As a new community manager, one of the things I struggled with was keeping up with creating content for my community. Aside from that, I was also unsure about the type of content my community required. The constant struggle to strike a balance between creativity and engagement resulted in severe burnout.

It became clear that overcoming this challenge would require a deeper understanding of my community's desires as well as a strategic approach to content that would encourage members to stay and participate in the long run.

In this article, I'll be sharing my insights on how to create community content effectively, drawing from my experiences and the strategies that have helped me find the right balance between meeting the community's needs and enjoying the creative aspects of my role.

WHAT IS COMMUNITY CONTENT?

Community content is any content created with and/or for community members to provide value to them and encourage members to stay and participate long-term.

Community content, from my perspective, extends beyond mere introductions and tags. It's about offering a diverse set of resources like events, job postings, conversation starters, AMAs, and expert advice that resonate with people, making them comfortable enough to start chatting. When we talk about 'content,' we do not just mean long-form written content; short posts, discussion threads, polls, giveaways, and AMAs are all valuable content pieces that drive community engagement.

BENEFITS OF CREATING COMMUNITY CONTENT

The five main benefits of creating community content include:

1. Providing value for community members

2. Engagement and growth

3. Building habits for your members to adopt

4. Staying organized as a community manager

5. Consistency in content efforts

HOW TO BUILD A COMMUNITY CONTENT STRATEGY

Building an irresistible content strategy that your members engage with and interact with is not one-sided. There is a famous saying that 'it takes two to tango’, and this is especially true when it comes to building your community content strategy.

But first, let’s start with setting some goals, because every effective plan starts with a goal in mind. We will explore five steps you can take to build out your community content strategy.

1. Define your community content goals: What do you aim to achieve, who is your target audience, and what are the desired outcomes for both your community and the project you work for?

Your community content plan should address these questions:

i. Why: What's the purpose of creating content for your community? (e.g., boosting engagement or attracting more members)

ii. What: What type of content do you plan to create? (text, videos, polls, audio, or a mix)

iii. When: How frequently will you post content in your community?

iv.Who: Identify who will handle content creation, publication, and engagement with members.

v. Where: Determine the platforms or channels where your content will be posted (Discord, Telegram, Slack).

2. Conduct a survey: It is easy to assume what your community members want to engage with and come up with your own ideas, but it is better if you ask them what they want with a survey. You would be surprised at the profound insights you would gain. A simple survey can be conducted using Google Forms or Type Form.

Additionally, ensure that you understand the different personas within your community to tailor the survey questions appropriately. This approach allows you to gather insights that resonate with the various segments of your community, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of their preferences and needs.

3. Decide on a Content Routine:

Deciding on a content routine means figuring out how often you'll post in your community. It's setting a schedule for when you'll share different types of content.

Content routine can be classified into three parts:

i. High Frequency: This content is relatively low-effort and the most frequently posted in your community. These are the daily contents that keep your community afloat.

Examples of these are engagement prompts,such as:

Asking questions related to a topic
Running a short poll
Conversation starters

ii. Medium Frequency: This entails doing things on a regular basis, but not every day. This could be like having a routine, such as a Monday morning thread where people set goals. It could also include simpler events like AMAs with experts in or outside your community on a weekly or biweekly basis.

iii. Low Frequency: These are your show-stoppers.They can be annual events or content pieces that require extensive planning and preparation—things that will most likely take months to complete.

Some communities host annual summits, bootcamps, conferences, and in-person meet-ups, while others produce guides, reports, or eBooks.

3. Create a content calendar: Even after figuring out your posting schedule, it's a good idea to plan ahead instead of improvising.

Having a content calendar helps you stay organized and accountable. This not only benefits your community but also encourages members to adopt similar habits in their engagement. You can use tools like Asana or Google Sheets to create a content calendar.

You can also take cschool’s course on building a community calendar

Actionable tip: Share your calendar with the rest of your team to encourage collaboration with the rest of the company.

4. Repurpose Content: Make the most of what you have! If your company has existing content like blogs, courses, social media posts, or eBooks, work with the content team to repurpose those materials for your community. This way, you can provide additional value to your community members without doubling your workload. If you are working solo, you can always repurpose your previous best-performing content.

5. Measure Impact: How do you measure if your efforts are actually working? One of the surest ways to measure the success of your community content is to track the engagement on each piece.

A simple strategy: at the end of your first month, reflect on your calendar. Look at the daily and weekly content types you posted. Next, assess the engagement on each one and identify the ones with the most or least engagement. This will provide a clearer picture of what's working and what needs improvement.

In summary, developing an irresistible community content strategy entails setting clear goals, conducting surveys to understand your community's needs, deciding on a content routine, creating a content calendar, repurposing existing content, and measuring impact. This allows you to have a long-term plan for your community and work with clarity.

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