Building a solid community takes a lot of effort, teamwork, and countless hours. But the real work doesn’t stop there.

The Herculean task ahead is making sure it thrives.

Because the last thing you want is for your fabulous community to fizzle out, becoming stagnant, losing its pizzazz, fading into silence. You built something awesome. Now it's time to keep it awesome.

Below are 10 strategies to help ensure your community remains a place your customers want to come to, and stay in.

1. Keep your ears open

When you first built your community, you probably reached out to customers, had lots of conversations, took notes, and used that feedback to shape your strategy. That was smart.

But just because the community is built doesn’t mean you stop listening.

This is when you listen even more. Your members will tell you, through words and actions, what’s working, what’s not, and what’s no longer relevant. If you pay attention, they’ll help shape your roadmap. 

Let your members show you what needs more attention, what needs less, and what you might need to drop altogether.

2. Know when to rest

This applies to both your personal and professional life: rest is essential. Your community doesn’t need to be running at full speed every day of the year.

It’s not sustainable.

Recognize and embrace seasonal lulls – holidays, summer vacations, back-to-school periods. These are natural pauses. Take the pressure off your members (and yourself) during these times. 

They’ll appreciate not being overwhelmed when life is already hectic. Slow down. Know when to rest. Maybe even grab a comfy blanket.

3. Trust your vision

People love to share ideas. And in the community world, we’re especially generous with opinions – and that’s great.

But sometimes, all those opinions can cloud your original vision.

Remember: you built something valuable. Trust that vision. Don’t let outside noise steer your community off-course. Stay rooted in what you set out to do, even as you adapt and evolve.

4. Stay curious

This is related to listening, but it takes things a step further.

Be proactive in uncovering what keeps your members coming back. When’s the last time you asked them what they love about the community? Or – more challenging – what they don’t like?

Asking those questions might bring uncomfortable truths to light. But those insights are invaluable. They help you continuously improve, making sure your community stays relevant and meaningful.

5. Find the treasure

Your community is full of brilliant, talented people. As the community manager, you probably know that – but do they know it about each other?

Highlight your members.

Let them see each other’s interests, talents, geographies, and backgrounds. Help them connect. A connected community is a successful community. That means connections to each other, to you, and to your organization.

When members feel seen, they engage more, and they stick around.

6. Don’t sleep on the job

This one’s simple but powerful: don’t check out. It’s tempting to go into autopilot once your community is up and running, but your role is far from passive.

Communities don’t manage themselves. They evolve constantly, and it’s your job to evolve with them. Stay engaged. Stay active. Be the example of the kind of energy and presence you want your members to bring.

The moment you disconnect, your community starts to feel it.

7. Always be alert

Being in tune with your members helps you know when to stay the course and when to pivot.

Be where your members are, whether that’s in Slack, LinkedIn, a user group, or your company’s conference. Presence matters. When you show up, you learn their challenges and needs. And when you understand that, you can build systems that actually help them succeed.

That’s how you move from managing a community to truly supporting it.

8. Make it comfy

The pandemic taught us something important: comfort matters.

For some, comfort means yoga pants and a hoodie. For others, it’s having a space to meet like-minded people. Your community can – and should – be that space.

Think about what comfort looks like for your members. For some, it’s a quiet virtual meetup with cameras off. For others, it’s showing up loud and proud at in-person events. Both types of participation are valid. Build inclusive spaces that allow for both.

Comfort is what keeps people coming back.

9. Be ready to play

Let’s face it, if your community isn’t fun, why would people come back?

We all want to spend time doing things we enjoy. Sure, people may come to your community to learn. But they’ll stay if they also find joy.

So bring in the fun. Try a juggling session. Book a comedian. Host a virtual game night or a meaningful volunteering activity. Injecting a little joy makes your community vibrant, memorable, and sticky.

10. Do the unexpected

Interesting people and unexpected moments keep us engaged.

Sprinkle your community with surprise. A whimsical ask. A fun challenge. An offbeat topic. These moments create buzz and keep people on their toes.

One night, I randomly posted in our Slack: “Hey heroes, got a cute pet? Send me photos – I might feature them!” Within 20 hours, I had 32 adorable pictures. I didn’t even know what I was going to use them for at the time.

But those photos inspired an entire shift in my approach. They became the thread that tied together our focus – connection, curiosity, creativity, comfort, and joy.

Sometimes the best ideas come when you’re not looking for them.

Final thoughts

You’ve already done the hard work of building your community. Now it’s about nurturing it – keeping it vibrant, responsive, and relevant.

Try new things. Pay attention. Create comfort. And never forget to make it fun.

Your community has the potential to be a place people return to again and again, not because they have to, but because they want to.

Let’s make sure it stays that way.