ICYMI: How Creators Can Get You Into the Group Chat
With Sara Wilson | Expert Series
The ICYMI series of trusted industry voices continues with Sara Wilson, a strategist who specializes in helping brands tap into online communities.
I’d been talking with Sara about doing a community-focused guest post for a while, and this one turned out to be the perfect companion to last week’s newsletter about the LeBron James WhatsApp group chat.
She shares four lessons on how creators can help brands enter closed communities with credibility — and thrive there.
How Creators Can Get You Into the Group Chat
by Sara Wilson
While creators still dominate headlines, they've become gateways to something far more powerful: a thriving ecosystem of organic communities that represents marketing's most untapped goldmine.
From WhatsApp groups where obsessive thrifters share their latest finds to Discord servers where Fortnite players strategize their next victory, from local run clubs transforming strangers into friends to forums where Swifties meticulously decode every Easter egg in Taylor's latest video, to dedicated members of the Bellion Army dissecting every note of Jon Bellion's unreleased demos—these spaces, both online and offline, unite people around shared passions, values, interests, and obsessions.
In these spaces, people aren't passive consumers of content—they're active participants in a collective identity.
How did we get here?
I first wrote about the proliferation of these spaces in 2020 for Harvard Business Review, where I called them "digital campfires."
In the years since, they've exploded in scale and influence.
Discord has grown from 56 million to over 200 million monthly users, while private messaging communities on platforms like WhatsApp have become central to how Gen Z connects, with users spending 50% more time in groups than in one-on-one chats.
Even Reddit, long a hub for community-based interactions, saw its active communities increase by 41% in 2023 alone, with over 100,000 active subreddits where like-minded individuals gather around increasingly specialized interests.
This community renaissance isn’t limited to online interactions.
According to Eventbrite, in-person gatherings around niche interests have seen a 35% increase since 2022, with board game nights and specialized hobby meetups quadrupling in frequency on their platform.
Though communities are taking center stage, creators are often essential bridges between these worlds and brands. Whether founding their own spaces or earning insider status in existing ones, creators can function as gatekeepers who can either welcome your brand into these powerful communities or lock you out completely.
The brands that master creator partnerships to enter these spaces can unlock levels of attention, relevance, and loyalty that traditional marketing dollars can’t buy.
What makes these communities so uniquely valuable to brands is that they function as what I call PIPEs—Personal Identity Ports of Entry.
Unlike passive content consumption, participating in a community becomes part of who someone is, not just what they do.
These spaces aren't just where people gather; they're where identities take shape and solidify.
This identity formation creates a psychological attachment no traditional advertising can match.
Showing up in communities can be one of the fastest paths to cultural relevance. The data is clear: brands with high cultural relevance grow nearly six times faster than those without it.
This makes community not just a nice-to-have, but a powerful business advantage.
"But brands can't actually show up in closed communities, right?”
I get this question from brands constantly, and it reflects a legitimate concern.
Yes, these communities are usually private or semi-private spaces with their own established dynamics and protective boundaries. But this doesn't mean your brand is automatically unwelcome.
The key lies in how you approach these spaces—with respect, authenticity, and proper introductions.
Rather than barging in with brand messaging, successful entries happen when you're invited in by those who already have the community's trust. This is where thoughtful creator partnerships become essential to your strategy.
Below, four crucial lessons for brands looking to partner with creators as their entry point into communities.
Lesson 1: Collaborate with Creators Who Have Built Their Own Communities
The most valuable creator partnerships aren't with those who have the biggest reach, but with those who've built genuine communities themselves.
I profiled Nancy Chen, founder of Girlies Squad, a female gaming community that started when she posted a simple TikTok asking "Where are my Fortnite girlies at?" Within a few weeks, her Discord server grew to over 25,000 members. When gaming studio Gridsnap noticed this organic community forming, they approached Chen to collaborate on a game that became the #1 most played prop hunt globally in Fortnite.
Gridsnap recognized Chen wasn't just an influencer—she was a community architect who had built something more valuable than mere followers. She had created a space where members feel seen, heard and understood.
What made this partnership particularly powerful was its timing. By connecting with Chen's community while it was still growing, Gridsnap gained creative latitude that wouldn't have been possible with a more established community. They were able to shape experiences together rather than trying to insert themselves into a space with rigid expectations already set.
The takeaway: When looking for creators to partner with, prioritize those who foster genuine connections among their followers. Look for active comment sections, inside jokes, and consistent engagement that goes beyond passive consumption. Pay special attention to communities forming around emerging interests or subcultures that align with your brand values—these growing spaces often offer greater opportunity for meaningful integration than larger, more established communities.
