After the longest winter ever, summer has finally arrived! Depending on the type of community you are managing, the summer months – and their natural distractions – could have a very real impact on your community engagement levels. Families go on vacation and people tend to engage in more outdoor activities. Who has time to check for new posts and missions when the sun is shining? The reality is that the nicer the weather, the less people are online.
Making it easy and quick for users to participate in your community over the summer is key! Here are some tips for summer engagement.
Reminders/Updates of Community Activity
Send out reminders via email alerts of conversations or topics members are interested in that link back to the community. If email alerts are not an option, monthly newsletters with community teasers and links is another way to drive members back to the community.
Images/Videos
Create great images or videos that are sharable. People love sharing interesting photos and videos and it is a quick easy way to engage them.
Run a Contest/Campaign
Everyone loves the chance to win something! Contests give members incentive to participate and also share with their followers if appropriate. Create a contest that is geared toward a summer activity or product they could utilize during the summer months.
Polls
Utilizing polls to get a pulse on how people feel about various topics is an easy way to engage members. Results can also help generate ideas for seeding conversations of interest within the community.
Utilize Other Social Media Channels
Reach out to the social media ecosystem by enabling community conversations to be viewed in places outside your community, like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, etc. This can help drive both new members and more activity and engagement with existing members.
Mobile Access
With all the summer trips and time outside, summer demands that your community be optimized for mobile access. This will ensure your members can participate from any location via their mobile device.
Offline Activities
Because this is the time everyone wants to be outside, create offline activities to further engage your members. Invite them to brand events, organize in-person meet ups, etc. Don’t forget to provide a place on the community to post photos, videos or content of their experiences.
There are numerous ways to engage your members, regardless of season. Be creative and let the summer season inspire you to come up with activities to mirror the fun everyone is having outdoors. What are some of your engagement tips for this summer?
Social engagement and community manager specialist. Current focus on: online communities, community management, consumer/advocate content and engagement strategy, advocate identification, social media measurement and tracking, and social listening programs, along with production and event management. Brenda has 18+ years of experience in both traditional and social marketing programs