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What’s in a name? Best-in-Class Communities

November 25, 2024 By Jim Storer

Over the years, we’ve highlight “Best-in-Class” communities in our State of Community Management Research.

The Best-in-Class defines a segment of respondents to the State of Community Management 2024 survey that represent a mature, effective online community program. Our reporting directly reflects feedback from readers suggesting this is a critical piece in understanding how communities evolve.

2024 Best-in-Class Elements

To create the 2024 best-in-class segment, we included the communities with ALL of the following elements:

  • An approved community strategy
  • An approved community roadmap
  • A formal community leadership program exists
  • Most community roles are defined
  • Policies and guidelines both exist

The resulting Best-in-Class Communities segment in the 2024 report is 13% of the overall sample (up from 12% last year) and we continued to find evidence that they are leading the way throughout this year’s research.

best-in-class communities

Who are these Best-in-Class organizations?

While they represent a wide range of industries, “high tech/telecom/software” remains the largest segment at 54% of the total. Best-in-class community programs are likely to reside in larger organizations, with 57% of the total coming from organizations with 5,000+ employees.

Best-in-Class communities in 2024 also skew older – 70% of the best-in- class community programs have existed for 10+ years (up from 57% in 2023). The majority are a “network of communities” (62%) vs. a single community (38%). 81% are external/customer communities, 14% are internal/employee communities, and the balance cater to both audiences.

You can download the State of Community Management 2024 to learn more about how Best-in-Class communities are performing, and get ideas and advice for moving your community program closer to Best-in-Class status. You may already be there – you can use this free assessment to benchmark your community program and identify strengths and opportunities for grown.

best-in-class communities

About Jim Storer

Jim has always been interested in bringing people together and connecting them to one another, whether it’s for events, online communities or a food/craft beer tasting. Connect with Jim on Twitter or Linkedin.

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