Are Brands Investing in Social Media Communities in 2023? We Asked 1,200+ Marketers

If social media in the 2010s was all about going viral, social media in 2023 was all about going deeper. Instead of chasing random views, brands finally started asking a better question: “How do we build a community that actually cares if we post tomorrow?”

To understand how real this shift is, we’ll lean on insights from surveys of 1,200+ marketers and other major industry reports. Spoiler: brands aren’t just flirting with social media communities anymore they’re putting serious budget, people, and strategy behind them.

Why Social Media Communities Became a Big Deal in 2023

Several big forces collided in 2023 and pushed “community” from buzzword to must-have:

1. Algorithms Got Noisier, So Relationships Got Pricier

Organic reach has been declining for years, but 2023 was when many marketers finally admitted, “We can’t just post and hope.” With algorithm changes across platforms and more content than ever, brands realized that the only consistently reliable signal is relationships people who actually want to see your content, talk to you, and talk to each other.

Communities help you beat pure reach-chasing. When your content sparks replies, saves, shares, and conversations, algorithms treat it like “real” engagement, not background noise. That creates a compounding effect: engaged communities fuel better distribution, which attracts more of the right people.

2. Customers Expect Brands to Be More Human

Social media users are tired of polished, robotic brand posts. They want brands that feel like real people, listen to feedback, and show some personality. Community-led strategies check all those boxes: you’re not just broadcasting; you’re hosting the conversation.

Research on social connection shows that consumers increasingly expect brands to create spaces where people can connect around shared interests, values, and identities not just products. That’s where social media communities shine: they turn your brand into a hub, not just a billboard.

3. Rising Acquisition Costs Made Retention More Attractive

Between privacy changes, rising ad costs, and economic uncertainty, 2023 forced many marketing teams to rethink their acquisition obsession. Retention and loyalty suddenly became the adults in the room.

Communities support that shift beautifully. Instead of constantly paying to reach new strangers, you nurture existing fans who:

• Buy more often
• Stay longer
• Recommend you to others
• Give you honest feedback so you can improve faster

In other words, a strong social media community is like a built-in loyalty program only more fun and far more visible.

What 1,200+ Marketers Told Us About Social Media Communities

Across multiple 2023 social media and marketing trend reports that surveyed 1,000–1,200+ marketers globally, several themes kept repeating:

Community Building Went From “Nice-to-Have” to “Non-Negotiable”

In 2023, roughly 9 out of 10 social media marketers said that building an active online community is critical to social media success, not just a side project. Many also reported that they expect most brands to have some form of active community presence around their brand going forward, whether it’s a Facebook Group, a Discord server, a private Instagram channel, or something similar.

On the audience side, survey data also showed that about one in five social media users had joined or participated in an online community in just the last few months. That means communities aren’t a niche behavior they’re mainstream.

Budgets Are (Mostly) Moving Toward Communities, Not Away From Them

Despite economic headwinds, many marketing leaders either maintained or increased their investment in social media and community initiatives in 2023. In B2B, a meaningful share of content marketers reported that they had increased their investment in social media and online communities since the pandemic and were keeping those budgets elevated rather than cutting them.

On the brand side, social remained one of the top channels for ROI and future investment, especially when it intersected with community-building and customer engagement rather than pure promotion.

Community Management Became a Real Role, Not an Extra Duty

Another clear signal that brands are serious: community managers. Many organizations now have dedicated community managers or social media managers whose primary KPI is community health, not just follower counts or impressions.

Instead of asking one overworked marketer to juggle paid ads, content calendars, reporting, and DMs, brands are finally treating community as its own discipline requiring moderation, empathy, conflict resolution, and strategic planning.

Where Brands Are Actually Building Their Communities

“Social media community” used to mean “Facebook Group and maybe a forum.” In 2023, the picture became much more multi-platform and creative.

1. Facebook and Instagram: The Familiar Workhorses

Facebook Groups remain a major community home, especially for niche hobbies, parenting, local businesses, and education. Many brands host groups for VIP customers, course participants, or fan communities.

Instagram, meanwhile, evolved from just a visual feed into a multi-layer engagement platform: Stories, Close Friends lists, broadcast channels, and DMs all became tools for “inner-circle” interactions. Brands use those features to:

• Share behind-the-scenes product development
• Poll their audience on new ideas
• Offer early access or limited drops
• Highlight user-generated content

2. TikTok: Community Through Culture and In-Jokes

TikTok isn’t a “community platform” in the traditional sense, but its culture-first approach is incredibly community-driven. Brands that win on TikTok create recurring formats, inside jokes, and creator collaborations that make followers feel like part of the same weird, wonderful club.

