Past
Marketers ran an event or a newsletter in bursts and judged it by sign-ups.
ACADEMY · DRONICS · MAKE THE MARKET AND YOUR PARTNERS SELL YOU
Learn DRONICS-C: Community
Build a place where practitioners learn from each other, and stay with it for years.
Motion: Community (practitioners, meetups and the academy; the long game) · Owner: your CMO and channel head
Four steps: read the letter, read the lenses, take the self-assessment, then pick one or two gaps. All learning paths.
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Do things that do not scale: talk to members one to one, and listen more than you present.
Be a publisher and a host: show up every week or month, and let members see the same faces.
Statements are from this letter's self-assessment. Nothing is pre-filled and nothing is stored.
PAST AND FUTURE
DRONICS-C: the story in two lines
Marketers will work differently with agents. This is what changes for this letter, and what stays with a person.
Present to future
Community becomes a long-term place where practitioners learn from one another and stay. It is led by people, and judged by who returns and what members say.
What the agent does
Drafts agendas, member notes and academy updates marked draft, and records who returned and what members asked for.
What the marketer or CMO decides
Whether to start or continue, who hosts, and what the company commits. Member names and quotes appear only with permission.
Shifts used here: S3 From campaigns to always-on; S8 From one-way outbound to community and partner-led. Read the full framework and sources.
1. What the agent does
Agents check, draft, map and record. A person approves anything that leaves the company.
- Choose the community model that fits the business goal: a product community, a practice community or an interest community.
- Check the people and time the community needs before starting; a community needs dedicated people.
- Draft agendas, member notes and academy updates that give value without pitching.
- Package a brief for the strategist: the next meetup, the host and the topic.
- After human action, record who returned and what members asked for, and update the maturity position.
Where a person approves
- The strategist decides the model, the host, the rules and any spend, and owns the community.
- Approval of every public post, invitation and event before it goes out.
- Member names, stories and quotes appear only with the member's permission.
- Named companies are examples of a type only; never imply a relationship with them.
Maturity scale (DRONICS): Unaware, Reactive, Targeted, Orchestrated, Demand engine. Full letter page
2. The leader lens
How other well-regarded B2B marketing leaders would approach this letter, each named with a source. These are their opinions, not evidence about any company, and none of them has a relationship with Foundronics.
How to apply
- L17 (Booth): Treat community as a long-term brand strategy, not a three-month pipeline play. It needs dedicated resources and leadership support, a model that fits the goal, and in-person time to build lasting trust. The source is an interviewer's summary, so the wording may be paraphrased.
- L13 (Verna): Trust is the thing that now grows a business. Staff the community properly, and treat word of mouth as the strongest sign. This is her opinion and observation, not a study.
A person decides: the strategist approves which leader-lens suggestions are used; agents draft and check only.
Sources for this lens
- L17. Community is a long-term brand strategy, not a three-month pipeline play. It needs dedicated people, a model that fits the goal, and in-person trust. The source is an interviewer’s summary. Source (from a third party’s summary; check before quoting)
- L13. Growth is now a trust problem. Employee voices, creators who truly match your audience, and staffed community build trust. This is her opinion, not a study. Source
3. The CMO lens
What a good B2B CMO would do for this letter. The lens follows the public writing of Dave Gerhardt. It is our reading, not his endorsement of Foundronics.
What a great CMO would do
- Do things that do not scale: talk to members one to one, and listen more than you present.
- Be a publisher and a host: show up every week or month, and let members see the same faces.
- Be patient: showing up regularly compounds, and early meetups may feel quiet (P8).
- Do not judge the community by attribution reports; ask members how they found you and why they stay (P9).
A weekly rhythm
- Mon: review member questions and the next event.
- Tue: draft the agenda or member note (`draft`).
- Wed: list what members asked for.
- Thu: strategist hosts or speaks with members.
- Fri: record who returned and what they said.
An example
Hypothetical (a software vendor, illustration only): the agent drafts the agenda for a small monthly practitioners' meetup: one real problem, two members to speak, and time for questions. The strategist hosts it and decides what follows.
What to avoid
- Do not turn the community into a sales pitch.
- Do not expect pipeline in three months.
- Do not start a community with no one to host it.
A person decides: Whether to start or continue a community, who hosts it and what the company commits. Agents draft and check; the strategist decides.
Sources for this lens
- P3. Do things that do not scale. Talk to customers directly, one by one. Source
- P5. Founder brand has three levels: tell the story well, publish, and learn from the feedback loop. Used here for the company and strategist voice only. Source
- P8. Be consistent and patient. Showing up every week builds up, though early effort can feel unseen. Source (from a third party’s summary; check before quoting)
- P9. Channels that build up over time often do not show in attribution. Ask customers how they found you. Source
4. Check yourself
A free self-assessment for DRONICS-C. It takes a few minutes and needs no sign-in.
Take the DRONICS-C self-assessment
The examples on this page are hypothetical illustrations. A named company is an example of a type, never a customer or partner of Foundronics.
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