48% of B2B companies are leveraging community-led growth strategies, underscoring the strategic role of communities in modern B2B go-to-market approaches.

However, it is easy to create a community forum. The real challenge is in building an engaged online community that fosters active conversations.

In effective community forums, lively discussions transform passive viewers into active participants eager to share insights, offer advice, and contribute their experiences. They can also turn community members into leads for the company.

But how can we create discussion topics that actually drive these conversations? In this article, I will share a straightforward, three-step formula for doing exactly that.

You will learn how to capture attention with intriguing hooks, establish connections with your audience using emotional resonance, and drive action with social validation.

(For readers interested in more comprehensive strategies for long-term community engagement, please check out this article: Building Thriving B2B Communities: 3 Psychological Principles That Work.)

Step 1: Stop and Capture Attention with the Hook Effect

Before anyone can engage with your post, they need to notice it.

In an endless scroll of generic updates and promotional noise, your discussion post needs to create just enough tension or surprise to earn a pause.

This is known as the Hook Effect; a psychological trigger that compels people to seek resolution when presented with something incomplete, unexpected, or open-ended.

How to Induce the Hook Effect:

1. Craft Intriguing Openings:
   • Bold Statements: Use unexpected or counterintuitive claims to immediately spark interest.
     Example: These types of teams are misusing their collaboration tools—are you one of them?
   • Provocative Questions: Pose questions that challenge conventional wisdom and invite debate.
     Example: What if the ‘industry best practices’ you rely on hold your company back?
     
2. Incorporate Unexpected Data or Insights:
   • Surprising Statistics: Present a fact that challenges common beliefs or reveals a hidden trend.
     Example: Did you know that 80% of project delays are caused by communication breakdowns?
   • Teasers: Offer just enough information to set up a mystery that readers feel compelled to resolve.
     Example: Here’s why traditional communication tools might be silently undermining your team…
     
3. Keep It Open-Ended:
   • Leave Questions Unanswered: Rather than fully explaining the idea in your opening, hint at the larger story or solution that is coming.
     Example: Discover the surprising reason behind your team’s underperformance…

Use bold statements, provocative questions, unexpected data, or open-ended hints to craft an opening line that stops the scroll and sparks curiosity.

Once you capture your audience’s attention, you can build on that momentum by deepening the connection with emotional resonance.

Step 2: Connect with the Community using Emotional Resonance

People engage most deeply with content that makes them feel something—recognition, frustration, hope, or even amusement.

Emotional triggers may not always be dramatic in B2B communities, but they are powerful when tied to shared professional experiences.

How to Create Emotional Resonance:

1. Tap into Relatable Struggles

Use scenarios or problems your audience routinely faces (missed deadlines, siloed teams, clunky workflows) to trigger recognition and empathy.

Did you know: 65% of customers join online communities to solve real‑world problems they can’t find answers to elsewhere.

Creating these “I’ve been there” moments shows that you understand their problems and triggers emotional buy-in.

2. Use a Personal or Peer Voice

Even in professional settings, a conversational tone humanises your post. Sharing short personal anecdotes, lessons learnt, or peer stories makes your post feel like it’s coming from a colleague and not a brand.

You create emotional connections by grounding your discussion topic in shared emotional experiences and wrapping it in real, human language. This makes members more likely to stick around, comment, and reflect.

Step 3: Drive Action through Social Proof

So you’ve got your audience’s attention, and you’ve got them relating to you, but what you really want from them is action. How can you push them to discuss, comment and interact?

Well, monkey see, monkey do.

Leverage social proof, which is a phenomenon that happens when we look to peers to determine the “right” way to act, especially in ambiguous situations.

Social proof is the force that turns observers into participants. When people see others taking an action, they assume it’s the correct behaviour and follow suit.

How to Leverage Social Proof

1. Tag Thought Leaders and Peers

Why it creates proof: When a recognised authority or active member jumps into the conversation, their participation signals value and legitimacy to everyone else.

Result: Newcomers see expert names attached and think, “If they’re engaging, this discussion matters,” so they join in.

2. Acknowledge Early Contributors

Why it creates proof: Highlighting the first few comments makes those contributions stand out as examples of the “right” behavior.

Result: Other members see activity rewarded and feel confident their own comments will be noticed, so they’re more likely to add theirs.

3. Establish Community Rituals

Why it creates proof: Recurring threads or polls (e.g. “Monthly Member Spotlight”) provide a predictable pattern of activity and a sense of belonging. Every time someone participates, it reinforces the norm that people respond here regularly.

Result: Even late arrivals see a history of responses and feel assured that their input will fit into an active, ongoing conversation.

By making peer participation visible through tags, shout-outs, and rituals, you build a self-reinforcing loop of social proof. Members see proof that others are engaging, feel safe and motivated to join, and thus keep the conversation alive and the community engaged.

3-Steps Community Building Strategy for Growing an Online Presence

In today’s digital landscape, fostering genuine human connection in B2B communities thorugh conversations is essential if you want your brand to remain relevant and keep your customers engaged.

By applying this three‑step formula, you can ensure that your community members are responsive and actively contributing to conversations:

1. Stop and Capture Attention with bold hooks and unexpected insights.
2. Elaborate and Connect through relatable stories and a conversational tone.
3. Drive Action by showcasing social proof—tagging experts, highlighting early responders, and embedding community rituals.

How and where would you start experimenting with your community’s discussion topics today?

For deeper strategies on building lasting engagement, explore Building Thriving B2B Communities: 3 Psychological Principles That Work.