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Take the Stress Out of Engaging the Online Community
In the last couple of years, online communications have increased to unimaginable highs. As we know, the modern pandemic adds icing to the cake. Almost everything was compromised to an online format.
This supports the notion that technology will be the platform of choice going forward in our society, but how does one use this? This article will help enlighten your community about things like; upcoming projects, where investments go, what decisions happen to be made, and who continues to work hard to represent the community they live in. Let's consider the following scenario, you have already started an online platform and have been running it for perhaps 3 years or under. You continue to post, but it's not getting the engagement you were hoping for…. what now? Step 1: Identify Needs and Wants! It will be impossible to grab the attention of a community you cannot identify. Now I do not mean you should know the community's favorite color, but you should be able to generalize the audiences’ passions and ideologies. For example, suppose you create content that favors promoting a new park in the community. However, the idea continues to not receive any community members' engagement. In that case, you have to figure out why. Maybe they feel the community has too many parks already, or perhaps they don't attend parks in their community for safety reasons, etc. Whatever the reason may be, you should research and understand your community. Try posting engaging content like a poll about what community members would like to see. Test the waters on creating a post that baits someone into interacting like a "what if" article. Dig for the information you need. Step 2: Create a Comprehensive Environment One of the most significant differences between local government platforms and the average social media influencer represents the niche community. A local government platform needs to be warm, open, and overall a comprehensive environment. It cannot cater to one viewpoint or another, but most will remain net neutral on topics. Your platform should inform the community and bait them into engaging with posts to gain feedback on your content. Double-check that whoever oversees the social platforms remains neutral and has someone else look over posts for trigger words that might hint or indicate leaning one way or another. This sounds like a no-brainer, but tone cannot be interpreted over text. When different community members read/see something- they will have their own takeaways from the content. Step 3: Curate your Content Now that your platform has gained some feedback and continues improving in views, it's time to change the content to add a personality to the platform. Whatever personality the page takes on, make sure it has a friendly appeal. But the most important, make sure a blend between business and fun occurs. Audiences look for content that symbolizes fun, relevant, or interesting to share. The best way to get further and continued engagement remains to brighten your page with shareable, yet neutral content. These steps provided will help your organization's online platforms become an online community that will provide feedback, insight, engagement, and connections. Within no time, your media will be performing beneficially to you and your cohorts! |
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For more information on how Cobalt can help you adapt and thrive in the changing demographic, economic and social environment, visit the Cobalt website or reach out to us by email. Let us know if you need anything at all for benchmarking or research data; we are here for you.
Cobalt Community Research is a national 501c3 nonprofit, non-partisan coalition that helps local governments, schools and membership organizations measure, benchmark, and affordably engage communities through high-quality metrics, mobile geofencing data, surveys, and dynamic population segmentation. Cobalt combines big data with local insights to help organizations thrive as changes emerge in the economic, demographic and social landscape. Explore how we can help by calling 877.888.0209, or by emailing [email protected].
Cobalt Community Research is a national 501c3 nonprofit, non-partisan coalition that helps local governments, schools and membership organizations measure, benchmark, and affordably engage communities through high-quality metrics, mobile geofencing data, surveys, and dynamic population segmentation. Cobalt combines big data with local insights to help organizations thrive as changes emerge in the economic, demographic and social landscape. Explore how we can help by calling 877.888.0209, or by emailing [email protected].