2. Balancing Editorial and Social
On the content strategy front, you want to devote the
most energy towards care and maintenance and
governance of the content that will meet the goals
of the community, completing the circle of strategy.
Being tactical about both of these strategies requires
constant vigilance, constant analysis, but above
all, a bravery in the face of the impossible.
3. Balancing Editorial and Social
On the community strategy front, you want to build
trust with your fellow contributors and encourage
reputation building, a sense of collaboration
towards a common goal, an eye towards the growth
and acquisition of new community members, as well
building a sense of belonging.
4. Tagging
Tagging involves a skill with which many technical
writers are familiar – determining which keywords
best describe a blog entry, link, photo, video, or
image for retrieval later.
What is more advanced and even social about
tagging is that you can usually see the tags that
others use, and also see the content that they’ve
tagged. Tagging is a little more chaotic and less
organized than more familiar techniques like
indexing, so it might take some time to adjust your
expectations.
5. Tag Clouds
Tag clouds are a visual method of displaying tags.
Tag clouds use font size or weight to indicate the
amount of content or popularity of each tag. You can
use websites like wordle.net and tagxedo.com to
build these word clouds yourself.
6.
7. Gentle Photo Tips
For products that need visual explanations, you
can post photos to Flickr or videos to YouTube to
demonstrate tasks or time-saving techniques. If you
use tagging on Flickr, users can contribute
screenshots with annotations about how they’ve
used or customized your product. For example
a user might post an iPhone screenshot showing a
customized row of icons, along with embedded howto information.
8. Viral Content
Going viral means that a video, image, or other
communication becomes widely distributed, far
beyond its original audience. Content may go viral
because of exposure on a popular blog like Boing
Boing, or by word of mouth.
If you are fortunate enough to create a viral link or
video, be sure it’s accurate and helpful to your users
before it gets 12 million views on YouTube. Due to
the speed of forwarding, ―going viral‖ can be as
dangerous as it is useful.
9. Viral Characteristics
Berger argues there are six common factors that can
lead to virality – social currency (does it make you
look good?), triggers (are you reminded of it
often?), emotion (does it make you feel
something?), public-ness (are others seeing it?),
practical value (is it useful?), and stories (is there
a memorable narrative?).
10. Flickr Tips
Enhance your image. Consider documenting a special
activity that you might support. Use Flickr to illustrate your
company's involvement in issues that matter to your
community.
Announce awards, exhibits, or your presence at
events like trade-shows.
Draw your audience closer. Asking members of your
target audience to submit photos is a wonderful way to
solidify relationships. Consider asking your customers to
upload photos of themselves assembling your products or
using your services.
Cast a wider net. Some prospects prefer looking at pictures
to reading words. Use Flickr to illustrate images of your
company, staff, or services. You can link actively to your Web
site from your Flickr profile, but not from photos.
11. Flickr Tips
Improve customer service. Upload images that are
limited to use by specific customers or invitees, perhaps
marking them private for limited visibility. You can post
pictures of work in progress, images of prospective sites
or buildings, or photographs of optional product
features.
Enhance branding and site traffic. By using
your favicon (a mini logo), tags, Web address, or links on
your profile page, you can build name recognition and
awareness of your primary site.
Improve search engine optimization. Flickr can be
helpful to your search engine optimization strategy. Tags,
filenames, photo descriptions, names of sets, and profiles
can all include some of your key search terms.
12. Pinterest Tips
Use images that paint the product or service in a
positive light. When adding any item directly to Pinterest,
or even to a blog, website, sales page, or online catalog, use
the best, most enticing shots possible. Remember that people
can pin content from your blog and other web pages, so you
want all your content to look good! If it’s in your budget,
consider getting a professional photographer to take the
photos — he’ll know the best lighting and setups to ensure
your products shine.
Product placement counts for a lot. Create boards and
pins that aren’t about selling but have your product in the
shot. For example, if your brand sells organic fruit and you
create a board with home design ideas, place bowls of fruit in
the shot.
13. Pinterest Tips
Pin shareable content. Pin the types of images people
like to share. Make sure they’re pleasing to the eye and
evoke emotion. Look around Pinterest at which pins are
the most popular or viral. See whether you can ―pin
down‖ the common denominator among the most
popular pins.
Use enticing words and phrases. Be descriptive
without selling. If you’re pinning food, use words that
make people hungry, such as succulent or mouthwatering. If you’re pinning clothes, use words that make
the potential wearer feel as if the style will look good on
her, such as flattering.
14. Pinterest Tips
Don’t spam. If you spam or push sales in a heavy way, you’ll
gain a bad reputation. Don’t tag random people in your pins
and say things like, ―Hey! Have you checked out our great new
thing-a-ma-bob?‖ The quickest way to lose followers is to be a
spammer.
Share images of influential people using your
product. Do famous people use your product or service?
Gather photographs and pin them. Nothing inspires people to
buy more than knowing their heroes use a product.
Make sure pinners know where the original photo
came from. If possible, add the name of your brand to your
pin. This way, folks can come to your website or research your
brand for more information. Even better, link back to the
product page on your website or blog.