Instead of “Join our community,” the message is more like, “You get this joke? You’re one of us.” That’s community just with a lot more sound effects.

3. Discord, Slack, and Private Spaces

For B2B brands, SaaS companies, and education-focused businesses, private communities on Discord or Slack became increasingly common in 2023. These invite-only spaces often serve as:

• Customer support hubs and peer-help forums
• Beta testing and feedback loops
• Power-user programs and advocacy groups

They may not be public-facing social channels, but they’re deeply social and incredibly valuable when it comes to retention, expansion revenue, and product insights.

4. Brand-Owned Communities Connected to Social

Some companies are also investing in brand-owned communities (forums, member portals, learning academies) and using social media to drive people there. This approach gives brands more control over data, experience, and long-term access, while social channels remain top-of-funnel and engagement engines.

What Successful Social Media Communities Looked Like in 2023

So what does “doing community right” actually look like? Across sectors, a few patterns show up again and again.

1. Clear Purpose Beyond “Engagement”

The strongest communities have a reason to exist that you can describe in one sentence:

• “This is a space for new parents to swap advice and support.”
• “This is where our power users share workflows and automation tips.”
• “This is a club for people obsessed with our product category, not just our brand.”

When the purpose is clear, content ideas, moderation decisions, and membership rules all get easier. When the purpose is “uhhh… engagement?” everything feels random and forced.

2. Two-Way Conversations, Not Broadcast Channels

Brands that treated communities as another place to drop links struggled. Brands that asked questions, reacted to comments, hosted AMAs, spotlighted members, and opened real conversations thrived.

Communities work when people feel seen. That might mean:

• Replying to as many comments as possible
• Calling out and celebrating members by name
• Letting community-generated ideas influence your roadmap, content, or offers

3. Strong Moderation and Healthy Boundaries

No community is drama-proof. Top-performing brand communities in 2023 balanced openness with clear rules. They set expectations early about what’s allowed, how disagreements are handled, and what will get someone removed.

That doesn’t kill authenticity; it protects it. Members feel safer contributing when they know the environment won’t spiral into trolling or harassment.

How Brands Are Measuring the ROI of Social Media Communities

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: measuring community ROI is harder than counting ad clicks. But in 2023, marketers got more disciplined and more creative about connecting community efforts to business outcomes.

Common Metrics for Community Success

Beyond vanity numbers, brands increasingly track:

• Engagement depth: Comment quality, discussion threads, replies per post
• Member retention: How long people stay active in the community
• Community-driven conversions: Discount codes, referral links, or “How did you hear about us?” fields tied to communities
• Product feedback volume: Number of ideas, bug reports, and suggestions coming from the community
• Advocacy signals: UGC volume, mentions, and word-of-mouth referrals

Many teams also compare customer lifetime value (CLV) of community members vs. non-members. Consistently, community members tend to spend more and churn less.

Where Marketers Still Struggle

Even with better metrics, there are real challenges:

• Attributing revenue when someone experiences many touchpoints (ads, emails, community, events)
• Justifying headcount for community management when leadership wants fast, clear ROI
• Scaling intimacy how do you stay personal when your community grows to tens of thousands?

Still, the direction of travel is clear: more brands are willing to invest in communities long-term because they see them as strategic infrastructure, not a one-off campaign.

How to Build a Community-Led Social Strategy (Without Burning Out)

Thinking, “Okay, so everyone else is doing this now what?” Here’s a practical, no-fluff roadmap based on what worked for marketers in 2023.

1. Start With One Core Community “Home”

Resist the urge to spin up five communities at once. Pick the one place that makes the most sense for your audience:

• Facebook Group for mainstream consumer audiences
• Discord or Slack for SaaS, gaming, or tech-savvy users
• Private Instagram channel or Close Friends list for lifestyle brands

Once that core space is healthy, you can experiment elsewhere.

2. Treat Community Content Differently Than Feed Content

Community content can be less polished and more conversational. Think:

• Weekly discussion prompts or “question of the day” posts
• Behind-the-scenes photos and rough drafts, not just finished campaigns
• Live Q&A sessions, office hours, or co-working streams

If your feed is the glossy magazine, your community is the group chat.

