To say a community that runs itself is busy is an understatement. It’s a unique ecosystem, buzzing with different types of information and potentially life-changing conversations. As a community manager, it’s your job to make sure that you’re managing community culture, so that community members are getting the most out of their experience in the community.
This is where community culture nurturing happens. When there’s so much going on, it can be difficult to surface what’s important to your community.
Many times, content can get buried and isn’t accessible to the members who need it the most. Fortunately, there are creative ways to streamline and surface relevant content for your community members.
1. Monitor What’s Trending on Social Media
First and foremost, as a community manager, it’s important to be in the know about what’s trending on social media. Set up Google Alerts with keywords that matter to your community. Follow influencers on social media, regularly engage with their content via likes and shares, and share it with your community.
The more you share industry trends and happenings with your community, the more you’ll be viewed as a trusted source.
2. Create #Hashtags to Surface Relevant Content
One way to surface relevant content within an online community is to use hashtags. For example, any time you are posting something that’s related to the rules of the community, you can simply add “#Admin” to it. If it’s news, you can add “#trending.”
3. Use a Content Curation Service
Content Curation like Feed.ly and Trap.It make it much easier to surface relevant content and get access to it first. As a community manager, it’s helpful to include one of these tools in your everyday workflow.
4. Create Themed Days
When you designate a theme to a weekday, you create predictability in your community which encourages participation. For example, we’ve discussed the benefits of having a “brag” day and allowing community members to promote something they’re working on. You can also have a funny GIF day or #AskaMentor day.
5. Create Subgroups for Topic-Specific Discussions
If hashtags don’t do it for your community, you can always create subgroups to support different types of content. One subgroup can host AMA-style chats, another can be a place where members are encouraged to network with each other based on similar interests.
For more tips and strategies, check out resources.