Being a leader in your community, you set the example for how to interact within it. Members see what you post and respond accordingly to the types of content you upload and will follow in step. So the question becomes, how do you create a content calendar that helps your members?
An Ad-Hoc strategy – adding posts, polls, events, ect., as they happen rather than on a regular schedule actually may harm your community’s engagement. Members crave consistency, and the constant posting of set kinds of content helps your members understand the groups they are in- posting more relevant content and help with moderation! It’s so important for community managers to create high standards through their own engagement and content creation in the community. One way we do this at Mobilize is through creating a content calendar.
What can the Content Calendar look like for your community?
Great community managers have a trick up their sleeves- they actually only create two unique posts each month. The majority of posts most community managers make are actually repeatable and easy to engage with!
Creating repeating weekly posts are a great way to help you create constant, fresh content within your community. Watch how the community reacts and listen to what topics interest them the most.
Here are some examples of easy to repeat weekly post ideas:
Member Monday🎉–
Have a Member Spotlight post highlighting all the new members who joined your community the previous week! It’s a great way to introduce them into the community and get them involved.
Topical Poll📊-
Share a poll asking what are the topics they’re currently the most eager to learn about and then follow up based on their responses with content that they will respond to.
Subject Matter Expert/ Executive Contributions🎓-
Your SMEs can create an Ask Me Anything posts for your members to ask all their burning questions for your expert to help answer and share their un-Google-able experiences and knowledge. Similarly, you can have an Executive pose a question to your members and discuss their answers.
Share a Win Wednesday🏅-
Your members have daily experiences that they go through, why not capitalize on it? Ask your members to share a win or something that they struggled with. Your members may just find an unexpected member who can learn from them or help them.
Making your own Community Calendar.
As I mentioned earlier, an Ad-Hoc approach can be confusing for your members and can lead to off-topic discussions. It’s important for Community Managers to keep a consistent post routine that way members can learn what to do and they won’t get ‘stage fright’ because there aren’t set standards – no one wants to accidentally make a mistake and embarrass themselves in front of everyone.
A great way to keep the consistency in your group alive and well is to use a cyclical calendar. A great idea is using the Agile method of planning topical ‘Sprints’. These sprints help ease the community manager’s job, create stability, and spur engagement amongst members
Here are some tips for creating a good Community Sprint:
1. Create a Topic –
Now, assign a topic for each two-week segment. For example, one segment can be ‘collaboration’ and the next can be ‘live events.’
2. Plug in Easy to Engage Posts –
Once you have a topic, plug in regular programs. For example, the first Monday of every two-week segment you’ll have an AMA. The first Thursday of each two-week segment you’ll engage an executive and the following week you’ll have a member spotlight.
3. Shift topic, keep the framework –
After two weeks, you’ll keep the same format (AMA on Monday, executive engagement on Thursday, member spotlight following week) but you adopt a new topic.
By creating easy to engage posts organized in a cyclical calendar, your members will be able to anticipate upcoming posts and Community Managers can create fresh, topical, and more importantly consistent content.
