community-forum▌
kostja94/marketing-skills · updated Apr 8, 2026
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Guides forum promotion, community invitation, and vertical community marketing. Community-led growth (CLG) costs ~90% less than paid acquisition with ~3.2x higher customer LTV. Indie Hackers delivers ~23% conversion vs Product Hunt ~3%; HN and Reddit require sustained engagement. For cold start planning (first users, launch channels), see cold-start-strategy. For indie hacker strategy (first 100 users, Build in Public content framework, Indie Hackers tactics), see indie-hacker-strategy.
Channels: Community & Forum Promotion
Guides forum promotion, community invitation, and vertical community marketing. Community-led growth (CLG) costs ~90% less than paid acquisition with ~3.2x higher customer LTV. Indie Hackers delivers ~23% conversion vs Product Hunt ~3%; HN and Reddit require sustained engagement. For cold start planning (first users, launch channels), see cold-start-strategy. For indie hacker strategy (first 100 users, Build in Public content framework, Indie Hackers tactics), see indie-hacker-strategy.
When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1-2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.
Initial Assessment
Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for product, audience, and brand voice.
Identify:
- Goal: Leads, community growth, brand awareness
- Platform fit: Indie Hacker, HN, Reddit, Discord, vertical forums
- Timeline: One-time launch vs sustained (4-6 months for Indie Hackers)
Forum Types
| Platform | Audience | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Indie Hacker | Indie makers, founders | Sustained engagement; authentic journey posts; ~23% conversion vs PH 3% |
| Hacker News | Tech, startups | Show HN launch; ~1,300 posts/day; front page = luck + timing |
| Hackernoon | Dev, tech readers | Content distribution |
| Industry forums | Niche verticals | Discount codes for leads; search "[industry] forum"; post event/activity promotion; see discount-marketing-strategy for code strategy |
| Subreddit-specific | See reddit-posts; 90/10 rule; 29+ posts for traction |
Hacker News Launch
| Practice | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Title | "Show HN: [Product] - [specific problem solved]"; honest, no clickbait |
| Timing | Tue-Thu; peak US hours; avoid weekends, Mon, Fri |
| First comment | Invitation to engage; product status (beta/MVP); differentiated solution; try-it link |
| Assets | Live demo, GIFs, screenshots, 30-60s demo video |
| Expectation | Traffic spike, not sustained growth; partly luck-dependent |
Indie Hackers Best Practices
- Sustained engagement: 4–6 months; not a one-time launch
- Content: Authentic journey posts; product "sprinkled within"; avoid heavy promotion
- Result: ~23% conversion vs Product Hunt ~3%; organic traffic from authentic sharing
For full Indie Hackers tactics, Build in Public content framework (40/30/20/10), first 100 users → indie-hacker-strategy.
Community Invitation Tactics
| Channel | Method |
|---|---|
| Welcome email | Post-signup automation; 4x open, 5x CTR vs regular campaigns |
| Homepage CTA | Button, popup, banner; above-the-fold upgrade CTA |
| In-site placement | High-visibility areas; user-focused sections (e.g. dashboard, settings) |
| Banner | Homepage, carousel below hero |
| Registration emails | Success/confirmation email with community link |
| EDM campaign | Newsletter + banner, interview-for-membership |
| Discord | Post event/community info; founder engagement 2-3h/day |
| Vertical forums | Search "[industry] forum"; post event/activity promotion |
| Post-login form | In-app signup form shown after login; high-intent placement |
Welcome email best practices: One clear CTA per email; front-load value in subject; personalize (signup source, interests); link to best content, events; ask questions (~75% reply rate). Automated 2-4 email sequence.
Vertical Community Channels
| Principle | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Target | Find channels where target audience gathers |
| Niche over broad | Industry-specific subgroups; avoid mass posting |
| Caution | Mass posting risks removal; match community tone; choose wording carefully |
| Examples | Reddit subreddits, Discord servers, Quora, X, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, niche B2B communities |
| Regional | Large communities by locale—event/activity promotion; target vertical channels within each; see localization-strategy |
Community-led growth: Engage before promoting; build trust; contribute value first.
Natural Traffic (Complementary)
| Channel | Use |
|---|---|
| Hashtags | Social tag optimization |
| Facebook groups | Indirect referral |
| Giveaways | Attention and conversion |
Brand Basics (Encyclopedia, Q&A)
| Platform | Use |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Global; neutral, cited content; brand credibility |
| Quora | Q&A; brand discussion, thought leadership, long-term SEO |
| Stack Overflow | Tech/dev; expertise signals, backlinks |
| Regional | Local encyclopedias and Q&A by locale; verified credentials; see localization-strategy |
Wikipedia: Neutral language, credible references, no promotional content. Regional platforms require verified credentials; prioritize local search share. Free and sustainable; supports long-term conversion while search habits persist.
