Whether activity is conducted internally by brands, or by a commissioned social media agency, managing a brand's social networking platforms can be a tough challenge, especially when it comes to giving a product, that generates little natural excitement, a bit more appeal to an online community. However, there are a few simple content techniques that can be used by community managers to create more stories within and around a social media property. By making the most of these techniques, community managers and their digital PR and social media teams can create more engagement opportunities, give users a reason to return and often improve user acquisition levels in the process:
Theme maps - Theme maps can be used to map out exactly what themes can be used to diversify the content shared through social media, and will help to build a story around other areas that a brand wishes to be involved in and connoted with. This is a core way of appealing to an increased sphere of users on each social network. Obviously it's important that a brand's social media presence doesn't deviate too far from what its core fans are expecting, but so long as the content is still relevant, diversity can be a great way of increasing appeal and ultimately audience.
Serialisation - Developing a content concept that can be serialised, whether it's a series of videos or a podcast for example, can be a great way of building a story within a brand's social media property. It will gradually provide advancements to any narrative that can be formed, giving users a reason to return to the profile - to find the next piece of the narrative.
Build a picture/drip feed information - Gradually sharing a piece of content (such as an image that is delivered in pieces) over a longer period of time will serve to tease the community and generate anticipation. This can be a great engagement tool providing the content shared is high quality and relevant, a new product for example, and can go a long way towards mobilizing users to share the content and increase exposure of the brand presence.