Forget the metrics for a moment. The best way to understand community isn’t to measure it, it’s to be part of it.
I’ve been spending more time at my allotment lately. Not just growing veg, but growing relationships I didn’t know I needed.
It’s a space where people share knowledge without asking for followers. Where experience is measured in decades, not metrics. Where most of my new friends are in their 70s and 80s, and couldn’t care less what I do for work.
It’s a community. Not a Slack channel. Not a Discord server. Not a WhatsApp group with ‘vibes’. A real, physical patch of earth where people show up, week in, week out, rain or shine.
You learn what true knowledge-sharing looks like. No PDFs. No webinars. Just neighbourly wisdom, handed over a compost bin.
These are people who won’t read your newsletter. But they’ll lend you a trowel. They’ll teach you how to prune. They’ll leave a bag of windfall apples by your shed, just because.
As a marketer, it’s been one of the most valuable reminders of what community actually feels like.
It’s not a KPI. It’s not “engagement.” It’s interdependence. It’s slowness. It’s trust.
Real community doesn’t announce itself. Sometimes, it hands you a bag of runner beans and tells you you’ve overwatered your courgettes.
Want to understand a community? Get your hands dirty.