Let’s be honest — we’ve all sat in meetings where someone says:

“We need to drive more engagement.”

Everyone nods, the strategy slides move on, and… no one really knows what that means. What kind of engagement? From who? Doing what?

This is one of the most common ways community strategies get stuck. Not because the goal is bad, but because it’s vague.

Here’s a simple shift that changes everything:

Turn every fuzzy goal into a clear behavioral objective.

That’s at the heart of the From Goal to Action approach — moving from ideas that sound good to actions you can actually see, support and measure.

Why Vague Goals Fall Flat

Take “build loyalty” or “increase knowledge sharing.” These goals are everywhere — and on the surface, they seem solid.

But here’s the problem: no one agrees on what they actually look like in real life.

Let’s take “engagement.”
Does it mean:

• Members logging in?
• Posting?
• Liking?
• Reading content?
• Replying to each other?

Each of those is a completely different behavior. And they each require different tactics.

So if your goal can mean multiple things to different people, it’s not guiding your team — it’s slowing them down.

What Are Behavioral Objectives?

Behavioral objectives are just clear, specific actions you want your members to take. They answer the question:

“What exactly should members do?”

Once you know the behavior, you can plan the strategy, support it with the right tools and measure progress over time.

This is how you go from a general goal to something you can actually build a plan around.

Examples: Turning Goals Into Behavioral Objectives

Let’s break down three common community goals and turn them into real, trackable behaviors.

Goal: “Drive engagement”

Behavioral objective: Members ask at least one question per month in the support forum.
Why it matters: Questions create visibility, spark replies and help surface unmet needs.
How to support it: Weekly prompts, a “question of the week” thread, or direct invitations to post.

Goal: “Increase knowledge sharing”

Behavioral objective: Members publish one how-to article or guide per quarter.
Why it matters: These resources scale expertise and reduce repeated questions.
How to support it: Use templates, spotlight contributors and offer low-bar ways to contribute.

Goal: “Build loyalty”

Behavioral objective: Members return at least twice a month and reply to one discussion.
Why it matters: Recurring activity builds habits, belonging and long-term connection.
How to support it: Personalized digests, regular discussion themes or light gamification.

Why This Approach Works

When you shift from vague goals to behavioral objectives, a few great things happen:

1. Everyone’s on the same page — no more guessing what “engagement” means.
2. Your tactics become more targeted — you’re not throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.
3. You can measure real progress — behaviors are trackable in a way that vague goals aren’t.
4. Your team moves faster — with clear direction, work becomes easier to prioritize.

Try It Yourself

Take one of your community goals — maybe something you’ve been stuck on — and ask:

“What behavior do we actually want to see from our members?”

That question is your starting point.

Once you’ve nailed the behavioral objective, the rest of the strategy gets clearer: what to do, how to support it, and how to tell if it’s working.

The post From Goal to Action: How to Make Your Community Strategy Actually Work appeared first on Sengii.