Lesson 2: Empower Creators to Co-Create, Not Just Promote
The difference between a forgettable partnership and a cultural watershed moment lies in empowering creators to shape the community experience alongside your brand.
Sukeban, a Japanese all-women's pro wrestling league with a rabid fandom I wrote about back in October, has drawn in fashion and art enthusiasts by inviting creators to shape its identity rather than just promote it. Collaborators like designer Olympia Le-Tan, milliner Stephen Jones, and manga artist Sakana Koji weren't hired to advertise the league—they were brought in to design championship belts and develop the entire visual aesthetic.
The takeaway: Shift from asking creators to amplify your message to inviting them in shaping it. This might mean longer timelines and less control, but the authenticity gained is worth it.
Lesson 3: Honor Community Codes
Communities have their own language, codes, and rituals that can be impenetrable to outsiders. The brands that successfully enter these spaces through creator partnerships are those that work with insiders who understand and respect these cultural elements.
The Bravo TV network has built one of the most engaged fandoms in media today, with viewers who proudly declare "I probably know more about Bravo than I do about my job." What makes brand partnerships work in this space isn't just collaborating with any Bravo stars—it's partnering with creators who can authentically translate the community's specific cultural codes.
At BravoCon, Clorox created a bathroom "takeover" with Real Housewives trivia that referenced iconic moments true fans would recognize. Similarly, Lay's delivered "grilled cheese and tomato soup" chips inspired by Vanderpump Rules, a flavor that resonated because it referenced a specific scene that had become a fan inside joke.
The takeaway: Before approaching communities, partner with creators who already speak the native language of that space. The most effective partnerships happen when you let these creator-insiders guide your approach, educate you on community references, and help you translate your brand message into something that resonates authentically with their audience.
Lesson 4: Build a Community-Powered Flywheel with the Right Creators
Creators aren't just promotional channels—they're essential components of what I call the Community-Powered Flywheel, connecting creators, content, partnerships, and experiences to drive attention, relevance, and loyalty.
The most successful brands don't ask "What can this creator do for us?" but rather "What can this creator help us deliver that the community genuinely values?"
Consider the prebiotic soda brand Poppi's masterful collaboration with sororities.
Rather than pursuing established influencers, the brand recognized sorority members themselves as powerful community connectors, and creators in their own right.
By partnering with the University of Texas at Austin chapter of the Zeta sorority, Poppi created an activation that felt genuinely integrated into campus culture. Sorority members weren't just passive promoters—they were active participants who integrated the brand into their social dynamics, from branded house signs to custom merch.
As Lia wrote about in this newsletter, when sports media company Offball partnered with LeBron James for a WhatsApp group chat during Draft Day, they recognized that fans valued authentic access over polished content. As Offball co-founder Michaela Hammond explained: "Our editorial metric was 'What are the stories and things that people are sending around in their group chats?'" This understanding allowed them to create an experience that delivered genuine value—access to conversations fans actually wanted to participate in.
The takeaway: The most valuable creator partnerships combine authentic community integration with delivering what the community genuinely values. Identify creators who embody your brand values and understand their community's needs, then empower them to help shape experiences that provide true value—whether that's specialized knowledge, exclusive access, or solutions to specific pain points.
The Path Forward
When brands empower creators as bridges to communities, they gain more than visibility; they gain relevance, authenticity, and a meaningful place in their customers' identity stories.
I've seen this evolution unfold since leaving Meta in 2018, which is why I made it the focus of my business to help brands navigate this new landscape with precision.
So the question is: will your brand be at the center of the communities shaping tomorrow's culture, or will you be left watching from the outside?
Connect with me at sara@swprojects.co or on LinkedIn to learn more about community-powered brand building.
About Sara:
Sara Wilson is a strategist, advisor, and entrepreneur who helps brands build community-powered pathways to attention, relevance and loyalty with Gen Z audiences. After leading lifestyle partnerships at Meta from 2013-2018 and working as a journalist before that, Sara founded SW Projects to help forward-thinking brands navigate the evolution from audience-building to community-led growth.
Through her work with brands like Athleta, PopSockets, Airstream, Yahoo, Prince Street Pizza and more, Sara has developed tools like The Community Catalyst (an 8-week sprint that builds a sustainable community-powered flywheel) and Audience Atlas (a custom report that helps brands identify the trusted creators, hidden identity clusters, and community connection points within their social audiences).
