Community building doesn’t thrive on autopilot—it demands consistent reflection, creativity and renewal. And one of the most powerful tools to unlock new potential and keep momentum alive is brainstorming.
When applied intentionally, brainstorming for community growth becomes far more than a casual idea dump. It’s a strategic and collaborative process designed to surface fresh engagement tactics, refine member experiences, and explore scalable strategies to deepen participation or attract new members.
In today’s fast-evolving landscape, where member expectations shift rapidly and digital communities compete for attention, effective brainstorming can be the difference between stagnation and sustained growth.
This article explores how to run impactful brainstorming sessions specifically for community growth—what to consider, how to facilitate, and how to turn ideas into action.
What is brainstorming for community growth?
At its core, brainstorming for community growth is the collaborative generation of ideas aimed at improving how a community attracts, engages, and retains members. Unlike general team ideation, this kind of brainstorming focuses specifically on:
Increasing member acquisition
Boosting community engagement
Encouraging member contributions
Improving onboarding and retention
Expanding reach and visibility
Evolving community offerings or features
It's an opportunity to align internal teams, community leaders, or even members themselves around creative, data-informed experimentation.
Why brainstorming is essential for community-led growth
In community management, growth is rarely linear. What works today may lose effectiveness tomorrow. Engagement loops can stall, member needs can evolve, and algorithms can shift. Brainstorming helps you:
Keep your strategy adaptive and responsive
Surface cross-functional ideas from content, product, support, or marketing teams
Include member feedback in a structured, collaborative way
Inspire a test-and-learn culture, where no idea is too small to try
In short, it keeps your growth strategy fresh, inclusive and agile.
When to host brainstorming sessions
While some teams may schedule brainstorming monthly or quarterly, it’s especially useful during:
Planning for a new product or feature launch
Preparing for a seasonal or community-wide campaign
Reviewing dips in engagement or retention
Evaluating feedback from surveys or NPS results
Exploring new segments or member personas
After significant platform, policy, or team changes
It’s also valuable when community growth feels stalled or reactive, and needs a shot of creativity.
Who should be involved in the session?
Great ideas don’t come from the same people every time. Consider inviting:
Community managers and moderators
Content creators or curators
Product, marketing, and design teams
Data analysts or customer support leads
Active members, super-users or ambassadors
Diverse perspectives lead to more inclusive, innovative outcomes—especially when the aim is to grow beyond your existing base.
Structuring your brainstorming session
A well-structured brainstorming session avoids chaos and maximises creativity. Here's a proven flow:
1. Set a clear focus
Frame the challenge in one sentence. For example:
“How might we increase meaningful contributions from new members?”
“What are 10 ways we could double event attendance next quarter?”
“How can we re-engage lapsed members through personalised experiences?”
Avoid vague questions like “How do we grow the community?”—specificity fuels better ideas.
2. Provide context
Share relevant data, trends, or pain points to inform the discussion:
Engagement drop-offs
Onboarding bottlenecks
Survey feedback
Platform performance
This grounds the ideation in real challenges and opportunities.
3. Create psychological safety
Make it clear there are no bad ideas. Use warm-ups if needed. Encourage volume over perfection in the first round. Ideas can always be refined later.
4. Use brainstorming techniques
Some powerful formats include:
Brainwriting: Silent idea generation on sticky notes or shared docs before discussion
SCAMPER method: Explore how to Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, or Reverse an existing idea
Reverse brainstorming: Ask, “How could we kill engagement?”—then flip the answers
Round-robin: Each person builds on the previous person’s idea
These techniques reduce groupthink and uncover unexpected insights.
5. Cluster and prioritise ideas
Once ideas are generated, group similar ones into themes (e.g. onboarding, content, incentives). Then evaluate them using:
Effort vs. impact matrix
ICE score (Impact, Confidence, Ease)
Dot voting by participants
Prioritisation helps focus energy on what’s doable and meaningful.
6. Assign ownership
Translate top ideas into next steps. For each idea:
Who owns it?
What’s the first test or action?
When will it be reviewed?
Without follow-up, even the best ideas risk being forgotten.
Idea areas to explore in community growth brainstorming
Here are common areas where brainstorming can unlock growth:
Member acquisition
New referral or ambassador incentives
Partnerships with adjacent communities or brands
SEO-optimised content themes
Offline-to-online campaigns
Paid advertising with social proof
Onboarding
Gamified welcome journeys
Peer mentor or buddy systems
“First post” templates
Mobile onboarding improvements
Automated welcome messages or drip emails
Engagement
Weekly rituals (Q&A, polls, themed threads)
User-generated content initiatives
Surprise rewards or spotlights
Exclusive content or micro-events
Localised sub-groups or language channels
Retention and reactivation
Segment-specific nudges (e.g. lapsed lurkers)
Personalised content feeds
Recognition of milestones or streaks
Re-engagement campaigns linked to value moments
Exit surveys and churn feedback loops
Common pitfalls to avoid
Brainstorming without data: Creativity is important, but blind guessing wastes time.
Overloading the session: Focus on one growth goal at a time.
Failing to follow up: No one wants to brainstorm into a void.
Excluding voices: The best insights often come from those closest to the community—don’t leave them out.
Turning ideas into sustainable growth
Ideas alone don’t grow communities—execution, iteration, and learning do. After your brainstorming session:
Test ideas in small, low-risk pilots
Measure results with clear metrics
Celebrate what works, and share learnings from what doesn’t
Build a growth backlog to revisit over time
Keep feedback loops open with your members
Treat brainstorming not as a one-off event, but as a habit of collaborative, creative problem-solving.
Final thoughts
In community building, growth is rarely linear or predictable. But it can be intentional. Brainstorming helps you reconnect with purpose, creativity, and your team’s collective intelligence—while staying grounded in what your members truly need.
When done right, brainstorming isn’t just about more ideas. It’s about better questions, stronger alignment, and smarter action.
FAQs: Brainstorming for community growth
How is brainstorming for community growth different from general team brainstorming?
While general brainstorming can be wide-ranging and abstract, brainstorming for community growth is targeted toward increasing engagement, expanding reach, and improving the member experience. It’s grounded in community data and insights, and often leads to actionable ideas tied to specific growth goals like acquisition, retention, or reactivation.
Can community members be involved in growth brainstorming sessions?
Yes—and they should be. Inviting members to participate in brainstorming helps surface real-world insights, unmet needs, and grassroots solutions. It also increases community ownership and trust, especially when members see their ideas implemented or tested.
How often should a community team brainstorm for growth?
There’s no fixed rule, but many teams benefit from holding structured brainstorming sessions:
Quarterly, during planning cycles
After analysing engagement data or feedback
When launching new products or initiatives
If growth has plateaued and fresh ideas are needed
The key is to make brainstorming a recurring strategic practice, not a reactive scramble.
What are the best tools for remote brainstorming with community teams?
Top tools for remote or async brainstorming include:
Miro or Mural for digital whiteboarding
Google Docs or Sheets for idea tracking and collaborative input
FigJam for creative mapping
Slack threads or tchop cards for lightweight ideation inside the community workflow
Choose tools that support real-time and asynchronous contributions, especially across time zones.
How do you measure the success of a community growth brainstorming session?
Success can be measured by:
The number and diversity of ideas generated
The clarity of next steps or action plans
Engagement and energy during the session
Implementation of top ideas and their resulting impact on KPIs like member sign-ups, post frequency, or retention
It’s also helpful to gather participant feedback to improve future sessions.
