#295: Community Building Trends for 2026 with Becky Pierson Davidson

I brought back Becky Pierson Davidson to compare notes on where community is headed — and we found a few areas of disagreement. Becky works with 6, 7, and 8-figure businesses helping them build memberships and courses through design thinking and customer research, and she's seeing a major shift right now: course businesses are slowing down, and the smart ones are pivoting to membership models. The difference? Shared learning experiences are replacing self-paced education. Community is what people stay for. We dig into the real mechanics: how to set expectations that don't feel like a bait-and-switch, why meaningful engagement isn't what most people think it is, the mastermind paradox (increases retention, decreases forum activity), and why in-person events might be the most important retention lever you're not using. Becky's hot take for 2026: content drops are dying. People don't need more stuff — they need connection and programming that moves them forward. Affinity Collective Build with Becky podcast Episode 197: Building Raving Fans (with Becky & Chanel) Circle (community platform) TightKnit (Slack archive plugin) Dreamers and Doers Full transcript and show notes *** TIMESTAMPS (02:35) Defining community as a product, not a growth engine (04:09) Why community is rising as a business model in 2026 (06:02) The reality of transitioning from courses to memberships (08:01) Finding the right community design for your appetite (10:02) How to avoid the bait-and-switch with member expectations (13:06) Value perception vs. value experience (13:57) The smallest viable promise for your sales page (16:44) Where we disagree: transformation vs. community of practice (21:14) Forum design: why fewer spaces wins (23:17) Solving the engagement problem (what meaningful engagement actually is) (25:50) How the best members actually use your community (29:46) The mastermind paradox: retention up, forum participation down (32:09) In-person experiences and the graduation weekend model (36:39) The economics of offline events (39:35) 2026 Hot Take: Content drops are dying (43:07) Retention rethink: Did I get my money's worth vs. Will I next year? (46:04) Why connection drives retention more than results (48:23) Tool stack: Circle 9 times out of 10 (51:14) The future: personalization in community software *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE → Episode 197: Building Raving Fans *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE → Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY 📬 Creator Science Newsletter 🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system) 🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community) 🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer *** CONNECT 🐦 Connect on Twitter 📸 Connect on Instagram 💼 Connect on LinkedIn 📹 Subscribe on YouTube *** SPONSORS 💼 View all sponsors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices