The best communities are not just built by brands. They are shaped by the people inside them. And in every successful in-app community, there is a pattern: a small group of highly engaged members carries a disproportionate share of the connection, energy, and momentum.
These are your community champions. Brands that recognize and empower these members are unlocking a growth channel many overlook. The takeaway is simple: when you build for your champions, you strengthen the entire community.
Who Are Community Champions (Super-Users)?
Community champions are your most engaged and enthusiastic members, the people who truly love your product or mission and actively help others. They might be called ambassadors, MVPs, or power users, but the idea is the same: these users volunteer their time and expertise to support and enrich the community. A champion might, for example, respond to unanswered threads, share expert tips, moderate content, greet new members, or lead user-generated events like Q&As In essence, they become extensions of your community team within the user base. Super-users often know your product inside-out and are excited to share that knowledge, they’re the folks who answer questions unprompted or gently correct misinformation, driven by passion rather than paycheck.
Importantly, community champions operate alongside the brand, not as official staff. Their motivations are usually intrinsic (helping others, love of the topic, desire for recognition or responsibility). What they seek is a sense of purpose and belonging. When you identify these potential champions and empower them with the right support and recognition, they can dramatically amplify your community’s success.
Why Now: From Algorithms to Ownership
The push to cultivate super-users is not just about engagement. It is also about ownership. In a post-cookie world where platforms control audience access, first-party data is a brand’s most strategic asset. Communities are becoming the new source of insight, retention, and behavioral signal.
And the most valuable signals come from your most active users. Super-users do not just engage more. They give more feedback, advocacy, and emotional investment.
By building in-app communities to support these contributors, brands get a double benefit: deeper relationships with their most loyal members, and sharper insight into what drives participation.
Start with Visibility: Identify Your Champions
To build a champions program, you first need to identify who your super-users are or could be. Here are some ways to spot them:
- Top Contributors: Start by looking at who consistently participates. Who is answering the most questions, offering solutions, or sharing helpful content? Those who frequently post useful replies, troubleshoot for others, or generate interesting discussions are prime candidate super-users. They’re already acting like unofficial moderators or mentors just because they enjoy it.
- Helpful Reviewers or Advocates: Look beyond your forums, who leaves detailed product reviews or positive feedback for your product elsewhere? Users who passionately review your product or services (on your site or third-party sites) and share their first-hand experience could be community champions. Their willingness to share knowledge and advocate for the product signals super-fan energy that can be harnessed inside the community.
- Social Media Enthusiasts: If your community is young and not yet very active, scan social media for power users. Who frequently engages with your brand’s posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, or other networks? These people have the potential to become your champions if brought into an official program. They’re already influencing others and boosting brand awareness, so imagine their impact within a dedicated community space.
- Self-Motivated Moderators: Notice members who actively help keep the community healthy. For example, those who flag inappropriate posts or gently call out bad behavior. A member who regularly reports spam or toxic comments is demonstrating care for the community’s well-being. That’s exactly the kind of ownership mindset you want in a champion. They’re effectively co-moderating out of pride in the community.
Define Roles and Signals of Recognition
Identifying great super-users is only step one. The real magic is in empowering them, giving them the tools, encouragement, and recognition to thrive in that role. A champions program should feel like a win-win: members gain status, access, and personal growth; the community gains more contributions and leadership.
Champions thrive when they know what is expected and when their contribution is valued. That means giving structure without pressure.
Some brands introduce lightweight ambassador roles: members who welcome newcomers, beta test new features, or host community events. Others use visible status indicators like badges, contributor tiers, or spotlight features.
Recognition is not one-size-fits-all. For some users, public appreciation works best. For others, early access to features or private product feedback groups can feel more meaningful.
Here are a few examples:
- Peloton highlights its most active members during live workouts, creating instant recognition.
- Sephora’s Beauty Insider Community features top contributors and gives them early product access, which strengthens advocacy and loyalty.
- Strava uses achievement badges and social feeds to highlight standout members, reinforcing motivation and community belonging.
In each case, the brand is not doing the heavy lifting alone. It is empowering users to become hosts, leaders, and culture-carriers.
Make It In-App, Not Add-On
Where this happens matters. Too often, brands try to recognize super-users outside the product experience like email campaigns, separate portals, or informal messages. But the most effective recognition is visible and felt inside the community itself.
When badges, shoutouts, or leadership roles live inside the app, their impact grows. Other members see what is possible. Momentum builds. And because the community layer is tied to product usage, these contributions start to support retention and deeper habit formation.
Your Champions Are Already Here
You do not need a massive community to benefit from this approach. You need a mindset. The brands winning in community today are not just collecting members. They are cultivating champions.
So ask yourself:
- Who are your most active, generous contributors?
- How are you recognizing them?
- What in-app systems support and celebrate their role?
The goal is not to build a community around your product. It is to build a product experience that includes your community. And at the heart of that experience are the people who make it feel alive.
Support them. Celebrate them. And let them lead.