3. Design On-Ramps and “First Wins” for New Members

Don’t let people join and immediately disappear. Build a simple onboarding path:

• A pinned welcome post with rules and tips
• A short intro thread where new members share who they are
• A clear suggestion for what to do next (download a resource, answer a question, join a live session)

The faster someone participates once, the more likely they are to participate again.

4. Give Community Members Real Influence

Nothing kills community energy faster than feeling like your input doesn’t matter. The brands that win treat their communities like an advisory panel. They:

• Test messaging and packaging ideas with members
• Ask for feedback before rolling out features or products
• Show receipts: “We changed this because the community asked for it.”

When people see their fingerprints on your brand, they become emotionally invested in your success.

Real-World Experiences from Marketers Building Social Media Communities

Data is useful, but what does this look like in everyday marketing life? Here are some composite experiences based on how marketers described their journeys building social media communities in 2023.

From “Posting into the Void” to “We Can’t Keep Up With the Comments”

One mid-sized DTC brand spent years obsessing over the perfect grid. Beautiful product shots, aspirational lifestyle images, clever captions… and low engagement. In 2023, they decided to treat Instagram like a living room instead of a showroom.

They launched a weekly “unfiltered” series in Stories where a team member walked through real behind-the-scenes moments: failed photoshoots, packaging mishaps, and honest discussions about pricing and supply chain delays. They started asking blunt questions like, “What annoys you most about brands in our industry?” and reposted thoughtful answers.

Within months, their comments shifted from emojis and “Cute!” to paragraphs of opinions, stories, and suggestions. Community members started answering each other’s questions before the brand could. When the company asked for volunteers to test a new product, the list filled in minutes. The content didn’t get shinier the relationship got deeper.

The B2B SaaS Company That Turned Users Into Co-Creators

A SaaS company serving marketing teams created a private Slack community for customers and power users. Originally, the goal was simple: reduce support tickets by letting users help each other. But once they started listening to conversations, they realized they were sitting on a product goldmine.

In 2023, they formalized the community into themed channels: campaign reviews, integration tips, “show & tell” wins, and feature requests. Product managers dropped into threads to ask follow-up questions. The marketing team hosted monthly “strategy labs” where members could bring real campaigns and get feedback from peers.

Within a year, more than half of their most successful feature updates had roots in community suggestions. Renewal rates for community members outpaced non-members, and referrals became easier because members felt like insiders inviting friends into an exclusive club, not just recommending a tool.

The Small Business That Realized 200 Superfans Beat 20,000 Random Followers

A local fitness studio had ~20,000 followers across platforms but struggled to turn those followers into class bookings. In 2023, they created a private Facebook Group just for active and recent members.

In that group, people shared progress photos, asked nutrition questions, and organized accountability check-ins. Trainers posted form tips and answered questions in comments. The studio occasionally announced special community-only events and early access passes for new programs.

The number of total followers barely changed. But:

• Class cancellations dropped because members encouraged each other to show up
• Merchandise and add-on services sold out more often
• New members frequently said, “I joined because a friend showed me your group”

The studio owner’s takeaway: “I used to dream of hitting 50k followers. Now I care more about making sure the 200 people in our group feel unstoppable.”

Hard Lessons: Community Building Isn’t a Quick Fix

Marketers also echoed the less glamorous side of community building:

• It takes months, not weeks, to see meaningful results.
• You’ll have awkward phases where engagement dips and you question everything.
• Moderation can be emotionally draining; you must protect your team as much as you protect members.

But almost every marketer who stuck with it said the same thing: once the community hits a tipping point, it becomes one of the most valuable and defensible assets the brand has. Competitors can copy your ads, your product features, and your landing pages. It’s a lot harder to copy hundreds or thousands of people who genuinely care about being there with you.

The Bottom Line: Yes, Brands Are Investing But Community Is a Long Game

So, are brands really investing in social media communities in 2023? The answer is a clear yes and they’re doing it with more intention than ever before. Budgets, roles, KPIs, and platforms are all shifting to support deeper, more meaningful engagement.

But the brands that win aren’t just throwing money at another channel. They’re treating community as a long-term relationship, not a short-term tactic. They show up consistently, listen more than they talk, and give their audiences a real reason to stick around.

If you’re planning your next year of marketing and wondering where to place your bets, here’s a simple guiding question: “What would it look like if we treated social media less like a loudspeaker and more like a living room?”

The marketers who answered that question seriously in 2023 are already ahead.