The WEIRD community model that actually works (10x better) 🧨

Don't start a customer community... Do this instead

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Most branded communities I’ve seen — feel like ghost towns. 🤐

Startup founders always tell me: “I’m going to gather thousands of people around an idea → build them a community → and they will love my brand.”

But these communities never work. They feel forced and promotional. No one wants to use them (e.g. Fitbit, Atlassian, Unity).

💡 The weird new model:

Sticker Mule just did something crazy cool that’s blowing up the marketing world: They launched a mini social network focused on their values.

Here's the juicy part: 🧃 this mini social network is already generating high user engagement, targeted reach, valuable data, and organic brand advocacy. And the best part? You can steal their blueprint and adapt it to your own brand. 👇

Stimulus, the new social network by Sticker Mule

Sticker Mule’s new social network is called Stimulus and it is described as a “happy social network” where brands can get attention by giving away gifts, and users win them by simply interacting on the platform.

It’s not only for customers, and it fits perfectly with Sticker Mule’s brand — which is happy, positive, and giving. From their website:

Brands need attention to grow. People need money to live. Stimulus helps both. People enter giveaways by replying, liking, or reposting. Stimulus randomly selects winners and distributes prizes to ensure fairness.

Ready to copy their community blueprint? Because it’s genius 🤯

🧪 Instead of the old community model, do this:

1. Give users a reason to come back:

The #1 problem of branded communities is the lack of incentives for users to return.

Stickermule’s new social network solved that: Merely interacting with posts on the platform can earn you money. And of course, it’s not only for Sticker Mule customers — but for everyone.

Actionable tips:

1. Build your mini network around a core value that people can relate to and earn from. Don’t build a community around your product. It’s never about “you,” it’s about your audience.

2. Implement a reward system that encourages positive interactions (like points, badges, or exclusive content) instead of just likes and shares.

3. If you can’t give money, give knowledge.

2. Partner up with other brands:

The #2 biggest problem is the lack of content.

Sticker Mule solved it, too: By inviting brands to do giveaways on the network, they boost content supply (and reward people for staying).

Actionable tip: Partner with brands that share your values and target audience, and get them to post content on your social network/community to expand their reach.

3. Host the community on your own platform:

Instead of starting a community on Facebook / Slack / Telegram, Sticker Mule developed their platform so they could make their own rules. That’s why they can call it an actual ‘social network’ and not just a community. Sure, it’s heavy on dev resources, but there are some great gains:

• No 3rd party secret algorithm;

• No bots;

• Full control of advertisers.

• Retention boom (who doesn’t love free stuff?)

And most of all - data! Stimulus is a goldmine for targeted audience data. By verifying users and tracking their interactions with different brands and giveaways, Sticker Mule can create detailed profiles

Actionable tip: If you can, host your community / social network on a platform you develop yourself. Integrate your values into the retention and content models, just like Sticker Mule did.

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🔥 To recap, this weird marketing idea is a HUGE win for Sticker Mule.

They gain:

1. More revenue (if brands will start paying them for hosting giveaways);

2. More sales (if brands will give away stickers from Sticker Mule);

3. More touchpoints with their audience (they control the social network);

4. More data about their audience (as every user must be verified with ID).

What can I say? This is 10x better than any usual branded community or forum.

See you next week ✌️

Tom

P.S. There’s a second, hidden marketing idea in this article. 👻 You can leverage Sticker Mule’s own emerging platform (Stimulus) to your benefit. They are still testing the feature for users to host giveaways. Right now, Stimulus is inviting a few early contributors who promise to give away at least $25,000 over six months to participate. If it fits your budget - check it out and run a giveaway on their platform.

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Thanks to my friend Roy for the inspiration for this marketing idea ♥