Snap, Crackle, and Pop. The Three Stooges. The final trio of Destiny’s Child. There’s just something about threes that stick. And when it comes to community, the same pattern shows up—whether you’re trying to prove ROI or pitch your executives on why this work matters.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked to prove the value of community. Back in my Salesforce days, I used to show up to executive meetings armed with a ton of passion, and just a little bit of data. I knew the community was working, but I didn’t always have the numbers to back it up.
Fast-forward a few years, and the good news is: we do have the data now. I wrote about this shift years ago in a post called “It’s All About That Data”—because once you understand how to talk about data, everything changes.
And it turns out, the best way to tell the ROI story? Break it into three. Because good things come in threes.
Let’s talk about the new way to measure community impact—through a 3-level framework that goes beyond vanity metrics and anchors your work to outcomes that actually matter to your business.
For a deeper dive into the full strategy (with examples), watch the on-demand webinar here.
Level 1: Activity Metrics—Your Baseline Pulse Check
It’s time to fall in love with data, even if numbers aren’t your thing. You don’t need to be a data scientist. But you do need to make business impact your wheelhouse.
Most folks are familiar with your classic engagement metrics. Think:
- Monthly Active Users (MAU)
- Unique visits
- Posts, replies, return visits
- New members
They’re essential. They help you understand if your community is breathing. But—and I say this with love—don’t get stuck here. MAU can’t be the only hill we die on. (That said, don’t ignore what leaders do gravitate toward: new member growth. It’s not the full story, but it’s a stat that gets attention.)
What good looks like:
- MAU (Monthly Active Users) vs. total members: ~20% is sign of success
- Superusers: Top 1% of your community members that contribute 25–30% of the content in your community.
- Peer-to-Peer Solutions: 70–80% is a sign your community is very self-sufficient
- Thread Depth: ~3–5 replies per post indicates healthy, useful conversations.
If you’re starting a community from scratch and don’t know how to begin to estimate your future traffic start here:
30-10-10 Rule: Over a 30-day window, expect ~10% of your .com visitors to click through to the community, and ~10% of those to contribute content. Originally coined by Joe Cothrel, this rule is a helpful directional benchmark to pressure-test early conversion and engagement rates.
This level is about building the foundation. But to get buy-in, you have to keep climbing. And always frame your metrics against an external benchmark. Without context, your numbers won’t stick.
Level 2: Department Impact Metrics—Speak Their Language
This is where most teams think they want to be—and honestly, where most of your internal champions need you to be. Here, you map community metrics to real departmental outcomes.
- Support: Case deflection, faster issue detection
- Marketing: New advocates, content contributors, and higher brand affinity
- Product: Feedback loops, ideation, and usage insights
- Customer Success: Reduced time-to-value, improved health scores
Let’s talk about one of my favorites, case deflection. You don’t need to overcomplicate the math. Here are two approaches I’ve used:
| Calculating Case Deflection ROI With Survey Data:
(100,000 Community Visits × 50% Seeking Support × 60% Resolution Rate × 40% Deflection Rate × $35 Cost per Support Case) − $90,000 Community Overhead Cost = $330,000 in Annual Support Savings 🧮 What This Means: 100,000 visits to your community platform 50% of visitors are looking for support 60% of those questions are resolved in the community 40% of those resolved issues would have otherwise become support tickets $35 is your average cost per support case Subtract $90,000 in community management and platform costs You still save $330,000 a year |
Even without direct survey input, you can still model potential savings using activity metrics from your community:
| Calculating Case Deflection ROI Without Survey Data:
1,500 Community Answers × 25 Average Page Views per Answer = deflection calculation × 85% Community-Contributed Content × $75 Cost per Support Case) − $120,000 Community Overhead Cost = $2,270,625 in Annual Support Savings 🔍 Behind the Math 1,500 questions answered in the community Each answer receives 25 views on average = considered a deflection 85% of content is contributed by community members (vs. internal team) $75 average cost to resolve a case through support Subtract $120,000 for platform + program costs And you’re left with $2.27M in potential deflection-driven savings |
Level 3: Strategic Business Outcomes—Align to the C-Suite
Want to get serious about buy-in? Start by literally writing down what your execs care about—churn, adoption, cross-sell—and connect the dots to your community’s influence.
The moment your community ties into these metics, you stop being a “nice to have” and start being a growth engine.
At Salesforce, we compared two cohorts: one group that actively engaged in the Trailblazer Community, and one that didn’t. (I go deeper into this in my CMX talk a few years ago, Building Community is Smart Business—you can watch the full presentation here.)
To put it simply, active community participation moved the needle in a big way:
- 2.5x more pipeline
- 2x larger deal sizes
- 33% higher product adoption
- 3x lower attrition
These weren’t power users. They just posted, commented, asked or answered questions within a 12-month period. And that light engagement had a massive business impact.
What this means: If you want to stay top of mind with execs, show them how community contributes to:
- Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
- Cross-sell and upsell
- Product adoption
- CSM efficiency (via saved time and self-service enablement)
You’re not just influencing outcomes—you’re accelerating them.
Final Thought: Don’t Just Measure—Tell the Story
The best metrics in the world won’t land if they’re not wrapped in a story your company cares about. Data alone often fails to inspire action, change minds, or rally teams because it lacks the emotional and contextual elements that make information meaningful and memorable. The keys to why storytelling is so critical to bringing your data to life:
- A story explains the “why” behind the numbers, connecting data to real-world scenarios and company goals.
- People remember stories far better than isolated statistics, which helps key messages stick
- When everyone understands the story behind the data, they can work together more effectively toward shared objectives
This work is hard. It’s nuanced. But it’s also incredibly powerful.
So whether you’re just getting started or deep into your maturity journey, remember: good things come in threes.
The Sanderson sisters knew it. (ROI magic? Always.) So did those friendly cereal elves. And if community is going to earn its seat at the strategy table, this is your moment to show why the rule of threes applies here too.
Watch the full webinar on-demand to hear the real stories, real math, and real lessons that brought this framework to life.
Let me know what metrics you’ve used—or struggled to explain. I’d love to compare notes.
Follow Erica Kuhl for bold ideas on how to help your customers learn what matters, adopt what drives real value, connect with peers, and succeed by orchestrating the entire customer journey.
