[Pic credit: DJ XTC Only Hit Music]
I ran a track at Tru Stockholm on content. In it we discussed how to create content that people - in this case job seekers, will want to read and share.
One delegate told us that she has a fan page and posts links on it but she finds it hard to make it interesting. I asked if she would find the content she was posting interesting if she was a user and she said no.
In some senses that response goes straight to the heart of the issue. Recruiters, job boards etc think they know what users want. But invariably they don't. Take a look around and see what you think . . .
So, what do users want? Well, if you are producing content and you do not know the answer you really ought to find out. You don't want to spend time and money on stuff no one reads and your users don't want to be invited to read, view or listen to dull things - they will get bored and won't return.
In publishing a lot of work goes into user personas and what type of content users look at elsewhere and what they would like to look at on your site. That's a good place to start - know who you are writing for and what they would like to see.
Then try things out. One think that came out of our track was this video. We wanted to create a short, fun piece of content that would gets views and get shared. OK, it hasn't had a million views but it got retweeted a lot. It was quick and easy to do.
Another great idea was that of the making yourself the community DJ. Bill Boorman dropped in to our track and talked about the work he had been doing with Hard Rock Cafe and the content on its Facebook fan page. Bill said Hard Rock treats the page as a DJ treats a party:
- Create the environment
- Create the vibe
- Don't do the dancing
This is a good approach - it is about using relevant content to get users interested - Bill has developed a content calendar for the fan page - that enables you to try things out and see what users like. DJs constantly gauge the feeling of a room and change the tempo etc to get things going. This is a good approach to content.
At the Hard Rock, thousands of people have liked the fan page and engage with the brand there - this has really helped the recruitment process - the right kind of people are now in the room (the fan page) and here they get to hear news announcements first. They are treated as special, because to the brand they are.
Outside of Facebook, always consider curating content because it brings value to the community - I did that hear with Tru London and Tru Stockholm. Michael Carty does it here on XpertHR. You will see by the stats - views, comments, RTs - whether it is valuable content. It usually is.