Customer stories are often the gateway into customer marketing. They build trust, fuel advocacy, and prove value. But in today’s post-sale reality, stories are just the starting point. Customer marketers are increasingly aligned to bigger business outcomes like GRR, retention, customer health, and long-term value; outcomes that are shared across marketing, digital customer success, product, and support. And we know hitting those goals takes more than great storytelling. It takes systems that keep customers progressing, solving problems, and seeing value together. And that’s where community comes in. You’ll walk away with: - A clearer way to position customer stories as a leading indicator, not the end goal - How community directly supports GRR, retention, and customer momentum -Practical ways to use community to surface advocates, reduce friction, and identify risk earlier - How customer marketers can advocate for community as shared infrastructure across teams This isn’t about community as a nice-to-have. It’s about using community as your fuel for advocacy, retention, and measurable outcomes at scale.