Vol. 103 Notion: Core community ties 💪

Case Studied
Letting the community cook

When you think about ambassador programs, your mind may go straight to B2C brands. But SaaS brands have their own enthusiastic loyalists, too. 

Just look at Notion—they built one of the most successful ambassador programs in tech by turning their biggest fans into a growth engine. 

This week, Case Studied explores how Notion built a highly active, thriving SaaS brand ambassador program.

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The Brief

When Notion launched in 2013, their founders wanted to create an all-in-one workspace that combined notes, tasks, wikis, and docs. That idea resonated particularly well among designers, students, and creators who loved the product’s flexibility and visual appeal.

By the late 2010s, social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit were buzzing with organic enthusiasm for Notion’s product. Users were helping each other troubleshoot, trade templates, and build dashboards. Workshops, guidebooks, YouTube channels, and websites were cropping up, all based around how to use the platform. 

At the time, Notion had a small marketing team led by Camille Ricketts. Noticing the noise online, she recognized the opportunity to tap into the budding group of power users. So she set out to hire someone to run the community.

Ricketts ended up scouting Ben Lang, who had started a fan website, created a Facebook group, and launched Notion templates on Product Hunt. His fan site was being visited by 80,000 people every month so Lang was connected to a huge portion of the Notion community. 

He ended up joining the Notion team and together, Lang and Ricketts formalized a community structure around what was already happening organically. The goal was to drive distribution and education on the brand.  

In a LinkedIn article, Lang said “One of our early hypotheses was that if there were people out there taking the time to spread the word about Notion in unique ways (I was one of those people) we could try and replicate that.”

The Execution

Notion launched the Notion Pro program (later renamed the Notion Ambassador Program) with a single Typeform that Lang created and shared on Twitter. It invited fans to apply to join a small group of power users “who love getting more people excited about what the product can do.”

Lang received over 600 applications but onboarded an initial cohort of just 10 ambassadors. They were brought together onto a Slack channel where they shared ideas and insights, and were invited to events and AMAs which Notion’s founders also participated in. 

Lang stressed that starting small was key. “10 people who are deeply engaged and motivated to build a community together with you versus 100 people who are less engaged makes a world of difference.” 

This tight-knit beginning allowed Notion to refine the program’s values and offerings before scaling. The team pinned down specifics of the program, including the program’s ethos, requirements, brand usage guidelines, ambassador perks, and success metrics.

Lang said he and the team wanted to make joining the ambassador program feel like an achievement. They onboard each new member via a small group Zoom call and walked them through the program. Lang said they “really try to make it clear how excited/grateful we are to have them on board.”

He also noted the importance of being available for the ambassadors and giving back to them. Much of Lang’s time in the early days of the program was spent fielding requests from members on a daily basis. And for a stretch, the team would come out with a new program benefit for members every month.

The Results

What began as a group of ten Notion superfans has grown hundreds of advocates with audiences and communities of their own. The subreddit r/Notion grew from 46K members in 2020 to over 210K by 2022, a 4.5x increase over two years. 

The brand’s YouTube channel has webinars featuring “Office Hours with Ambassadors” and several ambassadors even assist in onboarding Notion’s own employees.

The Takeaways

1)  Don’t be too protective of your brand assets

Notion allowed their ambassadors to use logos, fonts, and other visual assets within flexible guidelines. And this led to thousands of community-made templates, courses, and fan creations.

Consider how you can balance brand usage guidelines with community engagement. Is there room to provide your fans with some more creative freedom? If so, consider loosening the reins and see what the community creates.

2) Be clear about your program’s who, what, and why.

Notion created very clear guidelines on who their ambassador program was for, what they’d do, and why it existed. That clarity made it easy for applicants to self-select and stay aligned.

If you’re launching a program, articulate its mission simply and clearly. It helps both your team and your community members get on the same page about what’s going on and why. Plus, you’ll end up attracting the right people into the group and protecting the integrity of the space.

3) Provide support but avoid micromanaging

Notion struck the balance between guidance and autonomy. They supplied ambassadors with resources, perks, and access, but allowed them to lead their own meetups, workshops, and events. Lang emphasized that success came from supporting members, not controlling them.

Micromanaging your power-users can take fun and enjoyment out of the experience for them and damage the program as a whole. So instead, focus on empowering your advocates with tools, visibility, and appreciation, and let them take the reins.

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