With 10 years of experience in global marketing, Pooja Kanabar knows a thing or two about connecting with audiences. While Facebook groups remain a popular resource for community building, Pooja explains why investing in a private community platform is better for boosting engagement.

As the senior content manager for Disciple—a UK leader in the community software space—Pooja is responsible for everything from managing the company’s tone of voice to creating lead magnets and setting up automation campaigns.

Pooja sits down with Shaheen Samavati on today’s podcast to reveal the pitfalls of building your community on social networks in 2021, how you can create something better and why tailoring your content to your audience’s pain points is key to success.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs  

  • Useful book: Contagious by Jonah Berger. “It’s all about what makes things catch on and how things go viral. It has loads of different experiments that were conducted and explores the psychology behind what makes things work.”
  • Productivity hack: Time blocking. “It helps stop other people blocking out time in my diary for meetings and helps me to avoid losing valuable time that could be spent on executing my projects.”
  • Favorite app: The graphic design platform, Canva. “I think it’s a lifesaver for content marketers. It’s the quickest way to create content, push it out really quickly, and make sure that you stay on brand.”
  • Source of inspiration: A former boss, Bev James. “She was someone who really pushed me to grow. She trusted my ideas, she helped me to really shine, and she was an incredible mentor. She opened my mind to different ways of thinking, not just in marketing, but also in terms of my own personal development.”

“I think that personalization of content, live streaming and video is becoming more popular because it provides a more human element to content, and that’s what helps to build relationships and makes people want to buy into your brand.”

Connect with Pooja and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Helen Hadley.


For more insights into community building, check out:

Interact with your audience – Mariann Bartucz, online marketing manager at Starschema

Building online communities: Expert tips from Valentina Ruffon

The Content Mix is born from the InterCom Spain Facebook community


To see the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.