Community-Led Growth
Growth strategy centered on building and nurturing engaged user communities.
Definition
Community-led growth (CLG) is a go-to-market strategy that centers community building as the primary driver of acquisition, retention, and expansion. Rather than treating community as a support function, CLG positions community engagement at the core of the business model.
This approach recognizes that modern buyers trust peer recommendations over marketing claims. By fostering genuine communities where users help each other and share experiences, brands create powerful organic growth engines.
Why It Matters
Traditional advertising is increasingly ignored, while peer recommendations remain highly trusted. Community-led growth builds sustainable organic acquisition and creates strong retention through social bonds.
For businesses, CLG can dramatically reduce customer acquisition costs while building moats that competitors can't easily replicate.
Examples in Practice
A developer tools company builds an active Discord community where users answer each other's questions, reducing support costs while driving organic adoption.
A fitness brand creates local meetup groups that turn customers into advocates who bring in new members.
A SaaS company's power user community becomes their primary source of product feedback, case studies, and referrals.