If you are not busy this Thursday, Oct. 14, 4-6 p.m. EDT, tune into Versus to watch our Elite National Championship. The event was held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sept. 25 and it should be a great broadcast. Unfortunately I'll be at work, so I'll be recording it, but it's exciting to see something that your place of business put together on national television.
That's the end of my plug.
I am trying to get better at how I do my job. Not only am I coordinating content, I should also be actively involved in content creation. What that means to me I'm not sure. There's so much out there regarding content creation, and people are no longer referring to online articles and stories as articles and stories - it's content.
Believe it or not,
content and social media go hand-in-hand. You can have the best content ever, but if you're not sharing it online on your social streams, you're doing yourself a disservice. And now, you can specialize your content to
make it social-media ready. Keys: short, to the point thoughts; important points at the top; style your content to make it easily readable. It sounds easier than it is, really, because you need to please your audience.
My favorite part of driving content to social media is where you
get to know your audience. Once you form a relationship with your audience, you will have a better social network. It's not just about slapping links up on a page - you have to ask questions. Why do you like this? What do you think about this theory? What is the best/worst ____ you have ever had? People are so willing to share online, and you'll figure out quickly what questions people enjoy answering.
Once your audience starts participating, your community doesn't have content that is solely created by you, the community manager - you've got more options to work with. User-generated content is content you can use. Almost two years ago,
82 million people were out there creating content, and that number is only expected to grow. This means that my goals related to content aren't just about creating content myself, but seeking out quality content created by our community - athletes, coaches, race directors, spectators, etc. With all the user-generated content out there, it's silly to only focus on creating content (in addition to whatever press releases and information we're already pushing out onto the wire) when there's so much content out there already, created by people who are living that lifestyle more than I am.
Here's my advice - don't think you have to create all your content yourself. Listen to what others are saying about you and about your product. Often times there will be positive content that the rest of your community is creating, and in my experience, people are happy to see you sharing their content on your social streams if you are giving them appropriate credit. Also, keeping your eyes and ears tuned into the community's needs and interests means you are better informed. Being a knowledgeable community manager helps you be better connected and you may even create another network - one that provides you the content you need to succeed.
What successes have you had with content creation, both personally and user-generated within your community? What are the downfalls?
