Podcast Summary: Voices of Search — One Community Growth Tactic That Worked Five Years Ago But Would Completely Flop Today

Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Jordan Cooney
Guest: John Levesque, CEO of Seek

Overview

This episode spotlights the seismic shifts in community growth and engagement tactics in the SEO and content marketing landscape over the last five years. The conversation centers on the declining effectiveness of once-reliable community-building approaches, particularly the transformation from platform-centric engagement and virtual events to a decentralized, user-driven model.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Then vs. Now: Shifting Community Growth Tactics

• Siloed Communities No Longer Work

  • Five years ago: Companies could successfully build and maintain isolated brand communities (e.g., dedicated forums or niche platforms).
  • Now: Brand communities are scattered across a multitude of channels—social media, GitHub, Reddit, and more.
  • Quote:

    "Five years ago, brand communities could exist in a silo like the Microsoft community existed on techcommunity.Microsoft.com now the Microsoft community exists in a hundred places, right?...You must go to them."
    — John Levesque [00:53]

• The Demise of Virtual Events

  • Then: Virtual events were inclusive, engaging, and highly effective, especially in the pre-pandemic environment.
  • Now: Virtual events have lost their appeal as users crave in-person interactions and tangible value for their time.
  • Quote:

    "...Five years ago, virtual worked amazingly pre Pandemic. We all loved virtual events. It was inclusive, it was fun. Right now, people hate virtual. Nobody's got time for a webinar, bro..."
    — John Levesque [01:17]

What Doesn’t Work Anymore

• Expecting Users to "Come to You" Online
  • Centralized community platforms are no longer viable; engagement must be distributed and proactive.
• Heavy Reliance on Virtual Programming
  • With webinar fatigue high, brands must shift focus back to in-person or hybrid interaction to sustain engagement.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Silo vs Distributed Community Management:

  • "You cannot hold the expectation that people will come to you. They will not. You must go to them." (John Levesque, [01:06])

• On Virtual Engagement Fatigue:

  • "Nobody's got time for a webinar, bro. We're all like way worried about how to survive and we want to hang out and see people face to face and feel something, feel like our time is valuable." (John Levesque, [01:21])

• Host Acknowledgment:

  • "I totally [have] seen that transformation over the last couple years from virtual to physical, and I don't think that we’re going to go back unless there's some catastrophic global challenge that we all face again." (Jordan Cooney, [03:27])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:43: Setting the stage — what worked then and now in community growth
• 00:53 – 01:59: John Levesque discusses decline of siloed brand communities and virtual events
• 03:27: Host sums up the transformation from virtual to physical community engagement

Conclusion

The episode underscores a pivotal paradigm shift in SEO and content marketing community tactics. Marketers must adapt by abandoning outdated, siloed strategies and instead meet audiences across their preferred platforms — with a renewed focus on face-to-face interaction wherever possible. The future of community growth now hinges on flexibility, presence, and authenticity in decentralized digital environments.