
- Check your CTAs: Are you actually telling people what you want them to do?
- Look for drop-off points: Are people opening the invite but not signing up? Are they RSVPing but not showing up?
- Don’t be afraid to tweak as you go—change the messaging, try a different channel, or ask a few members for honest feedback.
Step 6: Measure Results (Honestly)
Once the campaign wraps up, it’s tempting to cherry-pick results to make yourself look good. Don’t do it. Here’s what to do instead:
- Pull the real numbers from Commsor. Export them if you need to.
- Compare against your original goals. Did you actually move the needle? Or just make noise?
- For qualitative campaigns (like “improve community vibe”), look for actual quotes or stories, not just numbers.
What If the Campaign Flopped?
- Don’t sugarcoat it. Figure out what didn’t work—timing, messaging, too many steps, wrong audience?
- Use Commsor’s member-level data to see who engaged and who didn’t. Sometimes you learn more from no-shows than from your superfans.
Step 7: Share What You Learned (Internally or Externally)
- Put together a short summary. One slide or a few bullet points is fine.
- Share both wins and misses. “We doubled replies in our feedback thread, but barely anyone joined the event.”
- Suggest one thing you’d change next time.
This is how you actually get better. Not by pretending everything is a success.
Step 8: Rinse, Repeat, and Keep It Simple
You don’t need a new tool or a new process for every campaign. The best community managers keep their playbook short:
- Plan it
- Set up tracking
- Launch and adjust
- Measure honestly
- Share and improve
Commsor is helpful, but it won’t run your campaign for you. It’s a dashboard, not a magic wand.
Quick recap: Campaigns don’t have to be complicated. Pick a goal, set it up in Commsor, track what actually matters, and learn as you go. The best results come from tight feedback loops and a willingness to drop what isn’t working. Keep it simple, stay honest, and don’t let dashboards distract you from what matters: real connections in your community.