#295: Community Building Trends for 2026 with Becky Pierson Davidson

About this episode

Jay Clouse and Becky Pierson Davidson discuss the future of community building and the shift from course-based education to membership models.

I brought back Becky Pierson Davidson to compare notes on where community is headed — and we found a few areas of disagreement. Becky works with 6, 7, and 8-figure businesses helping them build memberships and courses through design thinking and customer research, and she's seeing a major shift right now: course businesses are slowing down, and the smart ones are pivoting to membership models. The difference? Shared learning experiences are replacing self-paced education. Community is what people stay for. We dig into the real mechanics: how to set expectations that don't feel like a bait-and-switch, why meaningful engagement isn't what most people think it is, the mastermind paradox (increases retention, decreases forum activity), and why in-person events might be the most important retention lever you're not using. Becky's hot take for 2026: content drops are dying. People don't need more stuff — they need connection and programming that moves them forward. Affinity Collective Build with Becky podcast Episode 197: Building Raving Fans (with Becky & Chanel) Circle (community platform) TightKnit (Slack archive plugin) Dreamers and Doers Full transcript and show notes ***…

People in this episode

Guest: Becky Pierson Davidson

Topics covered

• community building
• membership models
• course businesses
• shared learning experiences
• engagement strategies
• retention strategies
• in-person events

Keywords

• design thinking
• customer research
• mastermind paradox
• content drops
• connection

Mentioned in this episode

Products: TightKnit, CreatorHQ, Affinity Collective, Circle, Dreamers and Doers

Books & works: Building Raving Fans

More episodes of Creator Science with Jay Clouse

• #312: Everything We Learned From Our Second In-Person Event — The Good, The Bad, and The Full Economics · July 21, 2026 · 1h 1m
• #311: How to Build a Successful Paid Community | Growth in Reverse · July 14, 2026 · 56 min
• #310: Brad Hoos — What 50,000 influencer campaigns tell us about what brands really care about · July 7, 2026 · 49 min
• I want to help you build a membership in July. (limited time opportunity) · June 28, 2026 · 13 min
• #295: Community Building Trends for 2026 with Becky Pierson Davidson [Greatest Hits] · June 25, 2026 · 56 min
• #309: A Deeper Look at Circle Eclipse with Circle CEO Sid Yadav · June 17, 2026 · 54 min