Allyson Forstrom on Why Community Is the Real Growth Engine

Editor’s Note: 
This article is part of a Digital Summit Collective series where we’re turning standout live sessions from recent Digital Summit events into actionable, on-demand insights for our community. Each piece is adapted from a real stage presentation—capturing the ideas, examples, and strategic thinking that resonated most with attendees.

Allyson Forstrom opened her session by making one thing very clear: this was not going to be another presentation about chasing followers or going viral.

Instead, she wanted to talk about something bigger and far more durable.

Community.

Not community as a marketing buzzword or another name for a social audience, but community in the more human sense of the word. The kind that creates belonging, builds loyalty, and gives people a reason to stay connected to a brand long after a campaign ends.

Forstrom, a social media and community marketing leader who has spent her career building passionate brand communities at companies including Life is Good and LEGO, argued that brands are entering a very different era of marketing.

That shift changes the role of marketing itself.

The brands that grow sustainably will not simply be the ones producing the most content. They will be the ones creating spaces people actually want to participate in.

Community starts with people, not products

One of the strongest themes throughout the session was the idea that meaningful community building has very little to do with products themselves. 

Instead, it begins with what people connect to emotionally. 

For Life is Good, that shared connection is optimism. Not just the slogan or visual identity behind the brand, but the broader idea of seeing the good in yourself, in other people, and in the world around you.  

That emotional connection becomes the foundation for how people relate to each other inside the community as well. 

Forstrom described the brand’s role less as controlling the conversation and more as creating the stage for people to tell their own stories. Stories about overcoming adversity, finding joy in ordinary moments, or simply trying their best.

The point is not that every brand needs a mission centered on optimism. It is that every brand needs to understand the deeper emotional resonance that draws people together in the first place.

Because that resonance is what turns audiences into communities.

The value of community is bigger than reach

For many marketers, community can still feel abstract or difficult to quantify. Forstrom pushed back on that idea directly.

Community humanizes a brand by putting real people at the center of it. It extends reach because audiences naturally share messages with their own networks. It creates credibility because people trust other people more than they trust brands themselves.

She referenced a Nielsen study showing that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know over messaging directly from brands.

That statistic reframes the role of marketing entirely.

The question becomes less about what the brand is saying and more about how the brand empowers other people to tell the story on its behalf.

Community also creates long-term differentiation. Competitors can copy products or campaigns relatively quickly. They cannot easily replicate years of emotional connection and trust built between a brand and its audience.

User-generated content is more than content

One of the more compelling reframes in the session centered on user-generated content. 

At Life is Good, they do not think about UGC as simply content. They think about it as fuel.  

Fuel for employees, because it reminds teams that their work is making a tangible impact on people’s lives. 

Fuel for marketing, because it provides authentic proof points that resonate more deeply than polished brand messaging ever could. 

Forstrom shared examples ranging from emotional handwritten letters to casual Instagram Stories from customers documenting ordinary moments connected to the brand. Some stories reflected major life transformations, while others were simply expressions of joy or belonging. 

What mattered was not production quality. It was authenticity. 

That authenticity becomes especially powerful because audiences increasingly recognize when something feels overly polished or manufactured. Real stories create trust in ways traditional campaigns often cannot. 

Brand advocates matter more than influencers

Another major point Forstrom emphasized was the difference between influencers and advocates.

Influencer partnerships can absolutely play a role in reaching new audiences. But brands often overlook the people who are already actively championing them every day.

At Life is Good, that philosophy has led to the development of a large brand ambassador program made up of hundreds of advocates across the country. Some have large audiences, others do not. But collectively, they create a highly engaged network of people already emotionally invested in the brand.

What makes these relationships particularly valuable is that they extend beyond transactional campaigns.

Forstrom shared examples of maintaining long-term relationships with creators and customers over many years, continuing to engage with their content, sending products tied to important life moments, and keeping them connected to the brand in authentic ways.

The result is not just better reach. It is stronger trust.

And often, those advocates continue creating and sharing content organically long after a formal partnership ends.

Community participation creates momentum

One of the most interesting parts of the session focused on what Forstrom described as “community-driven virality.”

Rather than chasing shock value, controversy, or trend-driven attention, the team at Life is Good started focusing on creating content that deeply resonated with their core audience first.

Their viral “Hugging Spot” video became an example of that approach in action. The content itself was simple, emotionally grounded, and unmistakably aligned with the brand’s optimistic worldview.

Instead of manufacturing attention, the audience amplified it naturally because the message reflected something they genuinely wanted to share.

That distinction matters.

Forstrom argued that when brands understand their communities deeply enough, virality becomes less about gaming the algorithm and more about creating content people feel compelled to pass along themselves.

In that model, community is what creates the momentum.

Borrowing community can work too

While much of the session focused on nurturing existing communities, Forstrom also discussed moments where brands can effectively “borrow” communities through thoughtful partnerships. 

The key is contributing value rather than simply attaching a logo to an audience. 

She shared examples ranging from collaborations with niche online communities like Stick Nation to creator partnerships rooted in authentic pre-existing affinity for the brand.  

What stood out in each example was how intentional the brand was about participating in ways that felt additive rather than promotional. 

That approach allowed the brand to reach entirely new audiences without feeling intrusive or disconnected from the culture of the communities themselves. 

What to Do Right Now

1. Focus on people before products
   Identify the emotional connection people have with your brand beyond what you sell.
2. Treat community as a long-term investment
   Prioritize belonging, trust, and participation over short-term vanity metrics.
3. Reframe user-generated content as proof
   Use authentic customer stories to reinforce your brand message across channels.
4. Invest in advocates, not just influencers
   Build relationships with the people already actively supporting your brand.
5. Create reasons for your audience to participate
   The strongest communities grow when people feel invited to contribute, not just consume.

The Bottom Line

Community is no longer just a marketing layer that sits on top of a brand.

It is increasingly becoming the engine that drives growth itself.

And in an environment where audiences are more selective, more skeptical, and more intentional about where they spend their attention, the brands that succeed will be the ones capable of creating something deeper than visibility.

They will create belonging.

Watch the Full Session

This article was adapted from the live session Fueling the Growth Engine: A Community-First Approach for Long-Term Brand Advocacy, presented by Allyson Forstrom at Digital Summit Denver, 2025

Watch the full video:

https://resource.digitalsummit.com/resources/material/fueling-the-growth-engine-den25/