Community Engagement Tracking

Set up a structured system to log every community interaction and its outcomes. This enables measuring which communities, content types, and engagement styles generate the most referral traffic and signups.

Tracking Architecture

Layer 1: UTM-tagged links

Every link you share in a community must include UTM parameters:

https://yoursite.com/PAGE?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=reddit-niche-communities&utm_content=r_SUBREDDIT_post_TOPIC

Parameter schema:

• utm_source: Platform name (reddit, discord, slack, hackernews)
• utm_medium: Always community for this play
• utm_campaign: Play slug (reddit-niche-communities)
• utm_content: Subreddit + context (r_SaaS_comment_pricing, r_startups_post_how_to)

Layer 2: PostHog event tracking

Fire custom PostHog events for community-driven actions using the posthog-custom-events fundamental:

posthog.capture('community_referral_visit', {
    source: 'reddit',
    subreddit: 'r/SaaS',
    post_type: 'comment',   // 'comment', 'post', 'dm'
    topic: 'pricing-strategy',
    campaign: 'reddit-niche-communities'
});

posthog.capture('community_signup', {
    source: 'reddit',
    subreddit: 'r/SaaS',
    attribution_post_url: 'https://reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/...',
    campaign: 'reddit-niche-communities'
});

UTM parameters are automatically captured by PostHog if the JS snippet is installed. The custom events above add richer context for analysis.

Layer 3: Activity log

Maintain a structured log of every community interaction. Store in Attio as notes on a "Community Engagement" list, or in a simple JSON/CSV file:

{
  "date": "2026-03-30",
  "platform": "reddit",
  "subreddit": "r/SaaS",
  "action": "comment",
  "post_url": "https://reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/abc123/...",
  "your_content_url": "https://reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/abc123/.../def456",
  "topic": "pricing strategy for early-stage SaaS",
  "included_link": true,
  "link_url": "https://yoursite.com/blog/pricing?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=reddit-niche-communities&utm_content=r_SaaS_comment_pricing",
  "upvotes_received": 12,
  "replies_received": 3,
  "referral_sessions_24h": 8,
  "signups_24h": 1
}

Layer 4: Attribution in CRM

When a lead signs up and their first_touch_channel in PostHog is community with utm_source=reddit, create or update the contact in Attio with:

• lead_source: reddit-community
• lead_source_detail: The specific subreddit (from utm_content)
• first_touch_url: The Reddit post/comment URL

Metrics to Compute

From the activity log and PostHog data, compute weekly:

1. Referral sessions by subreddit: PostHog query — pageviews where utm_source=reddit grouped by utm_content
2. Signups by subreddit: PostHog query — signup events where utm_source=reddit grouped by utm_content
3. Engagement rate by content type: (upvotes + replies) / posts, grouped by content type (how-to, opinion, case-study, question)
4. Karma earned per subreddit: Track cumulative upvotes from your interactions per community
5. Time to first referral: Days between first post in a subreddit and first attributed referral visit
6. Cost per referral session: If using paid tools (Syften, etc.), divide monthly tool cost by referral sessions

PostHog Dashboard Queries

Create a saved insight in PostHog for each:

• Referral trend: Line chart of community_referral_visit events over time, broken down by subreddit property
• Signup attribution: Bar chart of community_signup events grouped by subreddit
• Conversion funnel: Funnel from community_referral_visit → page_viewed (pricing/docs page) → signup_started → signup_completed

Error Handling

• UTM stripping: Some Reddit clients strip UTM parameters. Use a URL shortener that preserves UTMs (e.g., short.io) or use distinct landing page paths per subreddit as a backup tracking method.
• Missing attribution: If signups don't have UTM data, check PostHog's $initial_referrer property — it will show reddit.com even without UTMs.
• Double counting: Deduplicate by user ID when computing signups. A user who visits from Reddit 3 times is still 1 signup.