Social media, content marketing, branding; no matter how you choose to frame it. The end goal will always remains the same. As business owners, entrepreneurs and content creators, our main goal is to engage with our target audience and spread the word around whatever it is we have to offer.
As we go deeper and deeper into the philosophies surrounding online communities. You start to realize it just not about presenting content and getting your target audience to engage. Content marketing is about promoting a culture within your online community that not only speaks to your brand, but allows you to connects with your target audience in a human way.
At the end of the day, people are people.
The key to creating a culture around your online community is about behavioral changes. Ultimately getting your target audience to invest in that change is how produce a beneficial situation for both parties. Content marketing is about quality over quantity.
To paint a picture, let’s think about radio advertising. You can hear an ad repeatedly and become innately aware of a produce or service. With content marketing, how many times have viewed or listened to a great piece of content and naturally (deep down) had a great experience.
That analogy explains the reasoning behind creating a culture around an online community. It’s about provoking thoughts and creating energy around the human experience. Hence the saying,
Humans first, Internet second.
It’s not just another transaction, click or lead.
The value that can be created from one strong community can go a long way vs. having a multitude of communities spread thin over a number of platforms. So in this article, I am going to discuss fives ways you can shift your online presence from a social media heavy brand to a culture driven brand.
Ready? Let’s get started below.
1. Gain A Collective Perspective
Content marketing is all about teamwork. Your success will be directly correlated with your ability to bring the right people together; for the right reasons. This includes inside your company and outside. Even if you’re a content creator, its about gaining collective perspective that will help you provide a better experience for your online community.
Creating a culture around your online community is just about combining the right experiences. It all starts with people, process and technology. The key is to always make people feel welcomed when it comes to your online community. No matter what industry or business sector you’re apart of, it’s about creating an atmosphere that speaks to people on a social level.
2. Focus On Content
The word content can sometimes be overbearing, especially if you’re new to content marketing. Simply put, content is just information. When creating a culture around your online community you want to be mindful of how you frame your content.
This goes back to ‘How To Choose The Right Channel For Your Content‘. The key is to constantly present your online community with content that they recognize and it doesn’t necessarily have to be created by you. Always remember, the medium is the message.
The channel or platform may change but the information will always remain the same.
3. Consistently Create A Narrative
As humans, stories are apart of our social makeup. No matter how far you go back in history there has always been great stories accompanied by great storytellers. The ability to consistently create a narrative within your online community can pay dividends to brands and businesses alike.
Consistently creating a narrative not only helps create a culture around your online community. It helps to reinforces ideas, experiences and lessons we’ve all learned throughout life. As humans, we will always gravitate towards our natural interests. This is why online communities thrive around brands that can present them with remarkable content.
4. Hire Someone Who Can Direct Your Online Engagement
The title of this person can be flexible, but the functionality of their position has to remain the same. Focus on people who have a deep understanding of people and their online behavior. The key is to start directing your energy towards online activities that promote community engagement.
Another key is to listen, the beautiful thing about content marketing is that people are already mentally trained to consume and engage with content. It’s more so about positioning your brand and being able to focus that energy in the right direction.
Always ask yourself, “What are the wants and needs of my online community?”
5. Listen More, Speak Less.
The advantage of content marketing is this: you’ll either get a reaction or not. This is why social media has become so popular for businesses, brands and content creators alike. It allows Us to watch from a bird’s eye view. Yes, you should engage with your online community but be constantly taking notes on what works and what doesn’t.
The one thing you have to embrace is the overall sense of community. Everyone is afforded the opportunity to voice their opinion, add to a narrative and create an experience around a topic or discussion.
So don’t forget,
Humans first, Internet second.
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