CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIESMike Tekula (@MikeTek)Consultant, Distilled

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CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

QUICK RECAP:How our previous lessons apply to community building

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

VALUES AND VISION MATTER TO THE COMMUNITY‣Your Values are your promise to the community — they establish trust

• Your job is to deliver on those Values consistently‣Your Vision, how you want to change the world, identifies your allies and

your enemies• Think back to the Tesla Motors mission statement‣Without these, your brand stands for nothing

• And therefore, nobody will stand with you

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Be as transparent and authentic as possible

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

YOUR PEOPLE ARE YOUR SEEDS‣Give your people the stage, don’t communicate as a logo

• Remember that Google is moving to reward author-attributed content‣The first community is the one already inside your business — expose it

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

FOLLOW THE INFLUENCERS‣Your community will overlap with influencer communities‣Study how influencers in your space have encouraged community

development on their sites• Do they reward involvement?• Do they share the spotlight with top contributors?

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

COMMUNITY IS PORTABLE‣Study your audience’s haunts‣Your site won’t be the only place where your community exists

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

THE EARLY DAYS:THE FIRST STEPS TO BUILDING A COMMUNITY

‣Works with even a small initial audience‣Establishes a sense of investment

in the guest writer‣Attracts their audience to your site‣ Influencers who know them will

begin to know you

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

1. INVITE GUEST WRITERS

‣Great way to “borrow” their audience for a moment‣Outside of the most popular / busy

influencers, most are happy to answer a few questions‣Remember consistency bias — helping out

makes us want to help out again‣ Instant credibility for pitching up the chain

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

2. INTERVIEW INFLUENCERS

‣People love free stuff‣Make it compelling and a challenge —

tie it to your brand‣ If you provide small business services,

partner with some friends to offer a business package as the reward

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

3. HOLD CONTESTS

‣Customers can make your most supportive community members‣Present them in a favorable light, and

they’ll be proud of the case study‣Helps sell your products / services with

storytelling (not pure self-promotion)

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

4. PUBLISH CASE STUDIES

‣Point readers to the best resources on a topic‣Let the content producers know

you’ve done it‣Ego and reciprocity prevail

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

5. MAKE A “BEST OF” LIST POST

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

THE POWER OF USER GENERATED CONTENT

‣Point systems build rewards into community engagement‣Moz.com nailed this with their “thumb” system‣SocialMediaExaminer.com similarly created a

“top contributors” board, based on points (awarded by other community members for comments / posts)

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

MAKE COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION A GAME

‣A report published by Search Engine Land in 2012 found that 72% of online consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations‣Also increases the level of relevant

content on the page (SEO)

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

CUSTOMER REVIEWS

Use these forms of UGC in early days:‣Guest blog posts (by invite)‣Group interviews‣Surveys‣Embedded Twitter discussions

The possibility for these opens up once you have a robust community:‣Forums (Webmaster World)‣Dedicated UGC blogs (see Moz.com’s YOUmoz)‣Regular guest writers / editors

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

A NOTE ON TIMING

‣Even blog comment threads can get out of hand‣Set some ground rules‣ It is your job to police the comments

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

WHEN UGC GOES WRONG

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT TIPS

‣Establish clear rules about what kind of comments/discussions you will tolerate and what will get people’s comments removed or get them banned‣Encourage the users who: ‣Add value to the conversation in a respectable way‣Challenge the arguments of the post or another commenter in a respectful

way‣You are not legally responsible for blog comments / forum posts but you have

the right (and the responsibility) to police them

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

KEEPING IT CLEAN

‣Natural affinity for socializing online‣Time!‣Advocate for users‣Ready to take it offline

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

CHOOSING COMMUNITY MANAGERS

‣Once your brand has some recognition, watch for social mentions

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

REWARDING AMBASSADORS

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

LEVERAGING FEEDBACK FOR CONTENT

‣Listen for social mentions of your brand or topic•A quick thanks for a positive brand mention•A quick apology with an offer to discuss further for negative mentions•If listening by topic, be extremely cautious about soundy “pitchy” when

engaging•Timing is key!‣SocialMention.com‣Use TweetDeck for custom Twitter search columns

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

LISTENING IN SOCIAL

‣Read. The. Comments.‣One comment can turn into an

entire blog post‣Don’t limit this to your own blog

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

DRAWING INSIGHT FROM COMMENT THREADS

‣Have an idea for a big, research-driven piece of content?‣Reach out to influencers first (aim low/mid-

tier) and pitch them on it‣Ask for their feedback on the idea

•Interview them and incorporate if it makes sense

‣The piece gets better, and...‣They will be likely to link to / promote the

piece upon launch (sense of ownership)

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

PREDELIVERING CONTENT IDEAS FOR FEEDBACK

CONTENT MARKETING FOR NEW MARKETERS: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

THANKS! QUESTIONS?