The biggest mistake brands make is thinking they need to build a community to drive sales. The reverse is actually true. You don't create a community to sell things; you earn the right to sell things by providing so much value to a group of people that a community forms as a natural result.
The popular advice, of course, is to build a Facebook group or a Slack channel alongside your product launch. We hear success stories like the one from the XO Marshmallow founders on Shopify Masters, who grew their business by fostering a tight-knit group of fans, starting at farmers markets and translating that in-person connection online. The idea is that this community provides invaluable product feedback, endless user-generated content, and a loyal base of brand advocates who defend you and recruit new customers. In this view, community is a marketing channel and a defensive moat all in one.
But this view confuses an audience with a community and puts the cart way before the horse. Most of what brands call a "community" is really just a mailing list or a social media following. It's a channel for the brand to talk at people. A true community involves member-to-member connections, and that's much harder to orchestrate. A better approach, as highlighted in another Shopify Masters episode, is to find an existing passion and serve it. One brand did this by making content for the already-thriving sneakerhead world. They didn't try to create "The Sneakerhead Community;" they simply showed up, provided value, and were accepted by the community that was already there. They tapped into an existing passion.
Similarly, the journey of a YouTuber who started selling products based on audience requests shows the correct sequence of events. You build an audience with valuable content first, listen to what they need, and then launch a product. The community supports the creator they already trust, not a random new product. As Jon Larkin explained on The EcomCrew Ecommerce Podcast, this is about transitioning from creating demand to supplying it. A community isn't great for creating demand out of thin air, but it's fantastic for helping you supply an existing demand more effectively.
So, what should you do instead of launching a "community" on day one? First, forget your product and define your "who." Are you serving new parents, fly fishers, miniature painters? Pinpoint a group of people with a shared identity or problem. Second, serve them relentlessly with content, tools, or expert knowledge. Don’t ask for anything in return. If you're solving a real problem for them, an audience will gather. Finally, listen. As you engage with this audience, they will tell you exactly what they're willing to pay for. Those ideas, which often come from launching products based on community feedback, are the foundation of a sustainable ecommerce business. You aren't just selling a product; you're serving your people. The community, and the sales, will follow from that.