Output Format
- Forum selection and approach (HN vs IH vs industry)
- Community invitation plan (welcome email, CTA, banner, EDM, Discord)
- Vertical channel targeting
- Content strategy (authentic vs promotional mix)
- Timeline (launch vs sustained)
Related Skills
- reddit-posts: Reddit post copy, subreddit rules
- cold-start-strategy: Cold start orchestrates Product Hunt, Reddit, Indie Hackers, directories; this skill handles forum/community tactics
- indie-hacker-strategy: Indie hacker first 100 users; Build in Public; Indie Hackers tactics; this skill = forum/community tactics; indie-hacker = strategy + context
- directory-submission: Product Hunt, Taaft; different from forum community
- affiliate-marketing: Communities as recruitment channel
- top-banner-generator, popup-generator: Homepage CTA, banner
- newsletter-signup-generator: EDM, welcome email
- localization-strategy: Regional markets (local platforms by locale)
How to use community-forum on Cursor
AI-first code editor with Composer
Prerequisites
Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
- ›Cursor installed and configured on your development machine
- ›Node.js version 16.0+ with npm package manager (verify with
node --version) - ›Active project directory or workspace where you want to add community-forum
Execute installation command
Execute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
The skills CLI fetches community-forum from GitHub repository kostja94/marketing-skills and configures it for Cursor.
Select Cursor when prompted
The CLI will show a list of available agents. Use arrow keys to navigate and space to select Cursor:
Verify installation
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
Reload or restart Cursor to activate community-forum. Access the skill through slash commands (e.g., /community-forum) or your agent's skill management interface.
Security & Verification Notice
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
Skills execute code in your development environment. Always verify the publisher's identity, review recent commits, and test in isolated environments before production deployment.
List & Monetize Your Skill
Submit your Claude Code skill and start earning
Use Cases▌
User Story & Requirements Generation
Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specs
Example
Generate user stories for 'password reset feature' with acceptance criteria, edge cases, and test scenarios
Reduce spec writing time by 50%, ensure comprehensive coverage
Competitive Analysis
Research competitors, compare features, identify gaps
Example
Analyze 5 competitor products, create feature comparison matrix, suggest differentiation opportunities
Complete competitive research in 2 hours instead of 2 days
Roadmap Prioritization
Evaluate features using frameworks (RICE, ICE, Kano) and create prioritized backlogs
Example
Score 20 feature ideas using RICE framework, generate prioritized roadmap with rationale
Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster
Stakeholder Communication
Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations
Example
Create executive summary of Q3 roadmap, monthly progress report, feature launch announcement
Save 3-5 hours/week on communication overhead
Implementation Guide▌
Prerequisites
- ›Claude Desktop or compatible AI client
- ›Access to product documentation and roadmap tools (Jira, Notion, etc.)
- ›Understanding of product management frameworks (RICE, Jobs-to-be-Done, etc.)
- ›Stakeholder contact information and communication channels
Time Estimate
30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements
Installation Steps
- 1.Install product management skill
- 2.Start with user story generation for known feature
- 3.Progress to competitive analysis: research 2-3 competitors
- 4.Use for roadmap prioritization: apply RICE/ICE scoring
- 5.Draft stakeholder communications and refine based on feedback
- 6.Build template library for recurring PM tasks
- 7.Share effective prompts with product team
Common Pitfalls
- ⚠Not validating competitive research—verify facts before sharing
- ⚠Accepting user stories without involving engineering team
- ⚠Over-relying on frameworks without qualitative judgment
- ⚠Not customizing outputs to company culture and communication style
- ⚠Skipping stakeholder validation of generated requirements
Best Practices▌
✓ Do
- +Validate research and competitive analysis with real data
- +Collaborate with engineering when generating technical requirements
- +Customize frameworks and templates to your company context
- +Use skill for first drafts, refine with stakeholder input
- +Document successful prompt patterns for PM tasks
- +Combine AI efficiency with human judgment and intuition
✗ Don't
- −Don't publish competitive analysis without fact-checking
- −Don't finalize user stories without engineering review
- −Don't make prioritization decisions solely on AI scoring
- −Don't skip customer validation of generated requirements
- −Don't ignore company-specific context and culture
💡 Pro Tips
- ★Provide context: company goals, constraints, customer feedback
- ★Ask for alternatives: 'Show 3 ways to prioritize this roadmap'
- ★Request stakeholder-specific formatting: 'Executive summary vs. engineering spec'
- ★Use skill for 70% generation + 30% customization to company needs
When to Use This▌
✓ Use When
Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.
✗ Avoid When
Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.
Learning Path▌
- 1Basic: user stories, feature specs, status updates
- 2Intermediate: competitive analysis, prioritization frameworks, PRDs
- 3Advanced: product strategy, go-to-market planning, OKR setting
- 4Expert: product vision, market positioning, business model innovation
Discussion
Product Hunt–style comments (not star reviews)- No comments yet — start the thread.
Ratings
4.5★★★★★52 reviews- ★★★★★Pratham Ware· Dec 20, 2024
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: community-forum is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
- ★★★★★Mateo Menon· Dec 20, 2024
We added community-forum from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
- ★★★★★Kofi Gupta· Dec 20, 2024
community-forum fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
- ★★★★★Ira Sharma· Dec 16, 2024
I recommend community-forum for anyone iterating fast on agent tooling; clear intent and a small, reviewable surface area.
- ★★★★★Tariq Khan· Nov 23, 2024
community-forum fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
- ★★★★★Sakshi Patil· Nov 11, 2024
We added community-forum from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
- ★★★★★Daniel Martinez· Nov 11, 2024
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: community-forum is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
- ★★★★★Xiao Sanchez· Nov 11, 2024
community-forum has been reliable in day-to-day use. Documentation quality is above average for community skills.
- ★★★★★Daniel Choi· Oct 14, 2024
We added community-forum from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
- ★★★★★Chaitanya Patil· Oct 2, 2024
community-forum fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
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