#213: Community | B2B Community Growth Strategies with Matthew Carnevale on the Direct Podcast
This episode is from the Direct podcast hosted by Corrina Owens (Fractional ABM consultant) and Taylor Young (Director of Strategy, Professional Services at DemandScience). Corrina and Taylor sit down with Exit Five’s Head of Community, Matthew Carnevale, to discuss his journey in scaling the Exit Five community to over 5,000 members. They dive into engagement strategies, fostering connections, and creating value-driven programming for B2B marketers.Corrina, Taylor, and Matthew cover:How to seed a community with experts and drive engagementThe role of events and content in fostering member participationBalancing long-term community growth with short-term winsTimestamps(00:00) - - Intro to Matt (02:19) - - Defining community and the difference between building community and a community (04:19) - - Why Exit Five moved to a gated Circle community (06:19) - - How Exit Five engages members and drives meaningful engagement (09:19) - - Scaling community management with member contributions (13:19) - - Balancing digital and in-person community strategies (15:19) - - Advice for teams without a founder-led social presence (16:19) - - Creating audience-first media assets to build community (19:37) - - Balancing short-term wins with long-term community goals (24:37) - - Tracking engagement and measuring community success (27:37) - - First steps for starting a community (32:37) - - Closing advice Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today's episode is brought to you by Customer.io.You know that feeling when you open your inbox, and it’s just… noise? Bad marketing. Spam. Most companies are out here just talking at customers, not talking to them.Marketing messages should do more than just land in an inbox – they should create impact and drive real engagement.Customer.io helps companies send smarter, more personalized messages using first-party data. Their platform enables brands to reach customers at the right time, in the right place, on the right channel—whether that’s email, SMS, push notifications, or beyond.And the best part is that it’s all automated, so you’re not just blasting campaigns and hoping for the best. You’re running a machine that delivers real, human engagement at scale.7,000+ brands already trust Customer.io to make their marketing feel less like noise and more like connection. Join them by visiting Customer.io to get started. ***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more